Florida Senate - 2019 SB 544
By Senator Brandes
24-00448A-19 2019544__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to airports; amending s. 212.08, F.S.;
3 revising the exemptions of people-mover systems and
4 parts from certain taxes; conforming a cross
5 reference; amending s. 332.004, F.S.; revising and
6 defining terms; amending s. 332.006, F.S.; requiring
7 the Department of Transportation to provide financial
8 and technical assistance to sponsors that operate
9 public-use airports by making department personnel and
10 department-owned facilities and equipment available on
11 a cost-reimbursement basis to such sponsors for
12 special needs of limited duration; amending s.
13 332.007, F.S.; requiring federal funding of individual
14 local public-use airport projects to be wholly between
15 the airport sponsors and the appropriate federal
16 agencies; authorizing the department to receive
17 federal grants for both local and statewide public-use
18 airport projects when no sponsor is available;
19 requiring the department to prepare and continuously
20 update an aviation and airport work program based on a
21 collection of projects proposed by sponsors to be
22 included in a certain work program of the department;
23 requiring the department to provide priority funding
24 in support of the planning, design, and construction
25 of proposed projects by sponsors, with special
26 emphasis on certain projects on public-use airport
27 property; authorizing the department to participate in
28 the capital cost of eligible public-use airport and
29 aviation development projects in accordance with
30 specified rates, under certain circumstances; revising
31 the requirements of such rates; authorizing the
32 department to participate in the capital cost of
33 eligible public-use airport and aviation discretionary
34 capacity improvement projects; revising the conditions
35 under which the department provides priority funding;
36 prohibiting a single public-use airport from securing
37 discretionary capacity improvement project funds in
38 excess of a specified percentage; authorizing the
39 department to initially fund up to a specified
40 percentage of the cost of land acquisition for a new
41 public-use airport or for the expansion of an existing
42 public-use airport that is owned and operated by a
43 municipality, a county, an authority, or a sponsor;
44 authorizing the department to fund eligible projects
45 performed by not-for-profit organizations that
46 represent a majority of public-use airports in this
47 state; revising the requirements of such eligible
48 projects; amending s. 332.06, F.S.; authorizing the
49 cost of investigation, surveying, planning, acquiring,
50 establishing, constructing, enlarging, or improving or
51 equipping public-use airports to be paid for by
52 appropriation or from the proceeds of municipal bonds;
53 amending s. 332.07, F.S.; authorizing governing bodies
54 that have the power to appropriate moneys within the
55 municipalities in this state which are acquiring,
56 establishing, constructing, enlarging, improving,
57 maintaining, equipping, or operating public-use
58 airports to appropriate and raise moneys in such
59 municipalities sufficient to administer specified
60 provisions; amending s. 332.08, F.S.; authorizing
61 additional powers to a municipality that has
62 established or may establish public-use airports,
63 instead of airports, or that has acquired, set apart,
64 or may acquire or set apart real property for such
65 purpose; revising the name of the Federal Aviation
66 Administration’s Airport Privatization Pilot Program
67 to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport
68 Investment Partnership Program; amending s. 332.09,
69 F.S.; authorizing a municipality or a sponsor to
70 accept federal and other moneys for the acquisition,
71 construction, enlargement, improvement, maintenance,
72 equipment, or operation of public-use airports and
73 other air navigation facilities and to comply with
74 certain laws, rules, and regulations for the
75 expenditure of federal moneys; amending ss. 196.012
76 and 334.27, F.S.; conforming cross-references;
77 providing an effective date.
78
79 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
80
81 Section 1. Paragraph (zz) of subsection (7) of section
82 212.08, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
83 212.08 Sales, rental, use, consumption, distribution, and
84 storage tax; specified exemptions.—The sale at retail, the
85 rental, the use, the consumption, the distribution, and the
86 storage to be used or consumed in this state of the following
87 are hereby specifically exempt from the tax imposed by this
88 chapter.
