Taxpayers Will Pay Price If Wetlands Sacrificed

By TERRY J. FLOTT

Published: Jul 25, 2007

On June 21, 2007, Hillsborough Commissioners Brian Blair, Kevin White, Ken Hagan and Jim Norman sold our strong local wetland protections down the river at the bidding of the development industry. Apparently, according to developers, they could not get their permits processed quickly enough and then there was all that duplication, although no one clearly identified where the duplication exists.

Of course, these four commissioners said they were very concerned about cutting the budget and saving taxpayers the onerous cost of local protection of wetlands for flood control, filtration, wildlife habitat, recharge of groundwater, buffering from storms and for various recreational activities. It mattered naught that the Environmental Protection Commission officials had already submitted their required budget cuts. According to Hagan "we can't afford it any longer" and "there are no sacred cows."

In their haste to appease the "stakeholders" and rid Hillsborough County of this impediment to progress, they thumbed their noses at the residents and blatantly refused to actually consider the costs of their proposed action. According to EPC budget records, in fiscal year '06 the actual cost of the wetlands program was $1,900,145. When you subtract the fee revenues of, $1,198,547, the net general fund expenditure is $701,571. Divide by 1,164,425 - the population of Hillsborough County for FY '06 - and the total cost per resident for local wetland protection equals 60 cents!

Now if you add in the cost of the EPC phosphate program, the total cost per resident increases to 72 cents. Less than a pack of Tic Tacs from Wal-Mart and not nearly enough for a cafe latte at Starbucks.

Further, the proposed elimination of the local wetland program would result in a 40 percent loss of pollution recovery fund monies. This money, collected from penalties assessed for violations, is returned to Hillsborough in the form of grants for pollution cleanup and prevention projects.

Elimination of local control would result in assessed penalties going to the Southwest Florida Water Management District for use within the district's 16 counties - a double loss for Hillsborough residents. The artificial reef program, which receives a maximum of 50 percent of the annual funds, would also be severely impacted.

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa cautioned that the dismantling of the local wetlands program would put federal funding for local water projects at risk and make it more difficult to advocate for a national catastrophic fund to lower property insurance rates.

And let us not forget the increased cost for taxpayers when the county has to retrofit stormwater management systems to deal with flooding and water-quality concerns. By the end of this year it is expected that an initial phase of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to implement federally mandated pollution reductions to improve water quality will be finalized and Hillsborough will be required to employ appropriate measures to meet the requirements.

I find it difficult to perceive how having to replace existing natural systems that provide flood control and filtration with engineered solutions could be in our best interest.

It is time for these four commissioners to stop insulting our intelligence. The proposed elimination of EPC's Wetlands Management Division is not about the saving the taxpayers money or duplication of services; it is about serving special interests.

When the bulldozers awaken you early on a Saturday morning and no one responds to your urgent calls, you look out the back door and begin to realize the cost of the potential flood damage to your home as you watch your quality of life being reduced to mulch, remember to thank Commissioners Blair, Hagan, White and Norman for saving you 60 cents per year.

Terry Flott is president of the Seffner Community Alliance and head of the countywide United Citizens Action Network.