Florida Senate - 2019                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1040
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì824748MÎ824748                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/27/2019           .                                
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       The Committee on Community Affairs (Lee) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Present subsection (10) of section 212.055,
    6  Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (11) and
    7  amended, a new subsection (10) is added to that section, and
    8  paragraph (c) of subsection (1), paragraph (b) of subsection
    9  (5), and paragraph (b) of subsection (8) are amended, to read:
   10         212.055 Discretionary sales surtaxes; legislative intent;
   11  authorization and use of proceeds.—It is the legislative intent
   12  that any authorization for imposition of a discretionary sales
   13  surtax shall be published in the Florida Statutes as a
   14  subsection of this section, irrespective of the duration of the
   15  levy. Each enactment shall specify the types of counties
   16  authorized to levy; the rate or rates which may be imposed; the
   17  maximum length of time the surtax may be imposed, if any; the
   18  procedure which must be followed to secure voter approval, if
   19  required; the purpose for which the proceeds may be expended;
   20  and such other requirements as the Legislature may provide.
   21  Taxable transactions and administrative procedures shall be as
   22  provided in s. 212.054.
   23         (1) CHARTER COUNTY AND REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
   24  SURTAX.—
   25         (c)1. The proposal to adopt a discretionary sales surtax as
   26  provided in this subsection and to create a trust fund within
   27  the county accounts shall be placed on the ballot in accordance
   28  with law and must be approved in a referendum held at a general
   29  election in accordance with subsection (10) at a time to be set
   30  at the discretion of the governing body.
   31         2. If the proposal to adopt a surtax is by initiative, the
   32  petition sponsor must, at least 180 days before the proposed
   33  referendum, comply with all of the following:
   34         a. Obtain an independent written legal opinion from an
   35  attorney who is a member in good standing of The Florida Bar
   36  which verifies that the proposed referendum complies with state
   37  law, and provide the proposed referendum and legal opinion to
   38  the governing body of the county. The county shall make the
   39  proposed referendum and legal opinion available on its official
   40  website.
   41         b. Provide a copy of the final resolution or ordinance to
   42  the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
   43  Accountability. The Office of Program Policy Analysis and
   44  Government Accountability shall procure a certified public
   45  accountant in accordance with subsection (10) for the
   46  performance audit.
   47         c. File the initiative petition and its required valid
   48  signatures with the supervisor of elections. The supervisor of
   49  elections shall verify signatures and retain signature forms in
   50  the same manner as required for initiatives under s. 100.371(3).
   51         3. The failure of an initiative sponsor to comply with the
   52  requirements of subparagraph 2. renders any referendum held
   53  void.
   54         (5) COUNTY PUBLIC HOSPITAL SURTAX.—Any county as defined in
   55  s. 125.011(1) may levy the surtax authorized in this subsection
   56  pursuant to an ordinance either approved by extraordinary vote
   57  of the county commission or conditioned to take effect only upon
   58  approval by a majority vote of the electors of the county voting
   59  in a referendum. In a county as defined in s. 125.011(1), for
   60  the purposes of this subsection, “county public general
   61  hospital” means a general hospital as defined in s. 395.002
   62  which is owned, operated, maintained, or governed by the county
   63  or its agency, authority, or public health trust.
   64         (b) If the ordinance is conditioned on a referendum, the
   65  proposal to adopt the county public hospital surtax shall be
   66  placed on the ballot in accordance with subsection (10) law at a
   67  time to be set at the discretion of the governing body. The
   68  referendum question on the ballot shall include a brief general
   69  description of the health care services to be funded by the
   70  surtax.
   71         (8) EMERGENCY FIRE RESCUE SERVICES AND FACILITIES SURTAX.—
   72         (b) Upon the adoption of the ordinance, the levy of the
   73  surtax must be placed on the ballot by the governing authority
   74  of the county enacting the ordinance. The ordinance will take
   75  effect if approved by a majority of the electors of the county
   76  voting in a referendum held for such purpose. The referendum
   77  shall be placed on the ballot of a general regularly scheduled
   78  election. The ballot for the referendum must conform to the
   79  requirements of s. 101.161.
