| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to special districts; providing |
| 3 | legislative intent; declaring that it is the policy of the |
| 4 | state to codify the charter of each independent and |
| 5 | dependent special district every 10 years; requiring each |
| 6 | governmental entity that creates an independent or |
| 7 | dependent special district to be responsible for the |
| 8 | subsequent examination of the charter; providing for the |
| 9 | periodic codification of the charter; providing criteria |
| 10 | for determining the performance of an independent or |
| 11 | dependent special district; requiring that the Legislature |
| 12 | dispose of the assets of a special district it abolishes |
| 13 | and assign the district's powers and duties; requiring |
| 14 | that the Department of Community Affairs confirm any |
| 15 | recommendation by a local governmental entity to abolish a |
| 16 | special district; requiring that the assets, powers, and |
| 17 | duties of the special district be transferred to the |
| 18 | county or counties in which the special district operates; |
| 19 | requiring each dependent and independent special district |
| 20 | to pay the costs of conducting the subsequent examination; |
| 21 | requiring that the examination be conducted by an outside |
| 22 | auditor in certain circumstances; providing the schedule |
| 23 | of special district codifications; providing procedures |
| 24 | with respect to newly created districts, to districts that |
| 25 | appear in more than one function classification, and to |
| 26 | districts the codification of which was omitted; creating |
| 27 | s. 218.395, F.S.; providing liability of a special |
| 28 | district officer or board member when an audit shows that |
| 29 | the officer or member is responsible for financial loss by |
| 30 | the special district through misfeasance, malfeasance, or |
| 31 | nonfeasance; providing that the special district has a |
| 32 | cause of action against the officer or member for recovery |
| 33 | of its loss; providing an effective date. |
| 34 |
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| 35 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 36 |
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| 37 | Section 1. It is the intent of the Legislature that the |
| 38 | charters of all dependent and independent special districts in |
| 39 | this state be codified under chapter 189, Florida Statutes, |
| 40 | every 10 years in order to conform their charters to current law |
| 41 | and ensure their effectiveness and usefulness to the people of |
| 42 | this state. The Legislature recognizes that not all special |
| 43 | districts are creations of the Legislature. However, the |
| 44 | Legislature determines that all dependent and independent |
| 45 | special districts must be subject to review if this examination |
| 46 | is to have the intended effect. |
| 47 | Section 2. The governmental entity that created a |
| 48 | dependent or independent special district is the entity |
| 49 | responsible for its subsequent examination. In conducting its |
| 50 | examination, the governmental entity must determine: |
| 51 | (1) The services provided by the special district. |
| 52 | (2) The degree to which the services delivered by the |
| 53 | special district are needed. |
| 54 | (3) Whether the special district is delivering services in |
| 55 | the most cost-effective manner. |
| 56 | (4) Whether the services delivered by the special district |
| 57 | duplicate services delivered by a governmental entity. |
| 58 | (5) Whether the persons administering the special district |
| 59 | have demonstrated an appropriate degree of stewardship and |
| 60 | fiscal responsibility over the public moneys received by the |
| 61 | district. |
| 62 | Section 3. To carry out the examination of dependent and |
| 63 | independent special districts, all special district charters |
| 64 | shall be codified according to the schedule in section 4. |
| 65 | (1) Each September 1, the agency that created the special |
| 66 | district must certify to the Department of Community Affairs |
| 67 | those special district charters that are to be codified on |
| 68 | October 1 of the following year. |
| 69 | (2)(a) If a dependent or independent special district was |
| 70 | created by the Legislature, the certification must be made by |
| 71 | the Legislature. The Legislature shall review each such special |
| 72 | district charter and may revive, revive with modifications in |
| 73 | structure or powers, or both, or abolish the charter. If the |
| 74 | Legislature abolishes the special district charter, it must |
| 75 | dispose of the assets of the special district and assign its |
| 76 | powers and duties to a governmental entity, which may be an |
| 77 | entity of local government, a state agency, or another special |
| 78 | district. |
| 79 | (b) If a dependent or independent special district was |
| 80 | created by an entity of local government, the certification must |
| 81 | be made by that entity. The entity shall review each such |
| 82 | special district charter and may recommend that the charter be |
| 83 | revived, revived with modifications in structure or powers, or |
| 84 | both, or abolished. If an entity of local government recommends |
| 85 | abolishing a special district, upon confirmation by the |
| 86 | Department of Community Affairs, the local governmental entity |
| 87 | shall assume the assets, powers, and duties of the special |
| 88 | district. If a governmental entity fails to examine the special |
| 89 | district charter and to revive or abolish it, it is presumed |
| 90 | that the governmental entity has recommended abolishing the |
| 91 | special district, and, upon confirmation of the Department of |
| 92 | Community Affairs, the special district is abolished and its |
| 93 | assets, powers, and duties shall be transferred to the county in |
| 94 | which the special district operates. If the special district |
| 95 | operates in more than one county, the assets shall be |
