BY BOB BRUCE AND JIMMY SELLERS/GUEST COLUMNISTS

The beaches and dunes are a huge component of Indian River County’s infrastructure!

We do not think anybody can argue that point.  Indian River County is highly dependent on tourism and our supporting infrastructure.  It is well established that beach-tourism  and our beachfront infrastructure are more than highly dependent on the health of the beaches of Indian River County.

If this county is going to survive in its present low-density format, we are going to have to rely on tourism and high tech (non-polluting) companies.  High tech companies want to locate in beachfront communities that reliably maintain their beaches.

Funding for maintaining our beaches is diminishing.  State and Federal sources of funding have recently diminished and are not reliable.  The only constant source of funding for renourishment of our beaches is the Sebastian Inlet District – it is required by Florida law to renourish beaches south of the Sebastian Inlet.

So, how are we going to deal with this shortfall locally?

We can apportion the costs to those that receive a special benefit from renourishment projects and in proportion to the special benefits they receive.

How do we do this?

All County residents and visitors should pay some amount for the publicly owned parks and accessible beaches on the barrier island.  The big question is “How is that amount collected?”.

The “bed tax” and the “seventh cent of sales tax” are highly slanted towards the tourists that visit our county.  The “seventh cent of sales tax” also collects funds from all residents.  These two taxes have been traditional funding sources for beach maintenance in Indian River County; however, these sources are not sufficient to maintain County beaches.

How can we offset the shortfall?

One way is through a Municipal Services Benefit Unit (MSBU) that would be focused upon barrier island properties.

What exactly is an MSBU?

An MSBU is a funding mechanism that allows the cost of a project to be shared by those properties receiving a special benefit from the project.  Assessments must be “properly apportioned” among those properties receiving the benefit.  The benefits typically associated with beach renourishment projects include: storm damage reduction, reduced loss of land, and recreational.

These benefits are usually quantified by an engineering economic analysis – which forms the basis of cost allocation within the MSBU’s boundary.  Once the special benefits are quantified, the project costs are distributed proportional to the benefits.  For example, if 50% of a project’s benefits are derived from storm damage reduction, then the properties receiving the storm damage reduction benefit would share 50% of the project costs.

The idea of an MSBU for beach projects is not new.  This funding tool has been implemented in several beachfront communities in Florida for beach projects – including:

• Santa Rosa County – Navarre Beach MSBU
• Okaloosa County – West Destin MSBU
• St. Lucie County – South Hutchinson Island Special Assessment District 

In each of these cases, a point system was utilized to equitably distribute the project costs amongst properties.  Objective factors, such as ocean frontage, acreage and the number of dwelling units on a property, are linked to the benefits of the project and form a fair system to apportion project costs.

However, each community that chooses to implement an MSBU is unique.  Apportionment factors must be formulated to ensure the allocation of costs is accepted by the community as fair and reasonable.  A custom MSBU must be developed through input from the community so the MSBU is supported by the community.

The idea of an MSBU has been recognized in Indian River County’s Beach Preservation Plan for several decades.

Funding from the State and Federal governments for beach restoration has been “meager” at best in recent years and competition for the remaining funds continues to ramp up.  We do not foresee that changing in the near future.

We, the residents of Indian River County, need to honestly look at alternative funding sources to protect our very valuable beaches as critical infrastructure.  We are highly dependent on beaches to support our enviable way of life in Indian River County.

Editor’s Note:  Bob Bruce is the president of Save Our Shores.  Jimmy Sellers is a coastal engineer with Coastal Tech of Vero Beach.