Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

P a g e 2 FLORIDA BOATING IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM The Florida Boating Improvement Program (FBIP) is a state financial assistance program that provides funding through competitive grants for boating access projects and boating-related activities on coastal and inland waters within the state. Eligible program participants include county governments, municipalities, and other governmental entities of the State of Florida. The program is administered by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission s (FWC) Division of Law Enforcement, Boating and Waterways Section according to the Program Guidelines found in Chapter 68-1.003, Florida Administrative Code. This report provides a brief description of the FBIP and outlines the status of the program as required by section 206.606(1)(b), Florida Statutes. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Program Overview a. Funding Sources b. Application Process II. Program Status FY 2018-19 a. Available Funding b. Application Period and Grant Awards III. Unmet Needs by County

P a g e 3 PROGRAM OVERVIEW FUNDING SOURCES - The FBIP has two funding sources identified in Florida Statutes: (1) Section 206.606(1)(b)1, Florida Statutes, provides the FBIP with a minimum of $1,250,000 annually from a portion of the funds collected from fuel sales tax revenue that is deposited into the State Game Trust Fund. This funding may be used for: recreational channel marking and other uniform waterway markers; public boat ramps, lifts, and hoists, marine railways, and other public launching facilities; derelict vessel removal; and other local boating-related activities. Furthermore, as required in statute, applications for projects located in counties with a population of 100,000 or less and coastal counties with a high level of use by non-residents are given priority consideration for this funding. (2) Section 328.72(15), Florida Statutes, provides FWC with one dollar from each recreational vessel registration fee collected to fund grants for public launching facilities, pursuant to section 206.606, Florida Statutes. As required in statute, applicants in counties with more than 35,000 registered vessels are given priority consideration for this funding. The FBIP receives additional funding from the Marine Resources Conservation Trust Fund. Section 327.47, Florida Statutes, allows for moneys attributable to the sale of fuel at marinas (and transferred to FWC pursuant to section 206.606(1)(d), Florida Statutes) to fund competitive grants for publicly-owned boat ramps, piers, and docks; boater education; and economic development initiatives that promote boating. The FBIP is the vehicle by which FWC accomplishes this. APPLICATION PROCESS - The FBIP has an annual application period which usually opens in February and lasts for 60 days. Once the application period closes, all applications are sent to FWC s Division of Law Enforcement regional offices to review for potential boating safety issues. FWC, through the FBIP, will not fund a project that would cause a boating safety hazard. Applications are also reviewed by FWC s Imperiled Species Management Section for potential impacts to threatened and endangered species.

P a g e 4 The applications are then submitted to an Evaluation Committee (Committee) appointed by the Director of FWC s Division of Law Enforcement. The Committee for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-19 was comprised of FWC staff and a representative from the Florida Boating Advisory Council. 1 Committee members review each application using the evaluation criteria in the Program Guidelines. The evaluation criteria include need, cost efficiency, and how much the project will enhance recreational boating and provide a benefit to boaters. The Committee members assign each application a score based on these criteria. Applications must receive a minimum score of 65 out of a possible 100 to be eligible for funding. This requirement helps ensure that only those projects that best use state resources are funded. PROGRAM STATUS FY 2018-19 AVAILABLE FUNDING - For FY 2018-19, $1,250,000 in funding was appropriated from the State Game Trust Fund as required in section 206.606(1)(b)1, Florida Statutes. Additionally, there was an appropriation of $1,296,300 from the Marine Resources Conservation Trust Fund. This appropriation consisted of $592,000 from recreational vessel registration fees, pursuant to section 328.72(15), Florida Statutes, and $704,300 from marina fuel taxes, pursuant to section 206.606(1)(d), Florida Statutes. (See Exhibit 1.) Exhibit 1 FBIP Funding by Trust Fund for FY 2018-19 TRUST FUND APPROPRIATION State Game Trust Fund $ 1,250,000 Vessel Registration Fees (MRCTF) $ 592,000 Marina Fuel Taxes (MRCTF) $ 704,300 TOTAL APPROPRIATION $ 2,546,300 APPLICATION PERIOD AND GRANT AWARDS - The application period for the FBIP for FY 2018-19 opened on February 1, 2018 and closed on April 3, 2018. During this time, FWC received 42 applications. On June 21, 2018, the Committee met to review and score the 42 applications eligible for review. Applications were then ranked by score from highest to lowest, and available funding was distributed starting with the highest scoring application. Based on the Committee s scoring and the funding available, 16 applications were 1 The Boating Advisory Council is an 18-member advisory group, established pursuant to s. 327.803, Florida Statutes, is comprised of representatives from a variety of boating interests and organizations. The purpose of the Council is to make recommendations to FWC and the Department of Economic Opportunity regarding issues affecting the boating community.

