The Tampa Bay Water Board convened on May 28, 2026, for a public hearing and regular board meeting. The Board approved the Fiscal Year 2027 operating budget and capital improvements program, discussed drought conditions, and authorized contracts for desalination facility improvements and well field exploration. The meeting also included updates on hurricane preparedness, pipeline, and treatment plant construction, as well as an implementation plan for a management audit.
Welcome everyone to the May 18th, 2026 Tampa Bay Water Meeting. The meeting and public hearing were noticed in the Florida Administrative Register, the Tampa Bay Times, and on the Tampa Bay Water website. The meeting is available for viewing through live streaming, and a recording of the meeting will be posted on the agency's website. Vice Chair Waitemet will led lead the plea pledge. The pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republican for which it stands. One nation under God with liberty of justice for all. Thank you. Craggers. Councilman Miranda. Here. Here. Mr. Peters. Vice Chair Waitman. Present. Here. I have members present. Ever corn. Thank you. At this time we open the public hearing on the fiscal year 2027 operating budget and capital improvements program. If we can have the budget presentation, I'll leave it to you. Yes, uh good morning. Uh thank you. Uh this presentation will be performed by Christina Sagitt, our chief financial officer, and it'll be a recap from uh last month's uh workshop on the 2027 operating budget and also our fiscal year 27 capital improvement uh program expenditures. Christina. Good morning, Chair and members of the board. Um, as Chuck said, this is a recap of the workshop that was presented in April, and board action will be requested after the presentation and public comment. The proposed uniform rate for fiscal year 27 is slightly below two dollars and sixty-six cents per thousand gallons, which is an increase of about two cents over the current year, and includes a variable rate around 62 cents per thousand gallons. We minimize the increase to the uniform rate by using four million from the rate stabilization account. The projected demand for fiscal year 27 is 212.84 million gallons per day, and the source selection consists of operating the surface water treatment plant for an annual average of 79 million gallons per day, running the desalination facility with an annual average of 13 million gallons per day, and using the agency's well fields to produce about 121 million gallons per day of total groundwater, around 86 MGD from the consolidated well fields and 35 MGD from other well fields. The agency's total costs are divided into two components, variable costs and fixed costs. The agency's variable cost equal around 22 percent of the total of the fiscal year 27 budget, and the fixed cost account for the remaining 78 percent, and are broken down into four subcategories: contract and operation and maintenance agreements, debt service for bonds, debt service for member acquisition credits, and the fixed cost to operate the agency. The pie chart shows that the total debt service for the bonds and member acquisition credits make up almost 41% of the fiscal year 27 total costs. And just as a reminder, fiscal year 28 will be the final year of member acquisition credits, completing the 30 years of monthly credits to the members in consideration of conveyance of transferred assets per the amended and restated interlocal agreement. The total costs for the proposed fiscal year 27 budget are 223.8 million, which is about a 4.4 million increase over the current fiscal year. Variable cost increase by 1.4 million, and fixed costs had a net increase of 3 million. The proposed budget includes a 3% cost of living adjustment and a performance-based merit program of up to 3%, and the request for four new positions, one IT network engineer, one mechanical technician one, and two mechanical technician trainees. The projected adjustments of $13.2 million and the $4 million of use of the rate stabilization funds are netted against the total costs to get the proposed net revenue required from water sales of 206.6 million. This pie chart shows the breakdown of each division's percentage of the proposed 27 total costs. And you can see that the budgets for the water production and the finance administration divisions account for about 82% of the full budget. This is because the variable costs and the contracted operations and maintenance maintenance agreements for the surface water treatment plant and the desalination facility are included in the budget for water production, and the agency's annual debt service is part of the budget for the finance and administration division. Next, I will provide a review of the fiscal year 27 capital improvement program. Three projects account for 67% of this spend. The South Hillsborough Pipeline, segments A and B make up 42%, and the surface water treatment plant expansion makes up 25%. There are nine projects with expenditures between 2.6 million and 16.6 million. And then there are 31 projects with expenditures of 2.5 million or less that make up the remain rest of the estimated expenditures. 9% will be funded with member government joint project agreements, and the remaining 86% will be funded with the revenue bonds. Either the existing revenue bonds or the anticipated bond issuance in August or September of this year. The agency is also anticipating receiving reimbursements totaling 20.1 million from grants and district co-funding during the fiscal year. To review the highlights of the proposed 27 budget, a uniform rate of $2.66 per thousand gallons, slightly more than two cents than the current year.