BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Brevard County leaders are gathering public input as they consider whether to ask voters to renew a half-cent sales tax that funds cleanup and restoration projects in the Indian River Lagoon.
Voters first approved the 10-year tax in 2016, with collections beginning in 2017. As of December 9, the tax had generated $496,654,488 for the Save Our Indian River Lagoon program. The money has supported projects ranging from septic-to-sewer conversions and muck removal to stormwater improvements, habitat restoration, and public education.
On Merritt Island, construction crews are working on one of those projects — a septic-to-sewer conversion in a residential neighborhood.
Marianne Delfino, who lives nearby, says the improvements benefit both people and wildlife.
“If you have healthy waterways, you have healthy communities and healthy fish, manatees, I mean you name it all. It’s a good thing.”
Delfino says grants funded by the program also helped make another project at her home possible.
“We applied for the India Save the Indian River Lagoon Project, which offered grants and so I applied and we got it and we were able to take, you know, have the septic tank crushed, removed and sewer lines put and tapped in right there in the front,” Delfino said. The half-cent sales tax is set to expire at the end of 2026 unless voters approve a renewal. County commissioners are now holding public workshops to determine whether to place the question on the November ballot and how future funding should be used.
Virginia Barker, director of Brevard County’s Natural Resources Management Department, says results from the program are becoming more visible.
“And so as complicated as these projects are, it took a few years to actually get a significant number of them to the completed construction where you could actually see, you know, measure nutrient reduction, pollution reduction benefits. But we are seeing cleaner water in the lagoon. We are seeing fewer algae blooms.”
Barker says in some areas, seagrass is also beginning to return. She added,
“We need a lot more of what we’re currently doing.”
The first public workshop is scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday at Titusville City Hall, with a second meeting planned for January 12 at Palm Bay City Hall. If commissioners move forward, voters would decide in November whether to renew the tax starting in 2027.
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