Legislation
The 2009 Legislative Session has come and gone. Below are some (not all) of the bills we monitored that have impacts on local governments financially or financial operations.
Court Related Services Transfer SB 2108 (Pruitt) and HB 1121 (Bogdanoff) provide for transfer of court-related services from clerks of the court to the state courts system. Specifies applicable court-related services. Provides for future repeal. Revises allocations of certain court fees. Provides for deposit of certain fees or portions of fees into the State Courts Revenue Trust Funds.
Firefighter and Police Officer Pension Plans HB 5 ( Hooper) and SB 538 (Baker) modify chapters 175 and 185, Florida Statutes, relating to firefighter and police officer pension plans. The bills substantially revise the process for terminating a pension plan and significantly increase the cost to the employer when terminating a plan. In addition, the bills make numerous administrative changes to the operation of firefighter and police officer pension plans. HB 5 is in the House Governmental Affairs Policy Committee. SB 538 is scheduled to appear in the Senate Community Affairs Committee Tuesday March 3, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. .
Non Homestead Property Tax Cap and First Time Homebuyers Exemption HB 97 (Domino) and SB 532 (Lynn) provide a constitutional amendment that would limit the assessment growth on commercial and residential rental property to 5% annually or the average annual percentage growth in revenues derived from the property over the previous 3 years. The bill also provides first time home buyers a property tax exemption equal to 50% of the properties just value in the first year and reduced by 20% each succeeding year. HB 97 is in the House Military and Local Affairs Committee and SB 532 has not received a committee reference.
1.35% Property Tax Caps HB 385 (Rivera) and SB 738 (Bennett) is a proposed constitutional amendment that would restrict the aggregate taxation of on a parcel of real property to 1.35% of the property’s taxable value. This means that municipalities, counties, school boards and special districts would only be able to apply 13.5 mils to any piece of property in the aggregate. The legislature would have to pass implementing legislation to determine how the 13.5 mills would be split between the different governments. HB 385 is in the House Military and Local Affairs Policy Committee and SB 738 is in Senate Community Affairs.
Revenue Caps HB 905 (Flores) and SB 1906 (Haridopolos) propose a constitutional amendment to limit the collection of revenues by state and local government. Revenue growth for state and local governments would be capped by changes in population and inflation plus 1 percentage point. There is also a requirement that the legislature provide for an increase in the revenue limitation placed on local governments in order to comply with state and federal unfunded mandates. Neither bill has been placed on a committee agenda.
“Save Our Homes” Recapture SB 304 (Bennett) and SB 464 (Fasano) alter the application of the “Recapture” rule to real properties that are protected by Save Our Homes. SB 304 permits an increase in the assessed value of a homestead property only when there is in an increase in the market value of the property. SB 464 provides that any decrease in just value will result in a decrease in assessed value and if there is no change in the just value of the property there will be no change in the assessed value of the property. Both of these bills are in the Senate Community Affairs Committee. HB 1087 (Llorente) and SB 1164 (Fasano) propose a constitutional amendment that would prevent the increase of the assessed value of a homestead property if the just value of the property has declined. HB 1087 has not received a committee reference and SB 1164 is in Senate Community Affairs.
Public Construction Projects SB 616 (Haridopolos) and HB 611 (Hukill) require local governments to competitively bid any project to repair, construct or improve any public building or project in excess of $200,000. For road construction or improvement projects the threshold is $250,000. Maintenance projects of a limited scope are exempt from the mandatory bidding requirements. SB 616 and HB 611 authorize a local government to undertake the project using its own employees and equipment if the local government 1) receives bids that are all at least 10% greater than its cost estimate for the project, 2) holds a public hearing regarding the decision to undertake the project and, 3) can prove, using full cost accounting methods and other criteria, that it can perform the project at a cost lower than the lowest qualified bidder. Airports, ports and public transit systems owned by local government entities are exempt from the competitive bid requirements. HB 611 is in the House Roads, Bridges and Ports Policy Committee and SB 616 is in the Senate Community Affairs Committee.
Social Security Numbers SB 1838 (Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee) would make Social Security Numbers (SSNs) of current and former agency employees confidential and exempt from public records disclosure, raising the standard from merely exempt. The bill also specifies that an agency may not collect a SSN unless the agency identifies in writing the specific state or federal law governing the collection, use, and release of the SSN for each purpose for which the agency collects the SSN. Additionally, the bill provides a more specific definition of “commercial activity,” by tying it to federal law, to clarify when SSNs may be released to a commercial entity for commercial activity. SB 1838 has not yet been referred to a committee.
Impact Fee Moratorium SB 630 (Bennett) and HB 1129 (Grimsley) place a 3-year moratorium on impact fees. HB 1129 has not received a committee reference and SB 630 is in Senate Community Affairs.
Streamlined Sales Tax HB 329 (Rehwinkel Vasilinda) and SB 1134 (Lynn) revise state sales and use tax laws to meet requirements of the streamlined sales and use tax agreement. HB 329 is in the House Economic Development Policy Committee and SB 1134 is in the Senate Finance and Tax Committee.
Budget Transparency SB 594 (Aronberg), SB 1972 (Storms) and HB 971 (Hukill) require the state to establish a searchable data base for the purpose of posting all municipal, county, special district and state budgets. The bill would require municipalities to provide a link on the state-created website to the municipality’s budget. SB 594 is in the Senate Governmental Oversight and Accountability Committee. HB 971 and SB 1972 have not received a committee reference.
Financial Audits HB 931 (Schultz) and SB 1368 (Dean) reduce the timeframe for submission of annual local government financial audits and require that a link to all local government audit reports be provided on the Department of Revenue website. SB 1368 is in Senate Community Affairs and HB 931 has not received a committee reference.
Revenue Limitations & Voter Approval of new taxes and fees SB 1906 (Haridopolos) and HB 1263 (Flores) to limit state and local government revenues and require voter approval of new taxes and fees.
If you have any pending local legislation of interest to the parking industry, please let us know about it!