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Budget Issues
The Governor has proposed a $61 billion budget for FY
2005-06. The legislature will use his proposal as a staring point
for its budget deliberations. We expect the budget process to move
more rapidly than usual this year as appropriation sub-committees are
scheduled to finish their respective budgets by March 17th. The
full budget bills are expected to be released by the end of March, and at
that time, the budget conference will begin work to resolve differences
between the House and Senate.
The
Senate has identified better budget and planning as a priority. We
expect to see changes in budget forecasting that would extend the revenue
estimating timeframes out to three years. This, they believe, will
allow the legislature to plan further in advance to more precisely
predict state revenues and budget accordingly. Senate Bills 2146
and 2144,
both filed by Senator Jeff Atwater (R-North Palm Beach), relate to this
issue.
Growth Management
As most of you know, the Department of Community Affairs has generated
two substantial drafts of comprehensive growth management policy
proposals, which are posted to FAPA's legislative web page. A third
iteration is expected soon and is expected to be filed by Representative
Mike Davis (R-Naples), Vice Chair of the House Committee on Growth
Management. FAPA has conceptually supported the Department's
proposals and offered detailed suggestions to further refine and revise
them. At this time, however, it seems that the Department has been
unable to overcome some fierce opposition to its proposals. It is
likely the Legislature will pass some components of growth management reform
this year, but a full re-write of the current law is unlikely.
Growth management related bills that you may want to track are as
follows:
SB 1886
by Senator Mike Bennett (R-Bradenton) revises various provisions of the
Local Government Comprehensive Planning Certification Program to
encourage increased participation. It also provides more
flexibility to local governments to raise revenues by, among other
things, removing the referendum requirement for the local government
infrastructure surtax and authorizing a real estate transfer tax.
SB 1160
by the Senate Committee on Community Affairs provides for a definition of
antiquated subdivisions and requires the future land use element of
comprehensive plans to identify areas where a local government seeks to
consolidate or vacate platted or subdivided lots.
HB 955
by Representative Kim Berfield (R-Clearwater) and SB 1316
by the Senate Committee on Community Affairs address the development of
waterfront property. The bills require coastal counties to include
in the future land use element of their comprehensive plan, criteria to
encourage preservation of recreational and commercial working
waterfronts. These two bills also create the Waterfronts Florida
Program within the Department of Community Affairs and increase vessel
registration fees to fund boating related grant programs.
HB 477
by Representative Everett Rice (R-Indian Shores) and SB 976
by Senator Dennis Jones (R-Seminole) address coastal redevelopment
and mitigation. The proposed legislation defines the term
"local mitigation strategy" and provides additional requirements
in the comprehensive plan concerning vulnerabilities and the need for
hazard mitigation. The bills also authorize a demonstration project
for up to five counties to allow redevelopment within designated coastal
high-hazard areas.
SB 2614
by Senator Lee Constantine (R-Altamonte Springs) addresses improved public
input in the university campus master planning process.
SB 2430
by Senator Jeff Atwater (R-North Palm Beach) expresses a legislative
intent to enact laws providing revenue sources to fund growth
management.
HB 1173
by Representative Donna Clarke (R-Sarasota) and SB 2302
by Senator Mike Bennett (R-Bradenton) tackle the adoption of impact fees,
impact fee credits, local government reporting requirements, and the
timing of the payment of impact fees. There is an excellent staff
analysis on this bill, which explains its provisions and gives both
the proponents' and opponents' perspectives.
SB 620
by Senator Mike Bennett (R-Bradenton) and HB 305
by Representative Ken Littlefield (R-Zephyrhills) are again bringing
back to the legislature the issue of cell tower citing. The bills
limit local government land use authority with regard to land
development, zoning, requests for information, and the imposition of
setbacks and other limitations as they relate to cell tower citing.
SB 2060
by Senator Carey Baker (R-Eustis) and HB 1521
by Representative Ken Sorensen (R-Tavernier), limit the use of CRAs to
address redevelopment and SB 2300
by Senator Mike Bennett (R-Bradenton), limits the eminent domain powers
of a CRA.
Agricultural Issues
There has been a great deal of discussion during the past
year regarding agricultural land values and property rights.
Governor Bush vetoed a bill last year that would have created
agricultural enclaves. A House and Senate version of that bill has
been filed again this year. We are also seeing several bills that
provide incentives for the protection of rural and agricultural lands.
