HB 0883

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to the Lake County Water Authority
3district; amending, codifying, reenacting, and repealing
4chapter 29222, Laws of Florida, 1953, as amended;
5codifying special acts relating to the district in
6conformity to s. 189.429, F.S.; providing district
7boundaries; providing purposes; providing for a governing
8body and prescribing its powers, duties, functions,
9membership, and organization; providing duties of
10constitutional officers in Lake County with respect to the
11authority; repealing chapter 29222, Laws of Florida, 1953,
12and chapters 57-1484, 59-1466, 63-1507, 65-1787, 69-1209,
132000-492, 2003-376, Florida Statutes, relating to the
14district; providing an effective date.
15
16Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
17
18     Section 1.  Pursuant to section 189.429, Florida Statutes,
19this act constitutes the codification of all special acts
20relating to the Lake County Water Authority district. It is the
21intent of the Legislature in enacting this law to provide a
22single act for the district. It is further the intent of the
23Legislature to preserve all district authority, including the
24authority to annually assess and levy taxes or assessments
25against all assessable property in the district.
26     Section 2.  Chapter 29222, Laws of Florida, 1953, and
27chapters 57-1484, 59-1466, 63-1507, 65-1787, 69-1209, 2000-492,
28and 2003-376, Laws of Florida, relating to the Lake County Water
29Authority, are codified, amended, enacted, and repealed as
30provided in this act.
31     Section 3.  The charter for the Lake County Water Authority
32district is re-created and reenacted to read:
33     Section 1.  Purpose.--For the purposes of controlling and
34conserving the freshwater resources of Lake County; fostering
35and improving the tourist business in the county by improvements
36to the streams, lakes, and canals in the county; providing
37recreational facilities for the tourists and citizens and
38taxpayers of the county by a more efficient use of the streams,
39lakes, and canals in the county; preserving, protecting, and
40improving the fish and wildlife of the county; and protecting
41the freshwater resources of Lake County through assisting local
42governments in treatment of stormwater runoff, there is created
43and incorporated a special taxing district extending
44territorially throughout the present limits of Lake County,
45Florida. The district shall be known and designated as "The Lake
46County Water Authority," but shall hereafter in this act, for
47convenience, be referred to as "the authority."
48     Section 2.  Territorial limits.--The territorial limits of
49the authority shall be coterminous with the boundaries of Lake
50County.
51     Section 3.  County purpose.--Each of the purposes for which
52the authority is created is declared to be a county purpose, for
53the accomplishment of which taxes upon all real and personal
54property within the territorial limits of the authority are by
55this act authorized to be levied, assessed, and collected.
56     Section 4.  Governing board; elections; surety.--A
57governing body for the authority is created, consisting of seven
58members who are residents of Lake County, which body shall be
59known and designated as the "Board of Trustees of the Lake
60County Water Authority," but which shall be referred to as "the
61board." Five of the members must each reside in a geographic
62area identical to a county commission district, to be elected by
63the electors of the county at large. Two of the members will be
64elected by the electors of the county at large without regard to
65their residence. On the second Tuesday following the general
66election in 2000, the term of office of each person serving on
67the board immediately before that date expires, and the members
68of the board shall be elected by the electors of Lake County in
69partisan elections conducted by the supervisor of elections
70pursuant to section 189.405, Florida Statutes, in accordance
71with the Florida Election Code, chapters 97 through 106, Florida
72Statutes, beginning with the general election in 2000, for terms
73of 4 years beginning on the second Tuesday following the general
74election. For purposes of staggering terms, the members elected
75in 2000 from odd-numbered areas and the at-large member
76receiving the higher number of votes shall be elected to 4-year
77terms and the members elected from even-numbered areas and the
78at-large member receiving the lower number of votes shall be
79elected to 2-year terms. Thereafter, each member shall be
