HB 1101 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to rural land protection; amending s.
3	201.15, F.S.; providing for the distribution of certain
4	excise taxes on documents to the Rural Lands Program Trust
5	Fund of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
6	Services; creating s. 215.6195, F.S.; authorizing the
7	issuance of bonds for rural land protection; providing
8	certain conditions; providing for the deposit of proceeds;
9	amending s. 570.207, F.S.; providing uses for funds in the
10	Conservation and Recreation Lands Program Trust Fund;
11	amending s. 570.70, F.S.; providing conclusions of a study
12	by the department; amending s. 570.71, F.S.; authorizing
13	the use of rural land protection bonds to implement
14	provisions relating to conservation and rural land
15	protection easements and agreements; providing a
16	contingent effective date.
17
18	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
19
20	Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section
21	201.15, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
22	201.15 Distribution of taxes collected.--All taxes
23	collected under this chapter shall be distributed as follows and
24	shall be subject to the service charge imposed in s. 215.20(1),
25	except that such service charge shall not be levied against any
26	portion of taxes pledged to debt service on bonds to the extent
27	that the amount of the service charge is required to pay any
28	amounts relating to the bonds:
29	(1) Sixty-two and sixty-three hundredths percent of the
30	remaining taxes collected under this chapter shall be used for
31	the following purposes:
32	(d) The remainder of the moneys distributed under this
33	subsection, after the required payments under paragraphs (a),
34	(b), and (c), shall be paid into the State Treasury to the
35	credit of the General Revenue Fund of the state to be used and
36	expended for the purposes for which the General Revenue Fund was
37	created and exists by law,orto the Ecosystem Management and
38	Restoration Trust Fund or to the Marine Resources Conservation
39	Trust Fund as provided in subsection (11), or to the Rural Lands
40	Program Trust Fund of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
41	Services pursuant to s. 215.619. Moneys available under this
42	paragraph shall first be used to pay debt service due on any
43	rural land protection bond or to make any other payments
44	required pursuant to the bond documents authorizing the issuance
45	before such moneys are used for other purposes authorized by
46	this paragraph.
47	Section 2. Section 215.6195, Florida Statutes, is created
48	to read:
49	215.6195 Bonds for rural land protection.--
50	(1) The issuance of rural land protection bonds not
51	exceeding $1 billion is authorized. The rural land protection
52	bonds may be issued over the next 10 fiscal years commencing on
53	July 1, 2003, in an amount not exceeding $100 million in any
54	fiscal year, subject to the provisions of s. 570.71 and pursuant
55	to s. 11(e), Art. VII of the State Constitution. The duration of
56	each series of bonds issued may not exceed 20 annual maturities.
57	(2) The state covenants with the holders of rural land
58	protection bonds that it will not take any action that will
59	materially and adversely affect the rights of such holders so
60	long as the bonds are outstanding, including, but not limited
61	to, a reduction in the portion of documentary stamp taxes
62	distributable to the Rural Lands Program Trust Fund of the
63	Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for payment of
64	debt service.
65	(3) Bonds issued pursuant to this section shall be payable
66	from taxes distributable to the Rural Lands Program Trust Fund
67	of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services pursuant
68	to s. 201.15(1)(d). Bonds issued pursuant to this section do not
69	constitute a general obligation of, or a pledge of the full
70	faith and credit of, the state.
71	(4) The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
72	shall request the Division of Bond Finance of the State Board of
73	Administration to issue the rural land protection bonds
74	authorized by this section. The Division of Bond Finance shall
75	issue such bonds pursuant to the State Bond Act.
76	(5) The proceeds from the sale of bonds issued pursuant to
77	this section, less the costs of issuance, the costs of funding
78	reserve accounts, and other costs with respect to the bonds,
79	shall be deposited into the Conservation and Recreation Lands
80	Program Trust Fund of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
81	Services as provided in s. 570.71.
82	(6) There shall be no sale, disposition, lease, easement,
83	license, or other use of any land, water areas, or related
84	property interests acquired or improved with proceeds of rural
85	land protection bonds which would cause all or any portion of
86	the interest of such bonds to lose the exclusion from gross
87	income for federal income tax purposes.
88	(7) The initial series of rural land protection bonds
89	shall be validated in addition to any other bonds required to be
90	validated pursuant to s. 215.82. Any complaint for validation of
91	bonds issued pursuant to this section shall be filed only in the
92	circuit court of the county where the seat of state government
93	is situated, the notice required to be published by s. 75.06
94	shall be published only in the county where the complaint is
95	filed, and the complaint and order of the circuit court shall be
96	served only on the state attorney of the circuit in which the
97	action is pending.
