Florida Senate - 2021                                    SB 1624
       
       
        
       By Senator Albritton
       
       
       
       
       
       26-01565A-21                                          20211624__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to special district accountability;
    3         creating s. 189.0695, F.S.; defining the term
    4         “performance audit”; requiring certain independent
    5         special districts to contract with an independent
    6         entity to conduct performance audits; providing an
    7         exception; specifying the frequency of such audits;
    8         requiring the Office of Program Policy Analysis and
    9         Government Accountability to conduct performance
   10         audits of certain classifications of independent
   11         special districts; providing criteria for contracting
   12         for such audits; requiring the performance audits to
   13         be reported by a time certain; amending s. 218.32,
   14         F.S.; requiring additional information to be reported
   15         by special districts in the annual report; amending s.
   16         218.39, F.S.; requiring that certain data be included
   17         in financial audits of special districts; requiring
   18         certain community redevelopment agencies to file
   19         separate audited financial statements; conforming
   20         provisions to changes made by the act; providing an
   21         effective date.
   22          
   23  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   24  
   25         Section 1. Section 189.0695, Florida Statutes, is created
   26  to read:
   27         189.0695Independent special districts; performance
   28  audits.—
   29         (1)The term “performance audit” has the same meaning as in
   30  s. 11.45(1).
   31         (2)(a)Each independent special district as described in
   32  paragraph (c) must contract with an independent entity to
   33  conduct a performance audit of the district. The Office of
   34  Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability must
   35  generate a list of independent entities qualified to perform the
   36  performance audit and the independent special district must
   37  select an independent entity from the list. To be included on
   38  the list, an entity must have at least 5 years of experience
   39  conducting performance audits, must conduct audits according to
   40  applicable auditing or evaluation standards of appropriate
   41  authoritative bodies, and must follow any applicable industry
   42  best practices.
   43         (b)The entity’s final report of the performance audit must
   44  be filed with the governing board of the district, the Auditor
   45  General, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
   46  House of Representatives no later than 9 months from the
   47  beginning of the district’s fiscal year according to the
   48  schedule provided in paragraph (c). However, a performance audit
   49  of a district conducted by the Auditor General during the same
   50  fiscal year in which a performance audit is due pursuant to
   51  paragraph (c) qualifies as that district’s scheduled performance
   52  audit under this section.
   53         (c)1.Beginning October 1, 2021, and every 5 years
   54  thereafter, each independent special fire control district as
   55  defined in s. 191.003, must have a performance audit conducted.
   56         2.Beginning October 1, 2022, and every 5 years thereafter,
   57  each hospital licensed under chapter 395 which is governed by
   58  the governing body of a special district as defined in s.
   59  189.012 or by the board of trustees of a public health trust
   60  created under s. 154.07, must have a performance audit
   61  conducted.
   62         (3)The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
   63  Accountability must conduct a performance audit of all
   64  independent special districts within the classifications
   65  described in paragraphs (a) and (b). The performance audit must
   66  compare the services provided by each district examined with
   67  similar services provided by the county and municipal
   68  governments wholly or partially within the boundaries of the
   69  district, expressly stating the similarities and differences,
   70  and relative costs and efficiencies, between the services
   71  provided by the district and those provided by the relevant
   72  counties and municipalities. The Office of Program Policy
   73  Analysis and Government Accountability shall submit the final
   74  report of the performance audit to the President of the Senate
   75  and the Speaker of the House of Representatives as follows:
   76         (a)For all independent mosquito control districts as
   77  defined in s. 388.011, no later than September 30, 2023.
   78         (b)For all soil and water conservation districts as
   79  defined in s. 582.01, no later than September 30, 2024.
   80         Section 2. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section
   81  218.32, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   82         218.32 Annual financial reports; local governmental
   83  entities.—
   84         (1)(e)1. Each local governmental entity that is not
   85  required to provide for an audit under s. 218.39 must submit the
   86  annual financial report to the department no later than 9 months
   87  after the end of the fiscal year. The department shall consult
   88  with the Auditor General in the development of the format of
   89  annual financial reports submitted pursuant to this paragraph.
   90  The format must include balance sheet information used by the
   91  Auditor General pursuant to s. 11.45(7)(f). The department must
   92  forward the financial information contained within the annual
   93  financial reports to the Auditor General in electronic form.
   94  This paragraph does not apply to housing authorities created
   95  under chapter 421.
   96         2.The annual financial report filed by a dependent special
   97  district or an independent special district shallspecify
   98  separately:
   99         a. The total number of district employees.
  100         b. The amounts budgeted by the district for employee
  101  salaries and the amounts budgeted for employee benefits.
  102         c.Each construction project approved by the district to
  103  begin after October 1 of the fiscal year being reported together
  104  with the amount budgeted for such project.
  105         3.The annual financial report of an independent special
  106  district that imposes ad valorem taxes shall include the millage
  107  rate or rates imposed by the district, the total amount of ad
  108  valorem taxes collected by or on behalf of the district, and the
  109  total amount of outstanding bonds issued by the district and the
  110  terms of such bonds.
  111         4.The annual financial report of an independent special
  112  district that imposes non-ad valorem special assessments shall
  113  include the rate or rates of such assessments imposed by the
  114  district, the total amount of special assessments collected by
  115  or on behalf of the district, and the total amount of
  116  outstanding bonds issued by the district and the terms of such
  117  bonds.
  118         Section 3. Paragraph (h) of subsection (1) of section
  119  218.39, Florida Statutes, is redesignated as paragraph (i), a
  120  new paragraph (h) is added to that subsection, and subsection
  121  (3) of that section is amended, to read:
  122         218.39 Annual financial audit reports.—
  123         (1) If, by the first day in any fiscal year, a local
  124  governmental entity, district school board, charter school, or
  125  charter technical career center has not been notified that a
  126  financial audit for that fiscal year will be performed by the
  127  Auditor General, each of the following entities shall have an
  128  annual financial audit of its accounts and records completed
  129  within 9 months after the end of its fiscal year by an
  130  independent certified public accountant retained by it and paid
  131  from its public funds:
  132         (h)As required by s. 163.387(8)(a), each community
  133  redevelopment agency with revenues or a total of expenditures
  134  and expenses in excess of $100,000, as reported on the trust
  135  fund financial statements.
  136         (3)(a) A dependent special district, excluding a community
  137  redevelopment agency with revenues or a total of expenditures
  138  and expenses in excess of $100,000, as reported on the trust
  139  fund financial statements, may provide for an annual financial
  140  audit by being included in the audit of the local governmental
  141  entity upon which it is dependent. An independent special
  142  district may not make provision for an annual financial audit by
  143  being included in the audit of another local governmental
  144  entity.
  145         (b) A special district that is a component unit, as defined
  146  by generally accepted accounting principles, of a local
  147  governmental entity shall provide the local governmental entity,
  148  within a reasonable time period as established by the local
  149  governmental entity, with financial information necessary to
  150  comply with this section. The failure of a component unit to
  151  provide this financial information must be noted in the annual
  152  financial audit report of the local governmental entity.
  153         (c)The financial audit of a dependent special district or
  154  of an independent special district, or the financial audit of a
  155  local governmental entity including the information of a
  156  dependent special district as provided in paragraph (a) of this
  157  subsection, shall separately include and specify the information
  158  required in s. 218.32(1)(e)2.
  159         Section 4. This act shall take effect October 1, 2021.