80elected for a term of 4 years, except that a person may not be
81elected to more than two consecutive 4-year terms. At the first
82meeting in December of each year or, during a year in which
83there is a general election, at a meeting held no later than 30
84days after the general election if the meeting and the election
85of officers have been advertised properly, the board shall
86select one of their number as chair and one as vice chair of the
87board. The Clerk of the Circuit Court of Lake County shall act
88as secretary and treasurer of the board without any additional
89compensation. In the event the provision pertaining to the
90duties of the clerk of the circuit court is for any reason held
91to be invalid, the board may select one of its members to serve
92as its secretary and treasurer, or it may appoint a nonmember of
93the board as its secretary and treasurer and such nonmember
94shall receive compensation commensurate with the
95responsibilities as determined by the board. The board shall
96select a nonmember to serve as executive director of the
97authority, and such nonmember shall receive compensation
98commensurate with the responsibilities as determined by the
99board. The board shall require a surety bond of any person,
100including the clerk of the circuit court, who shall act as
101secretary and treasurer of the board. The amount of the surety
102bond will be determined by the board. This bond shall be in
103addition to any bond furnished by such person as clerk of the
104circuit court or as a member of the board. The premium of the
105bond shall be paid by the board as a necessary expense of
106operation.
107     Section 5.  Surety bond.--Each member of the board, before
108assuming his or her duties, shall give a good and sufficient
109surety bond in the sum of $2,500 payable to the Governor of the
110State of Florida and his or her successors in office,
111conditioned upon the faithful performance of his or her duties
112as a member of the board. Such bond must be approved by and
113filed with the Chief Financial Officer of the State of Florida,
114and the premium or premiums for such bond shall be paid by the
115board as a necessary expense.
116     Section 6.  Quorum; majority vote; entitlement to
117vote.--Four members of the board shall constitute a quorum for
118the transaction of business. A majority vote of all members
119present shall be necessary in order to authorize any action by
120the board. The chair shall be entitled to vote on all questions.
121     Section 7.  Board compensation.--Each member of the board
122shall receive $25 per day as compensation for his or her
123services when performing his or her duties.
124     Section 8.  Expenses.--Each member of the board and its
125engineers, auditors, attorneys, agents, and employees shall be
126paid their actual expenses incurred when engaged on business of
127the authority, but such expenses shall not be paid unless
128payment has been authorized and approved. The board may
129authorize and approve the payment of any expense, or it may
130delegate to the executive director the power to authorize such
131payment as long as, at the time it makes the delegation, it
132approves parameters, including, but not limited to, parameters
133on the amount that may be expended, within which the executive
134director may exercise that power. A separate delegation must be
135made with respect to any expenditure or class of expenditures.
136     Section 9.  Powers of board.--
137     (a)  The board has all the powers of a body corporate,
138including, but not limited to, the power to sue and be sued; to
139make contracts; to adopt and use a common seal and to alter the
140same as deemed expedient; to buy, acquire by condemnation or
141eminent domain in the manner prescribed for use by counties in
142Florida, sell, own, use, control, operate, improve, and lease
143all land and personal property as the board deems necessary or
144proper in carrying out the provisions of this act; to appoint
145and employ, and dismiss at pleasure, such engineers, auditors,
146attorneys, and other employees and agents as the board may
147require, and to fix and pay the compensation thereof; to
148establish an office for the transaction of its business in the
149City of Tavares or any other municipality in Lake County and to
150pay all necessary costs and expenses incident to the
151administration and operation thereof; and to pay all other costs
152and expenses reasonably necessary or expedient in carrying out
153and accomplishing the purposes of this act.
