Florida Senate - 2019 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 336
Ì164680.Î164680
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
04/18/2019 .
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The Committee on Rules (Lee) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with directory and title amendments)
2
3 Delete lines 30 - 64
4 and insert:
5 (c)1. The proposal to adopt a discretionary sales surtax as
6 provided in this subsection and to create a trust fund within
7 the county accounts shall be placed on the ballot in accordance
8 with law and must be approved in a referendum held at a general
9 election in accordance with subsection (10) at a time to be set
10 at the discretion of the governing body.
11 2. If the proposal to adopt a surtax is by initiative, the
12 petition sponsor must, at least 180 days before the proposed
13 referendum, comply with all of the following:
14 a. Obtain an independent written legal opinion from an
15 attorney who is a member in good standing of The Florida Bar
16 which verifies that the proposed referendum complies with state
17 law, and provide the proposed referendum and legal opinion to
18 the governing body of the county. The county shall make the
19 proposed referendum and legal opinion available on its official
20 website.
21 b. Provide a copy of the final resolution or ordinance to
22 the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
23 Accountability. The Office of Program Policy Analysis and
24 Government Accountability shall procure a certified public
25 accountant in accordance with subsection (10) for the
26 performance audit.
27 c. File the initiative petition and its required valid
28 signatures with the supervisor of elections. The supervisor of
29 elections shall verify signatures and retain signature forms in
30 the same manner as required for initiatives under s. 100.371(3).
31 3. The failure of an initiative sponsor to comply with the
32 requirements of subparagraph 2. renders any referendum held
33 void.
34 (5) COUNTY PUBLIC HOSPITAL SURTAX.—Any county as defined in
35 s. 125.011(1) may levy the surtax authorized in this subsection
36 pursuant to an ordinance either approved by extraordinary vote
37 of the county commission or conditioned to take effect only upon
38 approval by a majority vote of the electors of the county voting
39 in a referendum. In a county as defined in s. 125.011(1), for
40 the purposes of this subsection, “county public general
41 hospital” means a general hospital as defined in s. 395.002
42 which is owned, operated, maintained, or governed by the county
43 or its agency, authority, or public health trust.
44 (b) If the ordinance is conditioned on a referendum, the
45 proposal to adopt the county public hospital surtax shall be
46 placed on the ballot in accordance with subsection (10) law at a
47 time to be set at the discretion of the governing body. The
48 referendum question on the ballot shall include a brief general
49 description of the health care services to be funded by the
50 surtax.
51 (8) EMERGENCY FIRE RESCUE SERVICES AND FACILITIES SURTAX.—
52 (b) Upon the adoption of the ordinance, the levy of the
53 surtax must be placed on the ballot by the governing authority
54 of the county enacting the ordinance. The ordinance will take
55 effect if approved by a majority of the electors of the county
56 voting in a referendum held for such purpose. The referendum
57 shall be placed on the ballot of a general regularly scheduled
58 election. The ballot for the referendum must conform to the
59 requirements of s. 101.161.
60 (10) DATES FOR REFERENDA.—A referendum to adopt or amend a
61 local government discretionary sales surtax under this section
62 must be held at a general election as defined in s. 97.021.
63 (11)(10) PERFORMANCE AUDIT.—
64 (a) For any referendum held on or after March 23, 2018, To
65 adopt a discretionary sales surtax under this section, an
66 independent certified public accountant licensed pursuant to
67 chapter 473 shall conduct a performance audit of the program
68 associated with the proposed surtax adoption proposed by the
69 county or school district.
70 (b)1. At least 180 days before the referendum is held, the
71 county or school district shall provide a copy of the final
72 resolution or ordinance to the Office of Program Policy Analysis
73 and Government Accountability.
74 2. Within 30 days after receiving the final resolution or
75 ordinance, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
76 Accountability shall procure the certified public accountant and
77 may use carryforward funds to pay for the services of the
78 certified public accountant.
79 3.(b) At least 60 days before the referendum is held, the
80 performance audit must shall be completed and the audit report,
81 including any findings, recommendations, or other accompanying
82 documents, must shall be made available on the official website
83 of the county or school district.
84 4. The county or school district shall keep the information
85 on its website for 2 years from the date it was posted.
86 5. The failure to comply with the requirements under
87 subparagraph 1. or subparagraph 3. renders any referendum held
88 to adopt a discretionary sales surtax void.
89 (c) For purposes of this subsection, the term “performance
90 audit” means an examination of the program conducted according
91 to applicable government auditing standards or auditing and
92 evaluation standards of other appropriate authoritative bodies.
93 At a minimum, a performance audit must include an examination of
94 issues related to the following:
95 1. The economy, efficiency, or effectiveness of the
96 program.
97 2. The structure or design of the program to accomplish its
98 goals and objectives.
99 3. Alternative methods of providing program services or
100 products.
101 4. Goals, objectives, and performance measures used by the
102 program to monitor and report program accomplishments.
103 5. The accuracy or adequacy of public documents, reports,
104 and requests prepared by the county or school district which
105 relate to the program.
106 6. Compliance of the program with appropriate policies,
107 rules, and laws.
108 (d) This subsection does not apply to a referendum held to
109 adopt the same discretionary surtax that was in place during the
110 month of December immediately before the date of the referendum.
111
112 ====== D I R E C T O R Y C L A U S E A M E N D M E N T ======
113 And the directory clause is amended as follows:
114 Delete lines 9 - 14
115 and insert:
116 Section 1. Present subsection (10) of section 212.055,
117 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (11) and
118 amended, a new subsection (10) is added to that section, and
119 paragraph (c) of subsection (1), paragraph (b) of subsection
120 (5), and paragraph (b) of subsection (8) are amended, to read:
121
122 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
123 And the title is amended as follows:
124 Delete line 5
125 and insert:
126 at a general election; requiring a petition sponsor of
127 an initiative to adopt a charter county and regional
128 transportation system surtax to comply with specified
129 requirements within a specified timeframe before the
130 proposed referendum; requiring a county to make the
131 proposed referendum and a specified legal opinion
132 available on its official website; requiring the
133 Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
134 Accountability, upon receiving a certain notice, to
135 procure a certified public accountant for a
136 performance audit; requiring a supervisor of elections
137 to verify petition signatures and retain signature
138 forms in a specified manner; providing that an
139 initiative sponsor’s failure to comply with the
140 specified requirements renders any referendum held
141 void; revising requirements and procedures for
142 counties, school districts, and the office relating to
143 performance audits; providing that the failure to
144 comply with certain requirements renders any
145 referendum held to adopt a discretionary sales surtax
146 void; providing an effective date.