89 (7) MISCELLANEOUS EXEMPTIONS.—Exemptions provided to any
90 entity by this chapter do not inure to any transaction that is
91 otherwise taxable under this chapter when payment is made by a
92 representative or employee of the entity by any means,
93 including, but not limited to, cash, check, or credit card, even
94 when that representative or employee is subsequently reimbursed
95 by the entity. In addition, exemptions provided to any entity by
96 this subsection do not inure to any transaction that is
97 otherwise taxable under this chapter unless the entity has
98 obtained a sales tax exemption certificate from the department
99 or the entity obtains or provides other documentation as
100 required by the department. Eligible purchases or leases made
101 with such a certificate must be in strict compliance with this
102 subsection and departmental rules, and any person who makes an
103 exempt purchase with a certificate that is not in strict
104 compliance with this subsection and the rules is liable for and
105 shall pay the tax. The department may adopt rules to administer
106 this subsection.
107 (zz) People-mover systems.—People-mover systems, and parts
108 thereof, which are purchased or manufactured by contractors
109 employed either directly by or as agents for the United States
110 Government, the state, a county, a municipality, a political
111 subdivision of the state, or the sponsor public operator of a
112 public-use airport as defined in s. 332.004(15) by s.
113 332.004(14) are exempt from the tax imposed by this chapter when
114 the systems or parts go into or become part of the airport
115 publicly owned facilities. In the case of contractors who
116 manufacture and install such systems and parts, this exemption
117 extends to the purchase of component parts and all other
118 manufacturing and fabrication costs. The department may provide
119 a form to be used by contractors to provide to suppliers of
120 people-mover systems or parts to certify the contractors’
121 eligibility for the exemption provided under this paragraph. As
122 used in this paragraph, “people-mover systems” includes wheeled
123 passenger vehicles and related control and power distribution
124 systems that are part of a transportation system for use by the
125 general public, regardless of whether such vehicles are
126 operator-controlled or driverless, self-propelled or propelled
127 by external power and control systems, or conducted on roads,
128 rails, guidebeams, or other permanent structures that are an
129 integral part of such transportation system. “Related control
130 and power distribution systems” includes any electrical or
131 electronic control or signaling equipment, but does not include
132 the embedded wiring, conduits, or cabling used to transmit
133 electrical or electronic signals among such control equipment,
134 power distribution equipment, signaling equipment, and wheeled
135 vehicles.
136 Section 2. Present subsections (12) through (15) of section
137 332.004, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (13)
138 through (16), respectively, subsection (4) and present
139 subsections (14) and (15) of that section are amended, and a new
140 subsection (12) is added to that section, to read:
141 332.004 Definitions of terms used in ss. 332.003-332.007.
142 As used in ss. 332.003-332.007, the term:
143 (4) “Airport or aviation development project” or
144 “development project” means any activity associated with the
145 design, construction, purchase, improvement, or repair of a
146 public-use airport or a portion thereof, including, but not
147 limited to: the purchase of equipment; the acquisition of land,
148 including land required as a condition of a federal, state, or
149 local permit or agreement for environmental mitigation; off
150 airport noise mitigation projects; the removal, lowering,
151 relocation, marking, and lighting of airport hazards; the
152 installation of navigation aids used by aircraft in landing at
153 or taking off from an a public airport; the installation of
154 safety equipment required by rule or regulation for
155 certification of the airport under s. 612 of the Federal
156 Aviation Act of 1958, and amendments thereto; and the
157 improvement of access to the airport by road or rail system
158 which is on airport property and which is consistent, to the
159 maximum extent feasible, with the approved local government
160 comprehensive plan of the units of local government in which the
161 airport is located.
162 (12) “Privatized airport” means any privately owned airport
163 participating in the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport
164 Investment Partnership Program pursuant to 49 U.S.C. s. 47134,
165 as provided in s. 332.08(3).
166 (15)(14) “Public-use airport” means any publicly owned
167 airport that which is used or to be used for public purposes, or
168 a privatized airport that is open to the public.
169 (16)(15) “Sponsor” means any eligible agency or private
170 owner of a privatized airport that which, either individually or
171 jointly with one or more eligible agencies or private owners,
172 submits to the department an application for financial
173 assistance for an airport development project in accordance with
174 this act.