154     (b)  The authority may acquire by purchase, gift, lease,
155condemnation, eminent domain, or any other manner such lands
156within the territorial extent of the authority as are reasonably
157necessary for constructing and maintaining the works and making
158the improvements required to carry out the intent of this act,
159including, without limitation, the right to acquire by
160condemnation or eminent domain such lands and any interest
161therein reasonably necessary for any such purpose which may
162already be devoted to public use for county, municipal,
163district, railroad, or public utility purposes where and to the
164extent that the same may cross, intersect, or be situate upon or
165within the area of such land hereinbefore referred to. The
166authority shall also have the right to acquire by purchase,
167gift, lease, condemnation, or eminent domain, or in any other
168manner, land, timber, earth, rock, and other materials or
169property, and property rights, including riparian rights, in
170such amounts as are reasonably necessary or useful in the
171development of the works or improvements before referred to.
172Condemnation or eminent domain proceedings shall be maintained
173by and in the name of the authority, and the procedure shall be,
174except insofar as is altered hereby, that prescribed for use by
175counties in Florida.
176     (c)  The authority may take, exclusively occupy, use, and
177possess, insofar as is necessary for carrying out the provisions
178of this act, any areas of land owned by the state and within the
179territorial jurisdiction of the authority, not in use for state
180purposes, including, without limitation, swamps and overflowed
181lands, bottoms of streams, lakes, and rivers, and the riparian
182rights thereto pertaining, and, when so taken and occupied, due
183notice of such taking and occupancy having been filed with the
184Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund of the state by
185the authority, such areas of land are granted to and shall be
186the property of the authority. For the purposes of this section,
187the meaning of the term "use" shall include the removal of
188material from and the placing of material on any such land. In
189case it is held by any court of competent jurisdiction that
190there are any lands owned by the state which may not be so
191granted, the provisions of this section shall continue in full
192force and effect as to all other lands owned by the state and
193granted to the authority under this section. The provisions of
194this section are subject to all laws and regulations of the
195United States of America with respect to navigable waters.
196     (d)  In addition to all other powers conferred upon by the
197board by this act, the board may enlarge, change, modify, or
198improve any stream, lake, or canal within the territorial limits
199of the authority and may clean out, straighten, enlarge, or
200change the course of any waterway or canal, natural or
201artificial, within the territorial limits of the authority; may
202provide such canals, locks, levees, dikes, dams, sluiceways,
203reservoirs, holding basins, floodways, pumping stations,
204buildings, bridges, highways, and other works and facilities
205that the board deems necessary; may cross any highway or railway
206with works of the district and hold, control, and acquire by
207donation, lease, purchase, or otherwise any land or personal
208property needed for carrying out the purpose of this act and may
209remove any building or other obstruction necessary for the
210construction, maintenance, and operation of such works. The
211improvements made or to be made under this act are sometimes
212referred to in this act as "the works" of the board. The board
213shall also have power to operate any and all works and
214improvements of the authority. The provisions of this section
215are subject to all laws and regulations of the United States of
216America with respect to navigable waters.
217     (e)  The board may take possession of and control, use,
218operate, and maintain all streams, lakes, canals, dams, locks,
219levees, dikes, sluiceways, reservoirs, holding basins,
220floodways, pumping stations, buildings, bridges, highways,
221navigation, and conservation works, and other works and
222facilities within the territorial limits of the authority to the
223extent only that such possession, control, and use have been
224deemed by the board, in its sole discretion, to be useful and
225necessary in carrying out the purposes of this act. Such
226possession, control, and use are subject to the rights of
227persons, firms, and corporations and the rights of Lake County
228and municipalities, districts, and political bodies in Lake
229County (which rights may be acquired by the authority by
230condemnation or eminent domain as provided for by this act).
231     (f)  The authority shall control all streams, including
232slow-moving streams, flowing from any of the water reservoirs in
233Lake County, whether natural or constructed, into the system of
234lakes and streams in or adjacent to Lake County for the
235protection of the natural water reservoirs and the adjacent and
236neighboring areas.
