Florida Senate - 2012 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. SB 368 Barcode 493442 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House . . . Floor: 1/AD/2R . 01/10/2012 03:53 PM . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Senator Gaetz moved the following: 1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 2 3 Delete lines 24 - 136 4 and insert: 5 Section 1. Subsection (5) of section 218.39, Florida 6 Statutes, is amended to read: 7 218.39 Annual financial audit reports.— 8 (5) At the conclusion of the audit, the auditor shall 9 discuss with the chair of the governing body of the local 10 governmental entity or the chair’s designee, the elected 11 official of each county agency or the elected official’s 12 designee, the chair of the district school board or the chair’s 13 designee, the chair of the board of the charter school or the 14 chair’s designee, or the chair of the board of the charter 15 technical career center or the chair’s designee, as appropriate, 16 all of the auditor’s comments that will be included in the audit 17 report. If the officer is not available to discuss the auditor’s 18 comments, their discussion is presumed when the comments are 19 delivered in writing to his or her office. The auditor shall 20 notify each member of the governing body of a local governmental 21 entity, district school board, charter school, or charter 22 technical career center for which: 23 (a) Deteriorating financial conditions exist that may cause 24 a condition described in s. 218.503(1) to occur if actions are 25 not taken to address such conditions. 26 (b) A fund balance deficit in total or for that portion of 27 a fund balance not classified as restricted, committed, or 28 nonspendable, or a total or unrestricted net assets deficit, as 29 reported on the fund financial statements of entities required 30 to report under governmental financial reporting standards or on 31 the basic financial statements of entities required to report 32 under not-for-profit financial reporting standards, for which 33 sufficient resources of the local governmental entity, charter 34 school, charter technical career center, or district school 35 board, as reported on the fund financial statements, are not 36 available to cover the deficit. Resources available to cover 37 reported deficits include fund balance or net assets that are 38 not otherwise restricted by federal, state, or local laws, bond 39 covenants, contractual agreements, or other legal constraints. 40 Property, plant, and equipment, the disposal of which would 41 impair the ability of a local governmental entity, charter 42 school, charter technical career center, or district school 43 board to carry out its functions, are not considered resources 44 available to cover reported deficits. 45 Section 2. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) and subsection 46 (3) of section 218.503, Florida Statutes, are amended, and 47 subsection (6) is added to that section, to read: 48 218.503 Determination of financial emergency.— 49 (1) Local governmental entities, charter schools, charter 50 technical career centers, and district school boards shall be 51 subject to review and oversight by the Governor, the charter 52 school sponsor, the charter technical career center sponsor, or 53 the Commissioner of Education, as appropriate, when any one of 54 the following conditions occurs: 55(e) A fund balance deficit in total or for that portion of56a fund balance not classified as restricted, committed, or57nonspendable, or a total or unrestricted net assets deficit, as58reported on the fund financial statements of entities required59to report under governmental financial reporting standards or on60the basic financial statements of entities required to report61under not-for-profit financial reporting standards, for which62sufficient resources of the local governmental entity, charter63school, charter technical career center, or district school64board, as reported on the fund financial statements, are not65available to cover the deficit. Resources available to cover66reported deficits include fund balance or net assets that are67not otherwise restricted by federal, state, or local laws, bond68covenants, contractual agreements, or other legal constraints.69Property, plant, and equipment, the disposal of which would70impair the ability of a local governmental entity, charter71school, charter technical career center, or district school72board to carry out its functions, are not considered resources73available to cover reported deficits.74 (3) Upon notification that one or more of the conditions in 75 subsection (1) have occurred or will occur if action is not 76 taken to assist the local governmental entity or district school 77 board, the Governor or his or her designee shall contact the 78 local governmental entity or the Commissioner of Education or 79 his or her designee shall contact the district school board to 80 determine what actions have been taken by the local governmental 81 entity or the district school board to resolve or prevent the 82 condition. The information requested must be provided within 45 83 days after the date of the request. If the local governmental 84 entity or the district school board does not comply with the 85 request, the Governor or his or her designee or the Commissioner 86 of Education or his or her designee shall notify the members of 87 the Legislative Auditing Committee who may take action pursuant 88 to s. 11.40. The Governor or the Commissioner of Education, as 89 appropriate, shall determine whether the local governmental 90 entity or the district school board needs state assistance to 91 resolve or prevent the condition. If state assistance is needed, 92 the local governmental entity or district school board is 93 considered to be in a state of financial emergency. The Governor 94 or the Commissioner of Education, as appropriate, has the 95 authority to implement measures as set forth in ss. 218.50 96 218.504 to assist the local governmental entity or district 97 school board in resolving the financial emergency. Such measures 98 may include, but are not limited to: 99 (a) Requiring approval of the local governmental entity’s 100 budget by the Governor or approval of the district school 101 board’s budget by the Commissioner of Education. 102 (b) Authorizing a state loan to a local governmental entity 103 and providing for repayment of same. 104 (c) Prohibiting a local governmental entity or district 105 school board from issuing bonds, notes, certificates of 106 indebtedness, or any other form of debt until such time as it is 107 no longer subject to this section. 108 (d) Making such inspections and reviews of records, 109 information, reports, and assets of the local governmental 110 entity or district school board as are needed. The appropriate 111 local officials 112 113 114 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================ 115 And the title is amended as follows: 116 Delete lines 2 - 15 117 and insert: 118 An act relating to financial emergencies; amending s. 119 218.39, F.S.; requiring the Auditor General to notify each 120 member of the governing body of a local governmental entity, 121 district school board, charter school, or charter technical 122 career center of certain fund balance deficits; amending s. 123 218.503, F.S.; removing a condition under which local 124 governmental entities, charter schools, charter technical career 125 centers, and district school boards are subject to certain 126 review and oversight by the Governor, the charter school 127 sponsor, the charter technical career center sponsor, or the 128 Commissioner of Education; requiring a local governmental entity 129 or district school board to provide requested information within 130 a specified period of time; authorizing a financial emergency 131 board for a local governmental entity or district school board 132 to consult with other governmental entities for the 133 consolidation of administrative direction and support services; 134 authorizing the Governor or Commissioner of Education to require 135 a local governmental entity or district school board to include 136 provisions implementing the consolidation, sourcing, or 137 discontinuance of all administrative direction and support 138 services in certain plans; providing that the 139