Florida Senate - 2019                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 336
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì164680.Î164680                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/18/2019           .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————




       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
       The Committee on Rules (Lee) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with directory and title amendments)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 30 - 64
    4  and insert:
    5         (c)1. The proposal to adopt a discretionary sales surtax as
    6  provided in this subsection and to create a trust fund within
    7  the county accounts shall be placed on the ballot in accordance
    8  with law and must be approved in a referendum held at a general
    9  election in accordance with subsection (10) at a time to be set
   10  at the discretion of the governing body.
   11         2. If the proposal to adopt a surtax is by initiative, the
   12  petition sponsor must, at least 180 days before the proposed
   13  referendum, comply with all of the following:
   14         a. Obtain an independent written legal opinion from an
   15  attorney who is a member in good standing of The Florida Bar
   16  which verifies that the proposed referendum complies with state
   17  law, and provide the proposed referendum and legal opinion to
   18  the governing body of the county. The county shall make the
   19  proposed referendum and legal opinion available on its official
   20  website.
   21         b. Provide a copy of the final resolution or ordinance to
   22  the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
   23  Accountability. The Office of Program Policy Analysis and
   24  Government Accountability shall procure a certified public
   25  accountant in accordance with subsection (10) for the
   26  performance audit.
   27         c. File the initiative petition and its required valid
   28  signatures with the supervisor of elections. The supervisor of
   29  elections shall verify signatures and retain signature forms in
   30  the same manner as required for initiatives under s. 100.371(3).
   31         3. The failure of an initiative sponsor to comply with the
   32  requirements of subparagraph 2. renders any referendum held
   33  void.
   34         (5) COUNTY PUBLIC HOSPITAL SURTAX.—Any county as defined in
   35  s. 125.011(1) may levy the surtax authorized in this subsection
   36  pursuant to an ordinance either approved by extraordinary vote
   37  of the county commission or conditioned to take effect only upon
   38  approval by a majority vote of the electors of the county voting
   39  in a referendum. In a county as defined in s. 125.011(1), for
   40  the purposes of this subsection, “county public general
   41  hospital” means a general hospital as defined in s. 395.002
   42  which is owned, operated, maintained, or governed by the county
   43  or its agency, authority, or public health trust.
   44         (b) If the ordinance is conditioned on a referendum, the
   45  proposal to adopt the county public hospital surtax shall be
   46  placed on the ballot in accordance with subsection (10) law at a
   47  time to be set at the discretion of the governing body. The
   48  referendum question on the ballot shall include a brief general
   49  description of the health care services to be funded by the
   50  surtax.
   51         (8) EMERGENCY FIRE RESCUE SERVICES AND FACILITIES SURTAX.—
   52         (b) Upon the adoption of the ordinance, the levy of the
   53  surtax must be placed on the ballot by the governing authority
   54  of the county enacting the ordinance. The ordinance will take
   55  effect if approved by a majority of the electors of the county
   56  voting in a referendum held for such purpose. The referendum
   57  shall be placed on the ballot of a general regularly scheduled
   58  election. The ballot for the referendum must conform to the
   59  requirements of s. 101.161.
   60         (10) DATES FOR REFERENDA.—A referendum to adopt or amend a
   61  local government discretionary sales surtax under this section
   62  must be held at a general election as defined in s. 97.021.
   63         (11)(10) PERFORMANCE AUDIT.—
   64         (a) For any referendum held on or after March 23, 2018, To
   65  adopt a discretionary sales surtax under this section, an
   66  independent certified public accountant licensed pursuant to
   67  chapter 473 shall conduct a performance audit of the program
   68  associated with the proposed surtax adoption proposed by the
   69  county or school district.
   70         (b)1.At least 180 days before the referendum is held, the
   71  county or school district shall provide a copy of the final
   72  resolution or ordinance to the Office of Program Policy Analysis
   73  and Government Accountability.
   74         2. Within 30 days after receiving the final resolution or
   75  ordinance, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
   76  Accountability shall procure the certified public accountant and
   77  may use carryforward funds to pay for the services of the
   78  certified public accountant.
   79         3.(b) At least 60 days before the referendum is held, the
   80  performance audit must shall be completed and the audit report,
   81  including any findings, recommendations, or other accompanying
   82  documents, must shall be made available on the official website
   83  of the county or school district.
   84         4. The county or school district shall keep the information
   85  on its website for 2 years from the date it was posted.
   86         5. The failure to comply with the requirements under
   87  subparagraph 1. or subparagraph 3. renders any referendum held
   88  to adopt a discretionary sales surtax void.
   89         (c) For purposes of this subsection, the term “performance
   90  audit” means an examination of the program conducted according
   91  to applicable government auditing standards or auditing and
   92  evaluation standards of other appropriate authoritative bodies.
   93  At a minimum, a performance audit must include an examination of
   94  issues related to the following:
   95         1. The economy, efficiency, or effectiveness of the
   96  program.
   97         2. The structure or design of the program to accomplish its
   98  goals and objectives.
   99         3. Alternative methods of providing program services or
  100  products.
  101         4. Goals, objectives, and performance measures used by the
  102  program to monitor and report program accomplishments.
  103         5. The accuracy or adequacy of public documents, reports,
  104  and requests prepared by the county or school district which
  105  relate to the program.
  106         6. Compliance of the program with appropriate policies,
  107  rules, and laws.
  108         (d) This subsection does not apply to a referendum held to
  109  adopt the same discretionary surtax that was in place during the
  110  month of December immediately before the date of the referendum.
  111  
  112  ====== D I R E C T O R Y  C L A U S E  A M E N D M E N T ======
  113  And the directory clause is amended as follows:
  114         Delete lines 9 - 14
  115  and insert:
  116         Section 1. Present subsection (10) of section 212.055,
  117  Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (11) and
  118  amended, a new subsection (10) is added to that section, and
  119  paragraph (c) of subsection (1), paragraph (b) of subsection
  120  (5), and paragraph (b) of subsection (8) are amended, to read:
  121  
  122  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  123  And the title is amended as follows:
  124         Delete line 5
  125  and insert:
  126         at a general election; requiring a petition sponsor of
  127         an initiative to adopt a charter county and regional
  128         transportation system surtax to comply with specified
  129         requirements within a specified timeframe before the
  130         proposed referendum; requiring a county to make the
  131         proposed referendum and a specified legal opinion
  132         available on its official website; requiring the
  133         Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
  134         Accountability, upon receiving a certain notice, to
  135         procure a certified public accountant for a
  136         performance audit; requiring a supervisor of elections
  137         to verify petition signatures and retain signature
  138         forms in a specified manner; providing that an
  139         initiative sponsor’s failure to comply with the
  140         specified requirements renders any referendum held
  141         void; revising requirements and procedures for
  142         counties, school districts, and the office relating to
  143         performance audits; providing that the failure to
  144         comply with certain requirements renders any
  145         referendum held to adopt a discretionary sales surtax
  146         void; providing an effective date.