237     (g)  The board may grant licenses or permits for the
238construction and excavation of canals and ditches connecting
239with navigable waters; may establish, adopt, and administer
240rules governing the construction and excavation of canals and
241ditches with authority to prohibit any construction deemed by
242the board to be detrimental to the best interests of the public
243or purposes for which the authority was established; may do any
244and all things hereinafter authorized or required to be done;
245and may do any and all things, whether or not included in the
246powers enumerated in this act, necessary to accomplish the
247purposes of this act.
248     (h)  The board may enter into any agreement or contract
249with the Federal Government or the state, or any agency,
250political subdivision, or instrumentality of either; and
251counties adjoining Lake County; and municipalities and taxing
252districts in Lake County and in counties adjoining Lake County
253for the purpose of carrying out, or which in the judgment of the
254board may assist it in carrying out, the purposes of this act.
255     Section 10.  Receipt or use of property.--Lake County and
256all municipalities, districts, political bodies, and political
257subdivisions of the state in Lake County are severally
258authorized to grant, convey, or transfer to, and permit the use
259of by, the authority upon such terms and conditions as are
260agreeable to the governing bodies thereof real and personal
261property belonging to them which is necessary or useful to the
262authority in carrying out the purposes of this act.
263     Section 11.  Authority funds; warrants.--All authority
264funds shall be deposited in a bank or banks or federal or state
265savings and loan association to be designated by the board, but
266before any authority moneys are deposited in such depositary or
267depositaries, security shall be furnished the authority ample to
268protect such deposits to the full extent and amount that such
269deposits are not otherwise protected or insured by the Federal
270Deposit Insurance Corporation or the Federal Savings and Loan
271Insurance Corporation. Funds of the authority shall be paid out
272only upon warrant signed by the treasurer of the authority and
273countersigned by the chair or vice chair. No warrants shall be
274drawn or issued disbursing any of the funds of the authority
275except for a purpose authorized by this act and only when the
276account or expenditure for which the same is to be given in
277payment has been audited and approved by the board.
278     Section 12.  Agreement with Internal Improvement Trust Fund
279Board of Trustees.--The board may enter into an agreement with
280the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund for
281procuring from the trustees a sum of money, not to exceed
282$250,000, to be applied toward the purposes for which the
283authority was created. The Board of Trustees of the Internal
284Improvement Trust Fund may make such sum available to the
285authority through its board by an agreement, the terms of which
286are satisfactory to the authority and the Board of Trustees.
287     Section 13.  Budget; millage levied; procedure.--The board
288may determine, annually on or before October 1, by resolution
289the amount of money that will be required to carry out the
290purposes of this act for the next ensuing fiscal year (which
291fiscal year shall be the same as that of Lake County) and the
292millage that will be required to be levied to produce the amount
293of money set forth in the resolution; however, the determination
294of the amount of money to be raised and the millage to be levied
295may be delayed until the board receives the necessary
296information. Immediately upon the adoption of the resolution a
297certified copy thereof shall be furnished to the Board of County
298Commissioners of Lake County, and the Board of County
299Commissioners of Lake County shall, for the year named in the
300certified copy of the resolution, levy, assess, collect, and
301enforce taxes upon all taxable real and personal property within
302the authority. The procedure to be followed to accomplish the
303purpose of this section shall be as follows:
304     (a)  Assessment of property shall be as provided by general
305law.
306     (b)  The board shall by resolution determine the total
307amount to be raised by taxation in such year upon the taxable
308property within the authority and shall, in and by such
309resolution, fix and determine the millage on each dollar
310valuation of property on the assessment rolls, which, when
311levied, will raise the amount so determined as the total amount
312to be raised by taxation in that year, and in and by such
313resolution the board shall direct the Board of County
314Commissioners to levy, assess, and fix such millage as the rate
315of taxation upon all the taxable real and personal property
316within the authority.
317     (c)  A certified copy of such tax resolution executed in
318the name of the authority by its chair or vice chair and
319attested by its secretary, under its corporate seal, shall
320immediately be delivered to the Board of County Commissioners of
321Lake County.