175 Section 3. Subsection (4) of section 332.006, Florida
176 Statutes, is amended to read:
177 332.006 Duties and responsibilities of the Department of
178 Transportation.—The Department of Transportation shall, within
179 the resources provided pursuant to chapter 216:
180 (4) Upon request, provide financial and technical
181 assistance to sponsors that public agencies which operate
182 public-use airports by making department personnel and
183 department-owned facilities and equipment available on a cost
184 reimbursement basis to such sponsors agencies for special needs
185 of limited duration. The requirement relating to reimbursement
186 of personnel costs may be waived by the department in those
187 cases in which the assistance provided by its personnel was of a
188 limited nature or duration.
189 Section 4. Subsection (1), paragraph (a) of subsection (2),
190 paragraph (a) of subsection (4), and subsections (6) through (8)
191 of section 332.007, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
192 332.007 Administration and financing of aviation and
193 airport programs and projects; state plan.—
194 (1) Federal funding of individual local public-use airport
195 projects must shall continue to be wholly between the local
196 airport sponsors and the appropriate federal agencies; however,
197 the Department of Transportation is authorized to receive
198 federal grants for both local and statewide public-use airport
199 projects when no local sponsor is available.
200 (2)(a) The Department of Transportation shall prepare and
201 continuously update an aviation and airport work program in
202 accordance with subsections (6) and (7) based on a collection of
203 the local sponsors’ proposed projects to be included in the work
204 program of the department developed pursuant to s. 339.135. The
205 airport work program must shall separately identify development
206 projects and discretionary capacity improvement projects.
207 (4)(a) The annual legislative budget request for aviation
208 and airport development projects must shall be based on the
209 funding required for development projects in the aviation and
210 airport work program. The department shall provide priority
211 funding in support of the planning, design, and construction of
212 proposed projects by local sponsors, with special emphasis on
213 projects for runways and taxiways, including the painting and
214 marking of runways and taxiways, lighting, other related airside
215 activities, and airport access transportation facility projects
216 on public-use airport property.
217 (6) Subject to the availability of appropriated funds, the
218 department may participate in the capital cost of eligible
219 public-use public airport and aviation development projects in
220 accordance with the following rates, unless otherwise provided
221 in the General Appropriations Act or the substantive bill
222 implementing the General Appropriations Act:
223 (a) The department may fund up to 50 percent of the portion
224 of eligible project costs which is are not funded by the Federal
225 Government, except that the department may initially fund up to
226 75 percent of the cost of land acquisition for a new public-use
227 airport or for the expansion of an existing public-use airport
228 that which is owned and operated by a municipality, a county, or
229 an authority, or a sponsor, and must shall be reimbursed to the
230 normal statutory project share when federal funds become
231 available or within 10 years after the date of acquisition,
232 whichever is earlier. Due to federal budgeting constraints, the
233 department may also initially fund the federal portion of
234 eligible project costs subject to:
235 1. The department receiving adequate assurance from the
236 Federal Government or local sponsor that this amount will be
237 reimbursed to the department; and
238 2. The department having adequate funds in the work program
239 to fund the project.
240
241 Such projects must be contained in the Federal Government’s
242 Airport Capital Improvement Program, and the Federal Government
243 must fund, or have funded, the first year of the project.
244 (b) The department may retroactively reimburse cities,
245 counties, or airport authorities, or sponsors, up to 50 percent
246 of the nonfederal share for land acquisition when such land is
247 needed for public-use airport safety, expansion, tall structure
248 control, clear zone protection, or noise impact reduction. No
249 Land purchased prior to July 1, 1990, or purchased prior to
250 executing the required department agreements is not shall be
251 eligible for reimbursement.
252 (c) When federal funds are not available, the department
253 may fund up to 80 percent of master planning and eligible
254 aviation development projects at public-use publicly owned,
255 publicly operated airports. If federal funds are available, the
256 department may fund up to 80 percent of the nonfederal share of
257 such projects. Such funding is limited to public-use airports
258 that do not have any no scheduled commercial service.
259 (d) The department is authorized to fund up to 100 percent
260 of the cost of an eligible project that is statewide in scope or
261 that involves more than one county where no other governmental
262 entity or appropriate jurisdiction exists.