P a g e 5 awarded a grant. (See Exhibit 2 for a list of projects awarded funding for FY 2018-19.) Six of the projects that were awarded funding are in counties or communities designated by the Governor as a Rural Area of Opportunity pursuant to section 288.0656(2)(d), Florida Statutes. Exhibit 2 Projects Funded Through the FBIP for FY 2018-19 APPLICANT PROJECT TITLE STATE FUNDS AWARDED FEDERAL FUNDS AWARDED ESTIMATED TOTAL PROJECT COST 2 Santa Rosa County Woodlawn Beach Boat Ramp $73,240.00 $146,480.00 Town of Fort Myers Beach Matanzas Harbor Dinghy Dock $65,500.00 $146,660.00 City of Parker Martin Lake Boat Ramp $75,243.00 $150,487.98 Desoto County 1 Desoto Park Boat Launch $100,000.00 $121,500.00 Pinellas County Sheriff's Office Marine Safety Project $59,920.00 $146,636.00 City of Cocoa Beach Recreational Channel Markers $40,000.00 $80,000.00 Gulf County 1 Odena Landing $160,000.00 $200,000.00 City of Fort Pierce Moore's Creek Boat Ramp $78,500.00 $157,000.00 Gulf County 1 White City Boat Ramp $160,000.00 $200,000.00 Monroe County Geiger Key Boat Ramp $150,000.00 $200,000.00 Martin County Jensen Beach Mooring Field $275,000.00 $1,050,000.00 Seminole County Lake Monroe Wayside Park Boat Ramp $200,000.00 $400,000.00 City of Freeport 1 Four Mile Creek Park $11,916.00 $15,916.00 Baker County 1 Saint Mary s Cove Boat Ramp $397,114.00 $397,614.97 Hernando County Lake Townsen Park Boat Ramp $91,500 $173,100.00 Wakulla County 1 Rock Landing Boat Ramp $220,000.00 $220,000.00 TOTALS $2,157,933.00 $3,805,394.95 1 These projects are in a Rural Area of Opportunity. 2 The estimated total project cost includes grant award plus applicant s share.

P a g e 6 COUNTIES WITH UNMET NEEDS FROM FY 2017-18 UNMET NEEDS - As required by section 206.606(1)(b), Florida Statutes, a list of counties whose needs are unmet due to insufficient financial resources from vessel registration fees retained each fiscal year is provided in Exhibit 3. The unmet need was determined by subtracting the total cost of projects requesting financial assistance through the FBIP from the amount of county retained vessel registration fees for each county in FY 2017-18. The project cost total includes requests for grants from municipalities within the county. Exhibit 3 Counties with Unmet Needs Due to Insufficient Financial Resources from Vessel Registration Fees FY 2017-18 COUNTY COUNTY RETAINED VESSEL FEES 1 TOTAL COST OF PROJECTS 2 UNMET NEED Baker $12,133.75 $397,614.97 $(385,481.22) Bay $103,526.80 $150,487.98 $(46,961.18) Brevard $204,718.45 $780,000.00 $(575,281.55) Columbia $21,330.25 $493,290.16 $(471,959.91) DeSoto $11,504.10 $121,500.00 $(109,995.90) Dixie $10,781.15 $479,800.00 $(469,018.85) Franklin $14,560.05 $432,312.00 $(417,751.95) Gilchrist $7,945.40 $552,908.20 $(544,962.80) Gulf $15,359.00 $400,000.00 $(384,641.00) Hamilton $3,858.10 $1,074,363.62 $(1,070,505.52) Hillsborough $282,153.50 $399,100.00 $(116,946.50) Lafayette $3,579.00 $196,000.00 $(192,421.00) Lake $117,699.20 $625,000.00 $(507,300.80) Liberty $3,826.30 $1,381,732.25 $(1,377,905.95) Martin $185,355.60 $1,050,000.00 $(864,644.40) Miami-Dade $719,448.15 $2,650,000.00 $(1,930,551.85) Monroe $262,443.20 $480,000.00 $(217,556.80) Okaloosa $132,530.85 $1,187,500.00 $(1,054,969.15) Osceola $39,123.95 $788,983.00 $(749,859.05) Palm Beach $362,769.30 $1,027,000.00 $(664,230.70) Santa Rosa $82,554.30 $146,480.00 $(63,925.70) Seminole $100,351.45 $400,000.00 $(299,648.55) St. Lucie $103,896.00 $157,000.00 $(53,104.00) Suwannee $14,071.85 $261,000.00 $(246,928.15) Wakulla $25,842.20 $220,000.00 $(194,157.80) TOTAL $2,841,361.90 $15,852,072.18 $(13,010,710.28) 1 The source for this information is the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. 2 Total includes requests for FBIP funding from municipalities within the county.