$300 million Indian River Lagoon cleanup plan to go on ballot

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Brevard County commissioners decided to ask taxpayers to foot the bill to clean up the Indian River Lagoon.

Voters will be asked to consider a half-cent sales tax to cover a $300 million clean-up plan for the lagoon.

Residents and commissioners discussed the issue for about seven hours Tuesday.

Commissioners heard from a number of people who asked them to let voters decide if they're willing to pay higher taxes and that's what they will do.

“The fish kill is the greatest thing that happened to the lagoon. I say that badly because I don't think you would have the people in the audience today if that didn't happen,” said Satellite Beach Mayor Frank Catino.

Catino was one of dozens of people who spoke today about protecting the fragile Indian River Lagoon.

Brevard County has a 10-year, $300 million proposal to restore the lagoon.

Much of the plan calls for the removal of muck from the lagoon’s bottom, but it also would involve reducing the introduction of pollutants, the restoration of water-filtering oysters and the monitoring of lagoon conditions.

“For the last five years, we've done crisis management from fish kills to algae blooms, to sea grass die-off, to unusual die-offs of manatees and seabirds, and that downward spiral is likely to continue unless we do something pro-active to turn it around,” said Virginia Barker of Brevard County Natural Resource Management.

The county said that will take a dedicated funding source.

Commissioners are looking to residents to either approve raising their own property taxes, or sign off on a half-cent sales tax.

“The fisherman, the tourism, the property values (are all) associated with lagoon,” said John Windsor, a professor at Florida Tech. “And so it's all a very important economic driver for the community.”

This issue will go on the November ballot and if passed, the county could begin collecting that sales tax in 60 days.

Cox Media Group