263 (7) Subject to the availability of appropriated funds in
264 addition to aviation fuel tax revenues, the department may
265 participate in the capital cost of eligible public-use public
266 airport and aviation discretionary capacity improvement
267 projects. The annual legislative budget request must shall be
268 based on the funding required for discretionary capacity
269 improvement projects in the aviation and airport work program.
270 (a) The department shall provide priority funding in
271 support of:
272 1. Land acquisition that which provides additional capacity
273 at the qualifying international public-use airport or at that
274 airport’s supplemental air carrier public-use airport.
275 2. Runway and taxiway projects that add capacity or are
276 necessary to accommodate technological changes in the aviation
277 industry.
278 3. Public-use airport access transportation projects that
279 improve direct airport access and are approved by the airport
280 sponsor.
281 4. International terminal projects that increase
282 international gate capacity.
283 (b) A No single public-use airport may not shall secure
284 discretionary capacity improvement project funds in excess of 50
285 percent of the total discretionary capacity improvement project
286 funds available in any given budget year.
287 (c) Unless prohibited by the General Appropriations Act or
288 by law, the department may transfer funds within each category
289 of the airport and aviation discretionary capacity improvement
290 program to maximize the aviation services or federal aid
291 available to this state.
292 (d) The department may fund up to 50 percent of the portion
293 of eligible project costs which is are not funded by the Federal
294 Government except that the department may initially fund up to
295 75 percent of the cost of land acquisition for a new public-use
296 airport or for the expansion of an existing public-use airport
297 that which is owned and operated by a municipality, a county, or
298 an authority, or a sponsor, and must shall be reimbursed to the
299 normal statutory project share when federal funds become
300 available or within 10 years after the date of acquisition,
301 whichever is earlier.
302 (8) The department may also fund eligible projects
303 performed by not-for-profit organizations that represent a
304 majority of public-use public airports in this state. Eligible
305 projects may include activities associated with aviation master
306 planning, professional education, safety and security planning,
307 enhancing economic development and efficiency at public-use
308 airports in this state, or other planning efforts to improve the
309 viability of public-use airports in this state.
310 Section 5. Subsection (1) of section 332.06, Florida
311 Statutes, is amended to read:
312 332.06 Preliminary costs and expenses.—
313 (1) The cost of investigation, surveying, planning,
314 acquiring, establishing, constructing, enlarging, or improving
315 or equipping public-use airports and other air navigation
316 facilities, and the sites therefor, including structures and
317 other property incidental to their operation, in accordance with
318 the provisions of ss. 332.01-332.12, may be paid for by
319 appropriation of moneys available therefor, or wholly or partly
320 from the proceeds of bonds of the municipality, as determined by
321 the governing body of the municipality shall determine.
322 Section 6. Section 332.07, Florida Statutes, is amended to
323 read:
324 332.07 Appropriations.— The governing bodies having power
325 to appropriate moneys within the municipalities in this state
326 acquiring, establishing, constructing, enlarging, improving,
327 maintaining, equipping, or operating public-use airports and
328 other air navigation facilities under the provisions of ss.
329 332.01-332.12 are hereby authorized to appropriate and cause to
330 be raised by taxation or otherwise in such municipalities moneys
331 sufficient to administer carry out therein the provisions of ss.
332 332.01-332.12.
333 Section 7. Subsections (1) and (3) of section 332.08,
334 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
335 332.08 Additional Powers.—
336 (1) In addition to the general powers in ss. 332.01-332.12
337 conferred and without limitation thereof, a municipality that
338 has established or may hereafter establish public-use airports,
339 restricted landing areas, or other air navigation facilities, or
340 that has acquired or set apart or may hereafter acquire or set
341 apart real property for such purposes, is authorized:
342 (a) To vest authority for the construction, enlargement,
343 improvement, maintenance, equipment, operation, and regulation
344 thereof in an officer, a board or body of such municipality by
345 ordinance or resolution which shall prescribe the powers and
346 duties of such officer, board or body. The expense of such
347 construction, enlargement, improvement, maintenance, equipment,
348 operation, and regulation shall be a responsibility of the
349 municipality.