322     (d)  It shall be the duty of the Board of County
323Commissioners, each year: (1) to levy, assess, and fix the
324millage and the rate of taxation upon all the taxable real and
325personal property within the authority as set forth in the
326certified copy of the resolution of the board, (2) to certify
327the millage to the Department of Revenue of the State of
328Florida, and (3) to order the property appraiser of the county
329to levy and assess, and the county tax collector to collect, a
330tax at the millage fixed by the Board of County Commissioners
331upon all of the taxable real and personal property within the
332authority for the year, and the levies and assessments shall be
333included in the tax roll and warrant of the property appraiser
334of the county for each fiscal year thereafter. The tax collector
335of the county shall collect such taxes so levied by the Board of
336County Commissioners for the authority in lawful money of the
337United States of America in the same manner and at the same time
338as county taxes are collected and shall pay and remit the same
339upon collection to the board.
340     (e)  The Property Appraiser, Tax Collector, and Board of
341County Commissioners of Lake County and the Department of
342Revenue shall, when requested by the board, prepare from their
343official records and deliver to the board any and all
344information that may be requested from time to time from them
345regarding the tax valuations, levies, assessments, or
346collections in such county.
347     Section 14.  Collection of taxes; enforcement.--All taxes
348levied and assessed by the Board of County Commissioners of Lake
349County for the authority (beginning with the year 1953) shall be
350collected and the enforcement thereof shall be at the same time
351and in the same manner as other county taxes are collected and
352enforced and when so collected shall be paid over to the board
353for its use pursuant to this act.
354     Section 15.  Borrowing of funds; bond issuance.--
355     (a)  The board may borrow money at such time or times as it
356deems necessary to carry out the purposes of this act and to
357execute and deliver its promissory note or notes therefor
358bearing interest as fixed by the board; however, the board shall
359not borrow any sum of money or give its promissory note therefor
360for a period of time longer than 1 year, and the total amount of
361money borrowed and outstanding may not exceed $35,000 at any one
362time.
363     (b)  The board may issue bonds payable solely from revenues
364of the authority. The value of all such bonds outstanding at any
365time may not exceed an amount equal to one-third of the
366authority's anticipated revenues for the period for which the
367bonds are outstanding. Revenue bonds may not be issued unless
368their issuance has been approved by a majority of those electors
369of the authority voting in a referendum in which the ballot
370statement describes in detail the purpose for which the bonds
371will be issued.
372     Section 16.  Financial statement.--At least once in each
373year the board shall publish in some newspaper published in Lake
374County a complete detailed statement of its financial condition,
375including a list of all moneys received and disbursed by the
376board during the preceding year.
377     Section 17.  Exemption of authority property.--All real and
378personal property owned, leased, controlled, or used by the
379authority is exempt from all county, municipal, taxing district,
380and other ad valorem taxes and special assessments for benefits.
381     Section 18.  Construction.--It is the intention of the
382Legislature that the provisions of this act be liberally
383construed to accomplish its purposes.
384     Section 19.  Plan; annual report.--
385     (a)  The authority shall prepare a plan that describes the
386authority's goals for the ensuing 5 years. The plan must include
387projects that will be undertaken within that period in
388furtherance of its goals. The authority shall update the plan
389periodically.
390     (b)  The authority shall prepare a report annually which
391includes an evaluation and assessment of the effectiveness of
392the authority's activities in the preceding year. The report
393must address both ongoing activities of the authority and the
394progress in meeting goals and projects enumerated in the 5-year
395plan.
396     Section 20.  Charter amendment.--The district's charter may
397be amended only by the Legislature.
398     Section 4.  Chapter 29222, Laws of Florida, 1953, and
399chapters 57-1484, 59-1466, 63-1507, 65-1787, 69-1209, 2000-492,
400and 2003-376, Florida Statutes, are repealed.
401     Section 5.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.


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