Florida Senate - 2020                                    SB 1330
       
       
        
       By Senator Gruters
       
       
       
       
       
       23-00835-20                                           20201330__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to municipal service taxing units and
    3         municipal service benefit units; amending s. 125.01,
    4         F.S.; requiring that the establishment, merger, or
    5         abolishment of a municipal service taxing or benefit
    6         unit be approved by majority vote of certain qualified
    7         electors in an election that is called for such
    8         purpose by the governing body of the county on its own
    9         motion; requiring that the continued existence of
   10         certain municipal service taxing or benefit units be
   11         approved by majority vote of certain qualified
   12         electors; providing procedures for the dissolution of
   13         a municipal service taxing or benefit unit; conforming
   14         provisions to changes made by the act; providing an
   15         effective date.
   16          
   17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   18  
   19         Section 1. Paragraphs (q) and (r) of subsection (1) and
   20  subsections (2) and (6) of section 125.01, Florida Statutes, are
   21  amended to read:
   22         125.01 Powers and duties.—
   23         (1) The legislative and governing body of a county shall
   24  have the power to carry on county government. To the extent not
   25  inconsistent with general or special law, this power includes,
   26  but is not restricted to, the power to:
   27         (q) Subject to the requirements provided in subsection (2),
   28  establish, and subsequently merge or abolish those created
   29  hereunder, municipal service taxing or benefit units for any
   30  part or all of the unincorporated area of the county, within
   31  which may be provided fire protection; law enforcement; beach
   32  erosion control; recreation service and facilities; water;
   33  alternative water supplies, including, but not limited to,
   34  reclaimed water and water from aquifer storage and recovery and
   35  desalination systems; streets; sidewalks; street lighting;
   36  garbage and trash collection and disposal; waste and sewage
   37  collection and disposal; drainage; transportation; indigent
   38  health care services; mental health care services; and other
   39  essential facilities and municipal services from funds derived
   40  from service charges, special assessments, or taxes within such
   41  unit only. Subject to the consent by ordinance of the governing
   42  body of the affected municipality given either annually or for a
   43  term of years, the boundaries of a municipal service taxing or
   44  benefit unit may include all or part of the boundaries of a
   45  municipality. If ad valorem taxes are levied to provide
   46  essential facilities and municipal services within the unit, the
   47  millage levied on any parcel of property for municipal purposes
   48  by all municipal service taxing units and the municipality may
   49  not exceed 10 mills. This paragraph authorizes all counties to
   50  levy additional taxes, within the limits fixed for municipal
   51  purposes, within such municipal service taxing units under the
   52  authority of the second sentence of s. 9(b), Art. VII of the
   53  State Constitution.
   54         (r) Levy and collect taxes, both for county purposes and
   55  for the providing of municipal services within any municipal
   56  service taxing unit, and special assessments; borrow and expend
   57  money; and issue bonds, revenue certificates, and other
   58  obligations of indebtedness, which power shall be exercised in
   59  such manner, and subject to such limitations, as may be provided
   60  by general law. There shall be no referendum required for the
   61  levy by a county of ad valorem taxes, both for county purposes
   62  and for the providing of municipal services within any municipal
   63  service taxing unit; however, the creation of any municipal
   64  service taxing unit is subject to voting and other requirements
   65  as provided in subsection (2). Notwithstanding any other
   66  provision of law, a county may not levy special assessments for
   67  the provision of fire protection services on lands classified as
   68  agricultural lands under s. 193.461 unless the land contains a
   69  residential dwelling or nonresidential farm building, with the
   70  exception of an agricultural pole barn, provided the
   71  nonresidential farm building exceeds a just value of $10,000.
   72  Such special assessments must be based solely on the special
   73  benefit accruing to that portion of the land consisting of the
   74  residential dwelling and curtilage, and qualifying
   75  nonresidential farm buildings. As used in this paragraph, the
   76  term “agricultural pole barn” means a nonresidential farm
   77  building in which 70 percent or more of the perimeter walls are
   78  permanently open and allow free ingress and egress.
   79         (2)(a)The establishment, merger, or abolishment of a
   80  municipal service taxing or benefit unit under paragraph (1)(q)
   81  must be approved by majority vote of the qualified electors who
   82  would be or are subject to any service charge, special
   83  assessment, or tax within such unit, voting in an election that
   84  is called for such purpose by the governing body of the county
   85  on its own motion. The boundaries of a municipal service taxing
   86  or benefit unit may include all or part of the boundaries of a
   87  municipality if, in addition to the majority approval of
   88  qualified electors required under this paragraph, consent by
   89  ordinance of the governing body of the affected municipality is
   90  given either annually or for a term of years. The board of
   91  county commissioners shall be the governing body of any
   92  municipal service taxing or benefit unit created pursuant to
   93  paragraph (1)(q) and this paragraph.
   94         (b) For any municipal service taxing or benefit unit that
   95  was created on or before July 1, 2020, without a majority
   96  approval of qualified electors as required under paragraph (a),
   97  the continued existence of such unit must be approved by
   98  majority vote of the qualified electors who are subject to any
   99  service charge, special assessment, or tax within such unit. If
  100  a majority vote for the continued existence of the municipal
  101  service taxing or benefit unit is not achieved, such unit must
  102  be dissolved within 6 months after the election and any
  103  remaining funds of the unit must be used as decided by the board
  104  of county commissioners.
  105         (6)(a) The governing body of a municipality or
  106  municipalities by resolution, or the citizens of a municipality
  107  or county by petition of 10 percent of the qualified electors of
  108  such unit, may identify a service or program rendered specially
  109  for the benefit of the property or residents in unincorporated
  110  areas and financed from countywide revenues and petition the
  111  board of county commissioners to develop an appropriate
  112  mechanism to finance such activity for the ensuing fiscal year,
  113  which may be by taxes, special assessments, or service charges
  114  levied or imposed solely upon residents or property in the
  115  unincorporated area, by the establishment of a municipal service
  116  taxing or benefit unit pursuant to paragraph (1)(q) and
  117  subsection (2), or by remitting the identified cost of service
  118  paid from revenues required to be expended on a countywide basis
  119  to the municipality or municipalities, within 6 months of the
  120  adoption of the county budget, in the proportion that the amount
  121  of county ad valorem taxes collected within such municipality or
  122  municipalities bears to the total amount of countywide ad
  123  valorem taxes collected by the county, or by any other method
  124  prescribed by state law.
  125         (b) The board of county commissioners shall, within 90
  126  days, file a response to such petition, which response shall
  127  either reflect action to develop appropriate mechanisms or shall
  128  reject such petition and state findings of fact demonstrating
  129  that the service does not specially benefit the property or
  130  residents of the unincorporated areas.
  131         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.