98	Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 570.207, Florida
99	Statutes, is amended to read:
100	570.207 Conservation and Recreation Lands Program Trust
101	Fund of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.--
102	(1) There is created a Conservation and Recreation Lands
103	Program Trust Fund within the Department of Agriculture and
104	Consumer Services. The purpose of the trust fund is to provide
105	for the management of conservation and recreation lands by the
106	department. Funds may be appropriated to the trust fund from the
107	Conservation and Recreation Lands Trust Fund in the Department
108	of Environmental Protection, as created by s. 259.032(2), or
109	from such other sources as the Legislature may determine for the
110	management of conservation and recreation lands by the
111	department. Additionally, subject to the provisions of s. 11(e),
112	Art. VII of the State Constitution, the department may use bond
113	proceeds deposited pursuant to s. 215.6195 and funds from such
114	other sources as the Legislature determines for the acquisition
115	of conservation easements and rural land protection easements
116	and for funding agricultural protection agreements and resource
117	conservation agreements pursuant to s. 570.71.
118	Section 4. Section 570.70, Florida Statutes, is amended to
119	read:
120	570.70 Legislative findings; study.--
121	(1)The Legislature finds and declares that:
122	(a)(1)A thriving rural economy with a strong agricultural
123	base, healthy natural environment, and viable rural communities
124	is an essential part of Florida. Rural areas also include the
125	largest remaining intact ecosystems and best examples of
126	remaining wildlife habitats as well as a majority of privately
127	owned land targeted by local, state, and federal agencies for
128	natural resource protection.
129	(b)(2)The growth of Florida's population can result in
130	agricultural and rural lands being converted into residential or
131	commercial development.
132	(c)(3)The agricultural, rural, natural resource, and
133	commodity values of rural lands are vital to the state's
134	economy, productivity, rural heritage, and quality of life.
135	(d)(4)There isThe Legislature further recognizesthe
136	need for enhancing the ability of rural landowners to obtain
137	economic value from their property, protecting rural character,
138	controlling urban sprawl, andproviding necessary open space for
139	agriculture and the natural environment, and the importance of
140	maintaining and protecting Florida's rural economy through
141	innovative planning and development strategies in rural areas
142	and the use of incentives that reward landowners for good
143	stewardship of land and natural resources.
144	(e)(5)The purpose of this act is to bring under public
145	protection lands that serve to limit subdivision and conversion
146	of agricultural and natural areas that provide economic, open
147	space, water, and wildlife benefits by acquiring land or related
148	interests in land such as perpetual, less-than-fee acquisitions,
149	agricultural protection agreements, and resource conservation
150	agreements and innovative planning and development strategies in
151	rural areas.
152	(2) A study conducted by the department to determine and
153	prioritize needs for implementing the provisions of this section
154	and s. 570.71 concluded the following:
155	(a) Between 1964 and 1997, Florida lost nearly 5 million
156	acres of valuable agricultural land, with most of the loss
157	involving ranch and forest lands.
158	(b) Florida currently has 9,114,000 acres of agricultural
159	land with natural resource attributes, including groundwater
160	recharge, natural floodplain, and significant species habitat,
161	and more than 900,000 acres of this land will be converted to
162	other uses within a decade.
163	(c) The objective of a program to protect agricultural
164	land with natural resource value through conservation easements
165	and other tools should be protection of 1 acre for every acre
166	lost.
167	Section 5. Subsection (12) of section 570.71, Florida
168	Statutes, is amended to read:
169	570.71 Conservation easements and agreements.--
170	(12) The department is authorized to use funds from the
171	following sources to implement this act:
172	(a) State funds;
173	(b) Rural land protection bonds as authorized by s.
174	215.6195;
175	(c)(b)Federal funds;
176	(d)(c)Other governmental entities;
177	(e)(d)Nongovernmental organizations; or
178	(f)(e)Private individuals.
179
180
181	Any such funds provided shall be deposited into the
182	Conservation and Recreation Lands Program Trust Fund within the
183	Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and used for the
184	purposes of this act.
185	Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003, if
186	House Bill _____ or similar legislation creating the Rural Lands
187	Program Trust Fund is adopted in the same legislative session or
188	an extension thereof and becomes law.