Coastal Canal Dredging in Hillsborough County

Beautiful crystal clear water, deeper and wider canals; both things waterfront property owners would love to have; but, they do not want to pay for it. At the coastal canal dredging meeting on September 10, 2008, Hillsborough county residents gathered in the auditorium at Sickles High School to learn about how the county wanted to move forward with canal dredging process.
Since Hillsborough County is a large area, Martin Montalvo, Operations Manager of Specialized Services in Hillsborough County explained to citizens that they should form small committees in their own community. Having many small Municipal Service Benefit Units (MSBUs) allows for only the area benefiting form the service provided to be taxed for it. For every small canal, a new MSBU would need to be formed, and the community would need to decide on a leader or representative. It is possible for one resident to belong to multiple MSBUs. Than the MSBU would need to get 40% of the entire community to sign off on a petition agreeing to "discuss" possible drudging for their canal.
It is important to understand that this initial petition phase comes at no cost or obligation to the citizens. After this phase, the government will come in and assess the canal and the soil surrounding it. The assessment is at the expense of the government, not the citizens, and they are using grant money as one source to fund that. Then the government will present a hard cost. "The price will be inflated about 30% so I can present you with the worst case scenario," says Montalvo. If the MSBU later decides that they do not want to go through with the process, they can walk away for no cost. Or if they decide that the price is just too much , they can decide as a group to decrease the amount of work that was recommended, for example, if the experts decide that the canal you live on should be dredged five feet for "x" amount of dollars, your MSBU can request four feet of dredging for less money. "Form the MSBU first, and then fight about money," is Jack Berlin's philosophy. He has been listening to the same arguments from both the government and the citizens for twelve years. From 1995-2007 he served as the Chairman of the Canal Advisory Board, and does not believe anything will get accomplished if the only thought on the residents mind is money.
It is also vital that all residents understand that the Hillsborough County government can and will include all homes that they deem will "reasonably benefit" form the dredging process. That means, all homes upstream of a canal, will benefit and will pay. But how do those houses benefit you might ask? Well the property value of the houses on a canal as well as up steam houses will increase therefore, those homeowners would be responsible for payment. Payments are made along with property taxes; in fact, that is where you will see the tax increase. Failure to pay for the dredging is considered as failure to pay your property taxes.
A common comment from citizens was, "well how does this effect me directly." Frances Valdes, the Administrative Assistant compared canal dredging to education. "It may not directly help or concern you now, but it will in the future." Just as the youth are the future of this country, canal dredging will prove its worth in time.

Martin Montalvo can be reached at (813)744-5671 or via e-mail, Montalvom@hillsboroughcounty.org

Jack Berlin can be reached at JBerlin@jpg.com

Frances Valdes can be reached at (813)-744-5671