Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Tribune article on BP settlement funds:
POLITICS
Hillsborough will consider spending BP money on environment
By Mike Salinero | Tribune Staff
Published: July 28, 2015
TAMPA — Many consider the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill one of America’s worst environmental disasters.
That assessment is shared by two Hillsborough County commissioners who want to spend a $22.8 million settlement from a county lawsuit against oil company BP on environmental protection.
“This is money from an environmental disaster that had far-reaching effects, not only on our environment but our economy as well,” said Commissioner Stacy White, who floated his proposal late last week. “It only makes sense to spend this on environmental projects.”
On Tuesday, Commissioner Les Miller rolled out a proposal that mirrors White’s. Both would give the bulk of the money, $15 million, to the Jan K. Platt Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program, commonly known as ELAPP. The money could be used to buy conservation land and to maintain land already under ELAPP protection.
“I think ELAPP is vitally important for us,” Miller said. “I feel we need to continue to look at land acquisition.”
But other commissioners said the county shouldn’t be in a rush to channel the money to specific areas. Former commission Ken Hagan, for instance, said there is no urgent need to commit the funds before the county starts planning its 2017 budget next spring.
“Government has an insatiable appetite to spend money,” Hagan said. “The ink wasn’t even dry on the agreement before proposals and requests were being made on where we should invest. We have a balanced budget and there is no sense of urgency to spend the BP settlement.”
Kevin Beckner, the commissioner who first suggested the lawsuit against BP, also wants the county to take its time in deciding how to spend the money. Beckner said commissioners need to find a balance between protecting the environment and mitigating the loss of tax money after the oil spill that was the crux of the county’s lawsuit.
“This money didn’t arrive because we had oil wash up on our shores,” he said. “It arrived because of the economic loss our county sustained due to the egregious BP oil spill.”
Beckner said one way of making up for the lost tax dollars while promoting environmental protection would be to spend heavily on ecotourism. He suggested the county work with organizations such as Lowry Park Zoo and Busch Garden which are already experienced in promoting tourism and educating people about wildlife.
In addition to funding ELAPP, White wants to spend $5 million on greenways and on blueways, coastal areas that can be explored by canoe and kayak. The remaining money would go to coastal restoration, $2 million; boat ramp enhancements, $700,000; ecotourism, $50,000; and native plants for county parks, $50,000.
In a departure from White’s plan, Miller would spend just $2.5 million on greenways and blueways and $2.5 million on the Environmental Protection Commission, the county’s regulatory agency.
“I think (the commission’s) mission and the long-term work it does trying to protect the environment and Tampa Bay is so important, particularly when it comes to improving our economy,” Miller said. “We’re going to have population growth that 10 years from now will be close to 2 million people and we need to make sure our environment remains safe.”
White said the BP settlement is a godsend for an ELAPP program that has fallen on hard times. The program has won over 70 percent approval from voters on three different occasions, most recently in 2008 when a ballot measure gave the county authority to borrow up to $200 million for land purchases.
But unlike previous ELAPP referendums, the 2008 ballot measure did not include a property tax levy of up to 0.25 mills — about $25 a year for the owner of a $150,000 house. County commissioners are not eager to pass a property tax increase even as ELAPP funds dwindle. Just $3.5 million remains in the ELAPP fund from a $59 million bond issue county commissioners approved in 2009.
“I think it’s clear there has been great interest in finding a way to reinvigorate the ELAPP program,” White said. “As soon as I found out about this settlement, immediately a light bulb came on and I said to myself, ‘This is how.’”
Environmentalists applauded White’s proposal, especially about putting money into ELAPP. Mariella Smith, a member of the Tampa Bay Group Sierra Club, said conservation lands are a big attraction for eco-tourists, and the loss of tourism dollars was the main argument the county used in its lawsuit against BP.
“Ecotourism is a big part of tourism and that’s the economic hit we took,” Smith said. “And ELAPP lands are part of the destination for eco-tourists … I think it makes sense to invest in that.”
Hillsborough County’s settlement was part of $3.25 billion awarded to Florida for oil spill claims. Though the Tampa Bay area didn’t experience oil-covered birds and blackened beaches, the state and local governments argued that images of the devastation in other parts of the Gulf of Mexico scared away tourists, thus costing businesses money.
The county will get $28.5 million altogether from the settlement. But just $22.8 million is unrestricted and can be spent as commissioners wish.
Other commissioners were uncertain about how to spend the money and said they wanted to hear the subject discussed at a Thursday board meeting before making a decision. The meeting starts at 1:30 p.m. on the second floor of the Frederick B. Karl County Center.
Commissioner Sandy Murman, though reluctant to commit to any spending scenario, did not rule out helping ELAPP. However, she pointed out competing needs such as roads and other transportation projects.
Up until last year, she said, the county didn’t have money for ELAPP, “the timing wasn’t right to go out borrow more money. We’re getting close to that time when it will be good to put more money into ELAPP. I really want to do something.”
Commissioner Al Higginbotham said he also wants to help ELAPP but he thinks any available money should first be spent on maintaining the land already in the conservation program.
“It’s important to set aside these lands,” Higginbotham said, “but it’s even more so to find a way to keep them maintained in as much of a natural state as possible.”