HB 561
by Representative Joe Pickens (R-Palatka) and SB 716
by Senator Nancy Argenziano (R-Crystal River) create and define agricultural
enclaves and state that an owner of agricultural lands up to 7,500 acres
in size (over ten square miles), under a certain set of criteria, may
apply for a comprehensive plan amendment that would be presumed
consistent with the comprehensive plan if the criteria is met. This
bill overrides local government decision making authority and promotes
the premature conversion of agricultural land, speculative land values,
and urban sprawl. FAPA's letter to Senator Argenziano regarding
this bill is posted to http://www.floridaplanning.org/legislative/.
SB 242
and 244
by Senator Paula Dockery (R-Lakeland) and HB 1279
and 1281
by Representative David Russell (R-Spring Hill) create a Rural Land Trust
Fund to promote financing for farmland protection through the Rural and
Family Lands Protection Act.
HB 1549
by Representative Stanley Mayfield (R-Vero Beach)
encourages agricultural landowners to participate in the rural land
stewardship program and lifts the cap on the number of participants in
the program.
Hurricane Preparedness and Recovery
In the wake of the 2004 hurricane season, numerous bills are being filed
to address hurricane preparedness and recovery.
SB 232
by Senator Lee Constantine (R-Altamonte Springs) authorizes a local
government to establish a disaster assistance recovery team to improve
communication between emergency managers and the public.
HB 1551
by Representative Gayle Harrell (R-Port St. Lucie) designates the
Department of Community Affairs as the lead agency responsible for
community education and public outreach.
HB 685
by Representative Randy Johnson (R-Winter Garden)
implements a funding program to assist in reconstruction and rebuilding.
The funds will come from the Hurricane Recovery Trust Fund of 2005 (HB 687
also by Representative Johnson), the source of which is proposed to be
sales tax revenues from hurricane rebuilding efforts.
Annexation
The only annexation bills seen thus far are SB 926
by Senator Lee Constantine (R-Altamonte Springs) and HB 1495
by Representative Randy Johnson (R-Winter Garden), both relating to
Interlocal Service Boundary Agreements. These are similar to the
bills that were filed last year and are a combined project of the Florida
Association of Counties and Florida League of Cities.
Water Policy
Dominating the water policy discussion this session will be
implementation of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program, regional
water supply planning, and funding of new and alternative water
supplies.
SB 440
and SB 444
by Senator Paula Dockery (R-Lakeland) address regional water supply
planning and water resource and supply development.
HB 1185
by Representative Dwight Stansel (D-Live Oak) and SB 2368
by Senator Nancy Argenziano (R-Crystal River) create the Florida Springs
Protection Act. The bills require the Department of Environmental
Protection to delineate springsheds and primary protection zones for
first and second magnitude springs. They also require the Department to
establish criteria for impairment of springs and implementation of TMDLs
for such springs.
SB 1670
by Senators Paula Dockery (R-Lakeland) and Ken Pruitt (R-Port St. Lucie)
create the Oceans and Coastal Resources Management Act to better manage
and protect coastal resources.
SB 2322
by Senator J.D. Alexander (R-Lake Wales) addresses water quality
restoration and TMDLs.
SB 908
by Senator Lee Constantine (R-Altamonte Springs) and HB 1013
by Representative Fred Brummer (R-Apopka) are glitch bills for the Wekiva
Parkway and Protection Act and are filed for the purpose of clarifying
certain provisions in the Act as passed by the 2004 Legislature.
SB 2462
by Senator Jeff Atwater (R-North Palm Beach) focuses on water resource
planning and reporting.
SB 98
by Senator Burt Sauders (R-Naples) creates a 2020 Water Study Commission
to review the operation and implementation of Florida's
water resource management and planning laws and make recommendations to
the Governor, Senate President, and Speaker of the House on a variety of
specific issues.
These are just some of the bills that you will find in FAPA's
Bill Tracking Report. Your thoughts on these and others are extremely
important to us and to our ability to adequately represent the
association. Please keep in touch throughout the Legislative
Session by sending your thoughts and comments to fapa@floridaplanning.org.
--Lester
Abberger, FAPA Legislative Representative
--Sheri Coven, FAPA Executive Director
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