House Bill 1139

    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HB 1139

        By Representative Farkas






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to Pinellas County; amending

  3         Article VI of the Home Rule Charter for

  4         Pinellas County, as created by chapter 80-590,

  5         Laws of Florida; adding s. 6.04 to provide that

  6         any charter amendment proposed by the Pinellas

  7         County Commission pursuant to s. 6.01, by

  8         citizens' initiative under s. 6.02, or by a

  9         Charter Review Commission pursuant to s. 6.03

10         shall be placed on the ballot for voter

11         approval or rejection in accordance with the

12         requirements of the Charter and without

13         necessity of prior reference to or approval by

14         the Legislature; providing for a special

15         referendum; providing a ballot question;

16         providing an effective date.

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18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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20         Section 1.  Section 6.04 is added to Article VI of the

21  Home Rule Charter for Pinellas County as created by chapter

22  80-590, Laws of Florida, to read:

23         ARTICLE VI - CHARTER AMENDMENTS.

24         Section 6.04  Any other section of the Pinellas County

25  Charter, chapter 80-590, Laws of Florida, notwithstanding,

26  except for any proposed amendments affecting the status,

27  duties, or responsibilities of the county officers referenced

28  in ss. 2.06 and 4.03 of this Charter, charter amendments

29  proposed under s. 6.01 (proposed by Pinellas County

30  Commission), s. 6.02 (proposed by citizens' initiative), or s.

31  6.03 (proposed by a Charter Review Commission) shall be placed

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 1999                HB 1139

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  1  directly on the ballot for approval or rejection by the voters

  2  and it shall not be a requirement that any such proposed

  3  amendments need to be referred to or approved by the

  4  Legislature prior to any such placement on the ballot.

  5  However, any charter amendment affecting any change in

  6  function, service, power, or regulatory authority of a county,

  7  municipality, or special district may be transferred to or

  8  performed by another county, municipality, or special district

  9  only after approval by vote of the electors of each transferor

10  and approval by vote of the electors of each transferee. Such

11  amendments proposed by the Board of County Commissioners must

12  be approved by ordinance passed by a majority plus one member.

13  The power to amend, revise, or repeal this Charter by

14  citizens' initiative shall not include amendments relating to

15  the county budget, debt obligations, capital improvement

16  programs, salaries of county officers and employees, the levy

17  or collection of taxes, or the rezoning of less than 5 percent

18  of the total land area of the county.

19         Section 2.  In accordance with the requirements of s.

20  101.161, Florida Statutes, and section 1 of this act, the

21  supervisor of elections of Pinellas County shall place the

22  title and substance of the referendum on the ballot as

23  follows:

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25         CERTAIN PROPOSED CHARTER AMENDMENTS TO GO ON

26         THE BALLOT WITHOUT REFERENCE TO THE STATE

27         LEGISLATURE

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29  Shall Article VI of the Pinellas County Charter be amended by

30  adding section 6.04 to provide that charter amendments, except

31  for amendments related to the status of constitutional

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  1  officers, proposed by the Board of County Commissioners, by

  2  citizens' initiative (with limitations), or by a Charter

  3  Review Commission be placed directly on the ballot for

  4  presentation to the voters without necessity of prior referral

  5  to or approval by the Legislature?

  6         .... YES

  7         .... NO

  8         Section 3.  This act shall take effect only upon its

  9  approval by a majority vote of those qualified electors of

10  Pinellas County voting in a special referendum election to be

11  held before November 30, 1999.

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