   80         (10) DATES FOR REFERENDA.—A referendum to adopt or amend a
   81  local government discretionary sales surtax under this section
   82  must be held at a general election as defined in s. 97.021.
   83         (11)(10) PERFORMANCE AUDIT.—
   84         (a) For any referendum held on or after March 23, 2018, To
   85  adopt a discretionary sales surtax under this section, an
   86  independent certified public accountant licensed pursuant to
   87  chapter 473 shall conduct a performance audit of the program
   88  associated with the proposed surtax adoption proposed by the
   89  county or school district.
   90         (b)1.At least 180 days before the referendum is held, the
   91  county or school district shall provide a copy of the final
   92  resolution or ordinance to the Office of Program Policy Analysis
   93  and Government Accountability.
   94         2. Within 30 days after receiving the final resolution or
   95  ordinance, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
   96  Accountability shall procure the certified public accountant and
   97  may use carryforward funds to pay for the services of the
   98  certified public accountant.
   99         3.(b) At least 60 days before the referendum is held, the
  100  performance audit must shall be completed and the audit report,
  101  including any findings, recommendations, or other accompanying
  102  documents, must shall be made available on the official website
  103  of the county or school district.
  104         4. The county or school district shall keep the information
  105  on its website for 2 years from the date it was posted.
  106         5. The failure to comply with the requirements under
  107  subparagraph 1. or subparagraph 3. renders any referendum held
  108  to adopt a discretionary sales surtax void.
  109         (c) For purposes of this subsection, the term “performance
  110  audit” means an examination of the program conducted according
  111  to applicable government auditing standards or auditing and
  112  evaluation standards of other appropriate authoritative bodies.
  113  At a minimum, a performance audit must include an examination of
  114  issues related to the following:
  115         1. The economy, efficiency, or effectiveness of the
  116  program.
  117         2. The structure or design of the program to accomplish its
  118  goals and objectives.
  119         3. Alternative methods of providing program services or
  120  products.
  121         4. Goals, objectives, and performance measures used by the
  122  program to monitor and report program accomplishments.
  123         5. The accuracy or adequacy of public documents, reports,
  124  and requests prepared by the county or school district which
  125  relate to the program.
  126         6. Compliance of the program with appropriate policies,
  127  rules, and laws.
  128         (d) This subsection does not apply to a referendum held to
  129  adopt the same discretionary surtax that was in place during the
  130  month of December immediately before the date of the referendum.
  131         Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2019.
  132  
  133  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  134  And the title is amended as follows:
  135         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  136  and insert:
  137                        A bill to be entitled                      
  138         An act relating to discretionary sales surtaxes;
  139         amending s. 212.055, F.S.; providing that a referendum
  140         to adopt or amend a local discretionary sales surtax
  141         must be held at a general election; requiring a
  142         petition sponsor of an initiative to adopt a charter
  143         county and regional transportation system surtax to
  144         comply with specified requirements within a specified
  145         timeframe before the proposed referendum; requiring a
  146         county to make the proposed referendum and a specified
  147         legal opinion available on its official website;
  148         requiring the Office of Program Policy Analysis and
  149         Government Accountability, upon receiving a certain
  150         notice, to procure a certified public accountant for a
  151         performance audit; requiring a supervisor of elections
  152         to verify petition signatures and retain signature
  153         forms in a specified manner; providing that an
  154         initiative sponsor’s failure to comply with the
  155         specified requirements renders any referendum held
  156         void; revising requirements and procedures for
  157         counties, school districts, and the office relating to
  158         performance audits; providing that the failure to
  159         comply with certain requirements renders any
  160         referendum held to adopt a discretionary sales surtax
  161         void; providing an effective date.