350 (b) To adopt and amend all needful rules, regulations, and
351 ordinances for the management, government, and use of any
352 properties under its control, whether within or without the
353 territorial limits of the municipality; to appoint airport
354 guards or police, with full police powers; to fix by ordinance
355 or resolution, as may be appropriate, penalties for the
356 violation of such rules, regulations, and ordinances, and
357 enforce such penalties in the same manner in which penalties
358 prescribed by other rules, regulations, and ordinances of the
359 municipality are enforced.
360 (c) To lease for a term not exceeding 50 years such public
361 use airports or other air navigation facilities, or real
362 property acquired or set apart for public-use airport purposes,
363 to private parties, any municipal or state government or the
364 national government, or any department of either thereof, for
365 operation; to lease or assign for a term not exceeding 50 years
366 to private parties, any municipal or state government or the
367 national government, or any department of either thereof, for
368 operation or use consistent with the purposes of ss. 332.01
369 332.12, space, area, improvements, or equipment on such public
370 use airports; to sell any part of such public-use airports,
371 other air navigation facilities, or real property to private
372 parties, any municipal or state government, or the United States
373 or any department or instrumentality thereof, for aeronautical
374 purposes or purposes incidental thereto, and to confer the
375 privileges of concessions of supplying upon its airports goods,
376 commodities, things, services, and facilities; provided, that in
377 each case in so doing the public is not deprived of its rightful
378 equal and uniform use thereof.
379 (d) To sell or lease any property, real or personal,
380 acquired for airport purposes and belonging to the municipality,
381 which, in the judgment of its governing body, may not be
382 required for aeronautic purposes, in accordance with the laws of
383 this state, or the provisions of the charter of the
384 municipality, governing the sale or leasing of similar
385 municipally owned property.
386 (e) To exercise all powers necessarily incidental to the
387 exercise of the general and special powers herein granted, and
388 is specifically authorized to assess and shall assess against
389 and collect from the owner or operator of each and every
390 airplane using such airports a sufficient fee or service charge
391 to cover the cost of the service furnished airplanes using such
392 airports, including the liquidation of bonds or other
393 indebtedness for construction and improvements.
394 (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a
395 municipality participating in the Federal Aviation
396 Administration’s Airport Investment Partnership Privatization
397 Pilot Program pursuant to 49 U.S.C. s. 47134 may lease or sell
398 an airport or other air navigation facility or real property,
399 together with improvements and equipment, acquired or set apart
400 for airport purposes to a private party under such terms and
401 conditions as negotiated by the municipality. If state funds
402 were provided to the municipality pursuant to s. 332.007, the
403 municipality must obtain approval of the agreement from the
404 Department of Transportation, which is authorized to approve the
405 agreement if it determines that the state’s investment has been
406 adequately considered and protected consistent with the
407 applicable conditions specified in 49 U.S.C. s. 47134.
408 Section 8. Section 332.09, Florida Statutes, is amended to
409 read:
410 332.09 Federal funds and aid.— A municipality or sponsor is
411 authorized to accept, receive, and issue receipts receipt for
412 federal moneys, and other moneys, either public or private, for
413 the acquisition, construction, enlargement, improvement,
414 maintenance, equipment, or operation of public-use airports and
415 other air navigation facilities, and sites for such airports and
416 facilities therefor, and to comply with the provisions of the
417 laws of the United States and any rules and regulations made
418 thereunder relating to for the expenditure of federal moneys
419 upon such public-use airports and other air navigation
420 facilities.
