The Florida Senate

287.064  Consolidated financing of deferred-payment purchases.--

(1)  The Division of Bond Finance of the State Board of Administration and the Comptroller shall plan and coordinate deferred-payment purchases made by or on behalf of the state or its agencies or by or on behalf of state community colleges participating under this section pursuant to s. 1001.64(26). The Division of Bond Finance shall negotiate and the Comptroller shall execute agreements and contracts to establish master equipment financing agreements for consolidated financing of deferred-payment, installment sale, or lease purchases with a financial institution or a consortium of financial institutions. As used in this act, the term "deferred-payment" includes installment sale and lease-purchase.

(a)  The period during which equipment may be acquired under any one master equipment financing agreement shall be limited to not more than 3 years.

(b)  Repayment of the whole or a part of the funds drawn pursuant to the master equipment financing agreement may continue beyond the period established pursuant to paragraph (a).

(c)  The interest rate component of any master equipment financing agreement shall be deemed to comply with the interest rate limitation imposed in s. 287.063 so long as the interest rate component of every interagency or community college agreement entered into under such master equipment financing agreement complies with the interest rate limitation imposed in s. 287.063 Such interest rate limitation does not apply when the payment obligation under the master equipment financing agreement is rated by a nationally recognized rating service in any one of the three highest classifications, which rating services and classifications are determined pursuant to rules adopted by the Comptroller.

(2)  Unless specifically exempted by the Comptroller, all deferred-payment purchases, including those made by a community college that is participating under this section, shall be acquired by funding through master equipment financing agreements. The Comptroller is authorized to exempt any purchases from consolidated financing when, in his or her judgment, alternative financing would be cost-effective or otherwise beneficial to the state.

(3)  The Comptroller may require agencies to enter into interagency agreements and may require participating community colleges to enter into systemwide agreements for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act.

(a)  The term of any interagency or systemwide agreement shall expire on June 30 of each fiscal year but shall automatically be renewed annually subject to appropriations and deferred-payment schedules. The period of any interagency or systemwide agreement shall not exceed the useful life of the equipment for which the agreement was made as determined by the Comptroller.

(b)  The interagency or systemwide agreements may include, but are not limited to, equipment costs, terms, and a pro rata share of program and issuance expenses.

(4)  Each community college may choose to have its purchasing agreements involving administrative and instructional materials consolidated under this section.

(5)  The Comptroller is authorized to automatically debit each agency's funds and each community college's portion of the Community College Program Fund consistently with the deferred-payment schedules.

(6)  There is created the Consolidated Payment Trust Fund in the Comptroller's office for the purpose of implementing the provisions of this act. All funds debited from each agency and each community college may be deposited in the trust fund and shall be used to meet the financial obligations incurred pursuant to this act. Any income from the investment of funds may be used to fund administrative costs associated with this program.

(7)  The Comptroller may borrow sufficient amounts from trust funds to pay issuance expenses for the purposes of administering this section. Such amounts shall be subject to approval of the Executive Office of the Governor and subject to the notice, review, and objection procedures of s. 216.177 The amounts approved pursuant to this subsection are hereby appropriated for transfer to the Consolidated Payment Trust Fund and appropriated from the Consolidated Payment Trust Fund to pay issuance expenses. Amounts loaned shall be repaid as soon as practicable not to exceed the length of time obligations are issued to establish the master equipment financing agreement.

(8)  The State Board of Administration and the Comptroller, individually, shall adopt rules to implement their respective responsibilities under this section.

(9)  For purposes of this section, deferred-payment commodity contracts for replacing the state accounting and cash management systems may include equipment, accounting software, and implementation and project management services.

History.--s. 26, ch. 85-349; s. 10, ch. 86-204; s. 2, ch. 88-359; s. 10, ch. 90-203; s. 20, ch. 90-268; s. 254, ch. 92-279; s. 55, ch. 92-326; s. 214, ch. 95-148; ss. 18, 38, ch. 98-46; s. 56, ch. 99-13; s. 14, ch. 2000-157; s. 5, ch. 2000-340; s. 2, ch. 2002-62; s. 945, ch. 2002-387.