More than 70 people came to a workshop in Palm Bay Monday night to discuss the Save Our Indian River Lagoon, or SOIRL, program, which has for 10 years been funded by a half-cent sales tax in Brevard County.
Unless the lagoon tax is renewed, the county will stop collecting it after this year. In that scenario, SOIRL projects already funded by the tax would continue until all the funds are spent, but no additional SOIRL projects would move forward.
County residents originally voted for the tax in 2016, on the heels of massive, harmful algal blooms that year which killed off manatees, fish and other wildlife in the lagoon. Monday’s four-hour workshop centered on what the SOIRL program has done to help the Indian River Lagoon so far and where the delicate estuary currently stands.
Brevard County commissioners heard presentations Monday from members of SOIRL’s Citizens Oversight Committee and groups working on various lagoon restoration projects funded by SOIRL. Septic-to-sewer conversions, muck-dredging and habitat restoration projects are just a few examples.
Commissioners also heard from more than 30 members of the public, all of whom spoke favorably of the lagoon tax. Fishing guide and lifelong Brevard County resident Captain Alex Gorichky told commissioners he’s had an up-close, firsthand look at how the lagoon has changed over time.
About 10 years ago, he said, “I sat there on my boat with clients and watched the devastation unfold on a daily basis. It wasn't a long-term watch. It was over months: from beautiful, to dead brown and no grass.”
Now, though, the lagoon is looking a lot better, Gorichky said. He thinks the SOIRL program has a lot to do with that.
“Some of this stuff is absolutely working,” Gorichky said. “The amount of (sea)grass that we're seeing-- these grasses are not lying to anybody. They are real. I see them with my eyes on a daily basis. I'm on the water five to seven days a week.”
Surveys show seagrass is indeed starting to bounce back, more so in some parts of the lagoon system than others. Between 2021 and 2023, the most recent years for which data is available, seagrass coverage grew by more than 50% in the northern lagoon. But it increased only slightly in the lagoon’s Banana River and Central basins, or watersheds. Meanwhile, seagrass coverage declined slightly in the southern lagoon.
Palm Bay resident Judy Trendel told commissioners the lagoon tax is funding good work but that work only matters if pollution stops going into the lagoon.
“Common sense tells us this: you don't keep mopping the floor while the pipe is still leaking. You fix the leak,” Trendel said. “Extending this sales tax makes sense — if, and only if, it is used to fix these core problems first.”
Trendel said efforts should focus on modernizing outdated stormwater and sewer infrastructure, plus facilitating septic-to-sewer conversions — all projects SOIRL has helped to fund.
“Saving the Indian River Lagoon doesn't start in the water,” Trendel said. “It starts underground: in pipes, pumps and storm drains. If we fix the problem first, the lagoon can heal, and this tax extension can be a true solution, not just another temporary patch.”
Numbers shared by the county Monday indicate the majority of SOIRL revenues go to reducing pollution to the lagoon. To date, the SOIRL program has funded 219 projects that are either finished or currently in progress. A public dashboard tracks the program’s progress.
Laurilee Thompson, who sits on SOIRL’s Citizens Oversight Committee, said in an interview ahead of Monday’s workshop that SOIRL revenues help the county leverage additional, state and federal funds to help the lagoon.
“If you don't have money to match what the federal or state government will give you in grants, you can't apply,” Thompson said. “We've collected over $110 million in grants, and more grants have been applied for.”
Although the lagoon has improved “immensely” over the last several years, Thompson said, there’s still much more work to be done — and no time to waste.
“If we don't do it (renew the tax) this year, in 2026, and we have to wait until another election cycle, then all of the work will stop,” Thompson said. “We don't want to have a gap in between when the funding stops and when we can get it started back up again. We want to keep it as a smooth, ongoing process.”
In order for the lagoon tax renewal to appear on November’s ballot, commissioners will need to submit ballot language to the county’s elections office by August. But District 4 Commissioner Tom Feltner said Monday he thinks they’ll get it done before then.
“Certainly, I think the board will take that up beforehand,” Feltner said.