421 Section 9. Subsection (6) of section 196.012, Florida
422 Statutes, is amended to read:
423 196.012 Definitions.—For the purpose of this chapter, the
424 following terms are defined as follows, except where the context
425 clearly indicates otherwise:
426 (6) Governmental, municipal, or public purpose or function
427 is shall be deemed to be served or performed when the lessee
428 under any leasehold interest created in property of the United
429 States, the state or any of its political subdivisions, or any
430 municipality, agency, special district, authority, or other
431 public body corporate of the state is demonstrated to perform a
432 function or serve a governmental purpose that which could
433 properly be performed or served by an appropriate governmental
434 unit or that which is demonstrated to perform a function or
435 serve a purpose that which would otherwise be a valid subject
436 for the allocation of public funds. Such For purposes of the
437 preceding sentence, an activity undertaken by a lessee which is
438 permitted under the terms of its lease of real property
439 designated as an aviation area on an airport layout plan which
440 has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration and
441 which real property is used for the administration, operation,
442 and business offices, and activities related specifically
443 related to those functions, thereto in connection with the
444 conduct of an aircraft full service fixed base operation that
445 which provides goods and services to the general aviation public
446 in the promotion of air commerce is shall be deemed an activity
447 that which serves a governmental, municipal, or public purpose
448 or function. Any activity undertaken by a lessee which is
449 permitted under the terms of its lease of real property
450 designated as a public-use airport public airport as defined in
451 s. 332.004(15) s. 332.004(14) by municipalities, agencies,
452 special districts, authorities, or other public bodies corporate
453 and public bodies politic of the state, a spaceport as defined
454 in s. 331.303, or which is located in a deepwater port
455 identified in s. 403.021(9)(b) and owned by one of the foregoing
456 governmental units, subject to a leasehold or other possessory
457 interest of a nongovernmental lessee that is deemed to perform
458 an aviation, airport, aerospace, maritime, or port purpose or
459 operation shall be deemed an activity that serves a
460 governmental, municipal, or public purpose. The use by a lessee,
461 licensee, or management company of real property or a portion
462 thereof as a convention center, visitor center, sports facility
463 with permanent seating, concert hall, arena, stadium, park, or
464 beach is deemed a use that serves a governmental, municipal, or
465 public purpose or function when access to the property is open
466 to the general public with or without a charge for admission. If
467 property deeded to a municipality by the United States is
468 subject to a requirement that the Federal Government, through a
469 schedule established by the Secretary of the Interior, determine
470 that the property is being maintained for public historic
471 preservation, park, or recreational purposes and if those
472 conditions are not met the property will revert back to the
473 Federal Government, then such property shall be deemed to serve
474 a municipal or public purpose. The term “governmental purpose”
475 also includes a direct use of property on federal lands in
476 connection with the Federal Government’s Space Exploration
477 Program or spaceport activities as defined in s. 212.02(22).
478 Real property and tangible personal property owned by the
479 Federal Government or Space Florida and used for defense and
480 space exploration purposes or which is put to a use in support
481 thereof shall be deemed to perform an essential national
482 governmental purpose and shall be exempt. “Owned by the lessee”
483 as used in this chapter does not include personal property,
484 buildings, or other real property improvements used for the
485 administration, operation, business offices and activities
486 related specifically thereto in connection with the conduct of
487 an aircraft full service fixed based operation which provides
488 goods and services to the general aviation public in the
489 promotion of air commerce provided that the real property is
490 designated as an aviation area on an airport layout plan
491 approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. For purposes of
492 determination of “ownership,” buildings and other real property
493 improvements which will revert to the airport authority or other
494 governmental unit upon expiration of the term of the lease shall
495 be deemed “owned” by the governmental unit and not the lessee.
496 Providing two-way telecommunications services to the public for
497 hire by the use of a telecommunications facility, as defined in
498 s. 364.02(14), and for which a certificate is required under
499 chapter 364 does not constitute an exempt use for purposes of s.
500 196.199, unless the telecommunications services are provided by
501 the operator of a public-use airport, as defined in s. 332.004,
502 for the operator’s provision of telecommunications services for
503 the airport or its tenants, concessionaires, or licensees, or
504 unless the telecommunications services are provided by a public
505 hospital.
506 Section 10. Subsection (1) of section 334.27, Florida
507 Statutes, is amended to read:
508 334.27 Governmental transportation entities; property
509 acquired for transportation purposes; limitation on soil or
510 groundwater contamination liability.—
511 (1) For the purposes of this section, the term
512 “governmental transportation entity” means the department; an
513 authority created pursuant to chapter 343, chapter 348, or
514 chapter 349; a public-use airport airports as defined in s.
515 332.004(15) s. 332.004(14); a port enumerated in s. 311.09(1); a
516 county; or a municipality.
517 Section 11. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.