| 96 | transferred to the counties pro rata according to the proportion |
| 97 | of the special district within each county. |
| 98 | (3) Each dependent or independent special district must |
| 99 | pay the costs associated with conducting the subsequent |
| 100 | examination. If a member of the governmental entity that created |
| 101 | the special district sits on the governing board of the special |
| 102 | district, the governmental entity may not conduct the subsequent |
| 103 | examination but must employ an outside auditor to conduct the |
| 104 | subsequent examination. If the dependent or independent special |
| 105 | district does not hire an outside auditor or does not pay for |
| 106 | the audit, the special district is abolished. |
| 107 | Section 4. The classifications in this section refer to |
| 108 | the classifications in the Special Districts Function Index |
| 109 | maintained by the Department of Community Affairs. The charters |
| 110 | of special districts in the following function classifications |
| 111 | are abolished in the years indicated: |
| 112 | (1) October 1, 2009: Affordable Housing, Airport/Aviation, |
| 113 | Aquatic Plant Control, Arts, Beach and Shore Beautification, |
| 114 | Civic Center, Conservation and Erosion, Environmental |
| 115 | Protection, Historic Preservation, Inlet Maintenance, Library, |
| 116 | Neighborhood Improvement, Recreation/Parks, Sports, and |
| 117 | Transportation. |
| 118 | (2) October 1, 2010: Community Development, Community |
| 119 | Redevelopment, County Development, Downtown Development, |
| 120 | Economic Development, and Industrial Development in Alachua, |
| 121 | Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Broward, Calhoun, Charlotte, |
| 122 | Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, |
| 123 | and Flagler Counties. |
| 124 | (3) October 1, 2011: Community Development, Community |
| 125 | Redevelopment, County Development, Downtown Development, |
| 126 | Economic Development, and Industrial Development in Franklin, |
| 127 | Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, |
| 128 | Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Indian River, |
| 129 | Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, and Lee Counties. |
| 130 | (4) October 1, 2012: Community Development, Community |
| 131 | Redevelopment, County Development, Downtown Development, |
| 132 | Economic Development, and Industrial Development in Leon, Levy, |
| 133 | Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Monroe, Nassau, |
| 134 | Okaloosa, Okeechobee, and Orange Counties. |
| 135 | (5) October 1, 2013: Community Development, Community |
| 136 | Redevelopment, County Development, Downtown Development, |
| 137 | Economic Development, and Industrial Development in Osceola, |
| 138 | Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, and Polk Counties. |
| 139 | (6) October 1, 2014: Community Development, Community |
| 140 | Redevelopment, County Development, Downtown Development, |
| 141 | Economic Development, and Industrial Development in Putnam, |
| 142 | Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sumter, |
| 143 | Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, and |
| 144 | Washington Counties. |
| 145 | (7) October 1, 2015: Children/Welfare, Emergency Medical |
| 146 | Services, Fire Control and Rescue, Health Care, Health |
| 147 | Facilities, Hospital, Juvenile Welfare, and Nursing Home. |
| 148 | (8) October 1, 2016: Housing Authority, Housing Finance, |
| 149 | Information Systems, Infrastructure Provision, Lighting, Mobile |
| 150 | Home Parks, Planning and Zoning, Solid Waste, Utility, and |
| 151 | Wastewater Treatment. |
| 152 | (9) October 1, 2017: Capital Finance, Distribution |
| 153 | Pipelines, Education/Research/Training, Educational Facilities |
| 154 | (Higher), Educational Facilities Benefit, Expressways and |
| 155 | Bridges, Mosquito Control, Municipal Services/Improvements, |
| 156 | Parking, Personnel, Research and Development, Soil and Water |
| 157 | Conservation, and Subdivision. |
| 158 | (10) October 1, 2018: Navigation, Port, Water Control, |
| 159 | Water Management, Water Supply, and Water and Sewer. |
| 160 |
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| 161 | If any special district is included in more than one |
| 162 | classification and those classifications are scheduled to be |
| 163 | certified in different years, the governmental entity shall |
| 164 | codify the district charter in the later of those years. If a |
| 165 | special district is created after July 1, 2008, and would, |
| 166 | according to the schedule in this section, be subject to |
| 167 | examination in less than 3 years, the governmental entity may |
| 168 | not codify that district charter at that time but must wait |
| 169 | until the next ensuing time for codification in that function |
| 170 | classification. If the governmental entity fails to codify a |
| 171 | district charter according to the schedule in this section, it |
| 172 | shall codify the district charter on the September 1 following |
| 173 | the discovery of the omission. Each charter of each district |
| 174 | codified with or without modifications must be reexamined every |
| 175 | 10 years following its initial examination. |
| 176 | Section 5. Section 218.395, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 177 | to read: |
| 178 | 218.395 Certain officers; responsibility for audit |
| 179 | findings.--If a special district audit conducted by the Auditor |
| 180 | General or by a certified public accountant under s. 218.39 |
| 181 | determines that an officer or member of the governing body of a |
| 182 | district has, through misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance, |
| 183 | been responsible for a financial loss by the district, the |
| 184 | officer or member is responsible for the amount of the loss and |
| 185 | the district has a cause of action against the officer or member |
| 186 | for its recovery. |
| 187 | Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2008. |