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The Florida Senate

2024 Florida Statutes

Title XIII PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 189 UNIFORM SPECIAL DISTRICT ACCOUNTABILITY ACT Entire Chapter
SECTION 072
Dissolution of an independent special district.
F.S. 189.072
189.072 Dissolution of an independent special district.—
(1) VOLUNTARY DISSOLUTION.—If the governing body of an independent special district created and operating pursuant to a special act elects, by a majority vote plus one, to dissolve the district, the voluntary dissolution of an independent special district created and operating pursuant to a special act may be effectuated only by the Legislature unless otherwise provided by general law.
(2) OTHER DISSOLUTIONS.—
(a) In order for the Legislature to dissolve an active independent special district created and operating pursuant to a special act, the special act dissolving the active independent special district must be approved by a majority of the resident electors of the district or, for districts in which a majority of governing body members are elected by landowners, a majority of the landowners voting in the same manner by which the independent special district’s governing body is elected. If a local general-purpose government passes an ordinance or resolution in support of the dissolution, the local general-purpose government must pay any expenses associated with the referendum required under this paragraph.
(b) If an independent special district was created by a county or municipality by referendum or any other procedure, the county or municipality that created the district may dissolve the district pursuant to a referendum or any other procedure by which the independent special district was created. However, if the independent special district has ad valorem taxation powers, the same procedure required to grant the independent special district ad valorem taxation powers is required to dissolve the district.
(3) INACTIVE INDEPENDENT SPECIAL DISTRICTS.—An independent special district that meets any criteria for being declared inactive pursuant to s. 189.062 may be dissolved by special act without a referendum. If an inactive independent special district was created by a county or municipality through a referendum, the county or municipality that created the district may dissolve the district after publishing notice as described in s. 189.062.
(4) DEBTS AND ASSETS.—Financial allocations of the assets and indebtedness of a dissolved independent special district shall be pursuant to s. 189.076.
(5) EXEMPTION.—The provisions of this section do not apply to any entity created pursuant to the Florida Expressway Authority Act, derived from chapter 90-136, Laws of Florida, and subsequently repealed by chapter 2019-169, Laws of Florida.
History.—s. 8, ch. 97-255; s. 1, ch. 98-320; s. 142, ch. 2001-266; s. 1, ch. 2012-16; s. 19, ch. 2014-22; s. 18, ch. 2016-22; s. 28, ch. 2023-70.
Note.—Former s. 189.4042(3).