Legislature enters home stretch; see what Port St. Lucie is asking the state to fund this year

PORT ST. LUCIE — The city government here is seeking more than $12.5 million in state funding to help pay for multiple projects, as the legislative session enters its final days in Tallahassee.

Those projects include improvements at the Westport Wastewater Treatment Facility, a deep injection well at the Prineville Water Treatment Facility, a new police training facility and a new water-control structure.

Into the home stretch

Tracking whether those projects end up being funded can often be like following a moving target, city officials said, but the process is now in the home stretch.

The Legislature has until March 8 to pass a budget for next fiscal year, which could include the projects Port St. Lucie wants funded. The House and Senate are expected to begin final negotiations this week. In conference committees, members will reconcile differences between the budgets passed by the two chambers.

Even if a request makes it into the final budget approved by both chambers, Gov. Ron DeSantis has the ability to veto individual items from the budget.

What Port St. Lucie wants

As it does every year, Port St. Lucie is asking for a number of projects to be funded. That said, the $12.5 million figure is higher than usual, Senior Deputy City Attorney Ella Gilbert said. Last year, for example, the city asked for just over $8 million.

The higher figure is mostly due to two requests, each coming in at $5 million, Gilbert said.

"I will say that this year we had two $5 million requests. Those are large requests in comparison to our previous years," Gilbert said.

One is for improvements at the Westport facility that include goals of reducing total nitrogen and phosphorus to comply with state guidelines. Those reductions could also help lessen the impacts of algae blooms in the St. Lucie River, according to the city's state legislative program packet. The total cost is estimated at $55 million.

The second $5 million request is for the deep-injection well at Prineville. The well would be drilled to approximately 3,200 feet and could help the plant's ability to produce water during hurricanes and tropical storms, according to the packet. The total project cost is estimated at $15 million.

The next largest request is $2 million for constructing the city's new police training facility. City officials have said the new facility is necessary to meet state mandates and the city's growing population. It would allow for multiple trainings to be conducted simultaneously, including both basic and advanced trainings, according to the packet. Total cost is estimated at $20 million.

The city's last request is $525,000 for removal and replacement of the A-14 Water Control Structure. The structure, identified as a critical part of the drainage system, is "in poor condition and no longer functioning as originally designed," according to the packet.

A different type of water-control structure, with an estimated $700,000 price tag, would then be built.

Lobbying for the funds

Port St. Lucie officials begin crafting their legislative requests in the fall, prior to pre-session committee meetings.

Then, once session starts — in January for even years and March for odd ones — officials begin visiting the capitol. Vice Mayor Jolien Caraballo went for a weekend last month, with copies of the packet in hand.

"This is what I take to Tallahassee with me to discuss with the legislators," she said.

The city also hires law firm GrayRobinson to lobby on its behalf.

"They provide us with updates weekly on where our actual activities are, as well as important bills for us to understand that are currently in the process," Caraballo said.

Frequent communication is key to keep things from falling through the cracks in an ever-changing budget, Caraballo said.

How priorities are chosen

Deciding what to ask the state for can be its own process, Gilbert said. The city also seeks grant funding, so outstanding grant applications are often factored in.

"We speak with departments, as well as with our grants and advocacy team to determine — based on what we've applied for grant wise — to determine the priority of the city," Gilbert said.

The city also considers which types of projects DeSantis will be likely to back.

"We also look at the priority of the governor, so we generally will have a water project (and) an economic-development project, and then we are more open to other projects (as well)," Gilbert said.

Where things stand heading into conference

Currently, it is a mixed bag with the city's requests as the House and Senate negotiate in conference committees.

On the $5 million the city requested for the Westport facility, both chambers currently fall short of that number. The Senate-passed version allocates $1 million, and the House-passed version allocates $2.5 million.

Still, having funding in both versions is encouraging, Caraballo said.

"I think that that particular priority being both in the House and Senate, it's just very hopeful, for me," she said.

Funding for the $5 million well project, however, is not included in either version of the budget. That said, the city recently secured funding from two separate grants, including one from the state.

"Now that we've been able to supplement with grant funds, it's not as much of a priority as the other projects," said Deputy City Manager Kate Parmelee "That was the No. 1 project, so we kind of tackled it from multiple funding streams to see what was the most successful. In this case, we hit kind of three buzzers at once."

On the $2 million ask for the police facility, the Senate currently has $350,000 allocated, while the House has nothing.

On the $525,000 request for the water-control structure, the House currently has $262,500 set aside, while the Senate has nothing.

Caraballo said the return on investment the city sees from its efforts is strong, even if it doesn't end up getting all of the money it asks for.

"I don't think anybody ever gets all of them, that they want, but I do think that we always get a good amount back," Caraballo said.

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Additional asks

The city also advocates for a number of things outside of its direct budget request. One thing it supports is continued funding of grant programs, Parmelee said, like the one that will fund the well project.

Port St. Lucie also advocates for or against a number of bills that St. Lucie County and the Florida League of Cities have taken positions on — including "threats to home rule" — Caraballo said.

Wicker Perlis is TCPalm's Watchdog Reporter for St. Lucie County. You can reach him at wicker.perlis@tcpalm.com and 504-331-0516.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Port St. Lucie asking for more than $12.5 million from state leg. budget