Action Alert
Brevard County's major land conservation organization, the Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) Program, is being threatened. Please review the information provided below and take action to protect this important County resource. Let the Brevard County Commissioners know how important these conservation lands are to you!
Brevard County Clerk of the Court (Scott Ellis)
Freezes EEL Operating Budget FundingFeel free to distribute this information to other concerned citizens and organizations as you see fit; every resident of Brevard benefits from this program, whether they believe it or not, with reduced wildfire threat, aquifer recharge, flood and stormwater management, air quality, and erosion control. Our EEL properties truly do improve the quality of life for everyone in Brevard County!
EEL Program Funding Background:
The Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) Program has received funding from two public referenda: The first, passed in 1990, began collecting property tax revenue in 1991 and ended in 2011. The second passed in 2004 and will run through 2024. The ad valoreum taxes collected in excess of that required to pay the bond debt were to fund the operational budget of the EEL Program.When the 1990 referendum ended, the operational funds provided by the 2004 referendum were not adequate to pay the operating costs of the Program. At that time there was approximately $5 Million left of the 1990 funds, and these consisted of about $2 Million in bond funds and $3 Million in interest earned on the bond funds over the years. Review by the County Attorney and by bond counsel at that time determined that the funds left after the bonds were retired could be used for any legitimate purpose under the referendum.
The Board of County Commissioners acted to transfer $3 Million of the remaining 1990 funds to the EEL Program's operational budget. These reserves, together with the excess ad valorem taxes of the 2004 referendum (about $1 Million per year), have allowed the EEL Program to continue land management activities, and provide public access and environmental education.
Since these reserves are limited, the EEL advisory committees have begun considering how to extend the operational funding of the Program. The EEL Program operational budget is about $2 Million per year.
Now, a new development threatens the immediate future of the EEL Program. The newly elected Clerk of the Court (Scott Ellis) has acted to freeze monies transferred to the EEL Operating budget from the 1990 account described above, apparently on the claim that these funds can only be used for capital (land or buildings) expenditures. This opinion is directly contrary to the finding of the County Attorney and bond counsel.
The County Finance Department is under the jurisdiction of the Clerk of the Court and to date, negotiations between the County Manager's office and the Clerk of the Court have failed to reverse this action by the Clerk of the Court. If this decision is not reversed, the EEL Program may not have sufficient operating funds to complete the current fiscal year without serious impacts to land management, public access, and environmental education.
What You Can Do:
The EEL Program leverages every dollar it collects by partnering with State and private agencies; it has actively responded to the economic downturn by repeatedly reducing its operating budget, furloughing staff, and eliminating staff positions. Environmentally sensitive land acquisition has all but ceased, despite the fact that important parcels are currently for sale.Now is the time for community action! Write, call, or email (or do all three) the County Commissioners and let them know that this deadlock is unacceptable, that the bias of one man should not be allowed to negate the progress of 23 years of conservation in Brevard County!
Tell the Commissioners how important conservation lands have become to Brevard County's citizens and visitors. Many thousands of Brevard's volunteers, young and old, from all socio-economic backgrounds, have worked for decades to forge conservation policies, clean up trash, build and maintain trails, boardwalks, and kiosks, repair fencing, monitor endangered wildlife populations, eradicate exotic species, restore degraded habitat, and generally contribute to the body of science that steers the management of the EEL Program.
The Clerk of the Court's actions are in direct opposition to those of the County Attorney, the County Commissioners, and the Bond Counsel. It's unconscionable that any individual should have absolute authority over the future of the EEL Program, particularly an individual who has spent decades blatantly attacking this small but important conservation effort.
Contact your Brevard County Commissioners and the County Manager:
District 1 Commissioner Robin Fisher: D1.Commissioner@brevardcounty.us District 2 Commissioner Chuck Nelson: D2.Commissioner@brevardcounty.us District 3 Commissioner Trudie Infantini: D3.Commissioner@brevardcounty.us District 4 Commissioner Mary Bolin Lewis: D4.Commissioner@brevardcounty.us District 5 Commissioner Andy Anderson: D5.Commissioner@brevardcounty.us Brevard County Manager Howard Tipton: howard.tipton@brevardcounty.us
Promoted by the:
Friends of the Enchanted Forest and
Sea Rocket Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society