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End-of-SessionReport20112350 Coral Way, Suite 301 Miami, Florida 33145 (305) 860-0780 (Telephone) (305) 860-0580 (Facsimile) 200 West College Avenue, Suite 204 Tallahassee, Florida 32301 (850) 222-9911 Gomez Barker Associates, Inc. Memorandum To: Hon. Philip K. Stoddard, Mayor Hon. Valerie Newman, Vice Mayor Hon. Brian D. Beasley, Commissioner Hon. Walter A. Harris, Commissioner Hon. Velma Palmer, Commissioner From: Fausto B. Gomez CC: Hector Mirabile, City Manager Date: July 19, 2011 Re: End-of-Session Report Attached is a summary of both fiscal and policy items that we believe are most impactful on the City of South Miami. This constitutes our End-of-Session legislative report and, as always, I look forward to presenting it in fuller detail during my presentation to you. My associates and I are grateful for your entrusting us to represent South Miami and we particularly want to thank the Mayor and Commissioners who, along with the City Manager, joined us in Tallahassee this year. Many of the successes we all achieved would not have been possible if not for their forceful advocacy and the support of the full body and City staff. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or desire additional information. 1 FFIISSCCAALL POSITIVE OUTCOMES:   PENSION REFORM CS/CS/SB1128, reforming local government pension plans, was signed by the Governor on June 23rd. Passed by the legislature on May 4th, following four months of debate, 30 amendments to the original bill text, and three committee substitutes, the legislation was one of the most contentious and heavily lobbied issues this past legislative session. It pitted representatives of local governments who sought to extract the state from the municipal collective bargaining process against organized labor (particularly police and fire unions) who attempted to defeat the bill or preserve the enhanced benefits mandated by the Legislature since 1999. Interestingly, the discussion in the Senate was not dictated by political party affiliation but rather individual views about local governments as profligate spenders or whether first responders were abusing the system. Different bipartisan coalitions emerged to either approve or defeat items. It is widely understood that pension reform will be back on the legislative agenda next year. Not only does CS/CS/SB1128 require that a report and recommendations regarding disability presumptions be submitted to the Legislature by January 1, 2012, but immediately after the conclusion of the Session a group called “Floridians for Sustainable Pensions,” a coalition of business groups and think tanks allied with Governor Rick Scott, called for offering only 401(k)-style define-contribution plans to both new Florida Retirement System and local government employees. Following are the reforms for local pensions, including police and fire, included in CS/SC/SB1128: THE BILL REVISES THE DEFINITION OF COMPENSATION FOR ALL LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEFINED BENEFIT RETIREMENT PLANS (GENERAL EMPLOYEE, POLICE, AND FIRE) For plans that are subject to collective bargaining, effective for the first agreement reached on or after July 1, 2011, for service earned on or after that date, up to 300 hours of overtime compensation may be included for pension purposes as specified in the collective bargaining agreement or plan, but payments for accrued unused sick or annual leave may not be included. For plans that are not subject to collective bargaining, for service earned on or after July 1, 2011, up to 300 hours of overtime compensation may be included for pension purposes as specified in the plan, but payments for accrued unused sick or annual leave may not be included. THE BILL CREATES A TASK FORCE ON PUBLIC EMPLOYEE DISABILITY PRESUMPTIONS The Task Force will be made up of management and union and/or employee representatives appointed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives as well the Chief Financial Officer and officials of the Department of Management Services. A report and recommendations must be submitted to the Legislature by January 1, 2012. THE BILL ELIMINATES THE REQUIREMENT IN CHAPTERS 175 AND 185 THAT PENSION BENEFITS BE INCREASED WHENEVER MEMBER CONTRIBUTIONS ARE INCREASED This addresses an interpretation by the Division of Retirement that plan benefits have to increase an amount corresponding to any increase in member contributions. THE BILL REQUIRES THAT ALL ACTUARIAL REPORTS DISCLOSE THE PRESENT VALUE OF A DEFINED BENEFIT PLAN’S ACCURED, NONVESTED AND TOTAL BENEFITTS, AS ADOPET BY THE FINANCIAL ACCOUNTATING STANDARDS BOARD, USING THE FLORIDA RETIREMET SYSTEM’S ASSURED RATE OF RETURN (CURRENTLY 7.75%), TO “PROMOTE THE COMPARABILITY OF ACTUARIAL DATA BETWEEN LOCAL PLANS.” The Department of Management Services (DMS) is directed to develop a standardized rating system for local government defined benefit pension plans. THE BILL DIRECTS THE DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT SERVICES (DMS) TO PROVIDE A FACT SHEET ON EACH LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEFINED BENEFIT PLAN SUMMARIZING THE PLAN’S ACTURARIAL STATUS The Fact Sheet must contain a summary of the plan’s most recent actuarial data, minimum funding requirements as a percentage of pay, and a five-year history of funded ratios. The Fact Sheet must be posted on the website of the Department of Management Services and plan sponsors must link their websites to that of DMS. THE BILL PROHIBITS THE USE OF ACTUARIAL OR CASH SURPLUS FOR ANY EXPENSES OUTSIDE THE PLAN.  VALUE ADJUSTMENT BOARD HB 281 provides that a petitioner before a value adjustment board (VAB) challenging an assessment of property must make a partial payment of at least 75% of ad valorem taxes before those taxes become delinquent, less any applicable discount. Additionally, a petitioner before a VAB challenging the denial of a classification or an exemption must make a payment of the amount of tax which the taxpayer admits in good faith to owe before such taxes become delinquent, less any applicable discount. If the good faith payment made is grossly disproportionate to the amount found to be due by the VAB, a 10% per year penalty applies. The bill also provides that if the VAB determines that the petitioner owes ad valorem taxes in excess of the amounts paid, the unpaid amount accrues interest at the rate of 12% per year from April 1. If the VAB determines that the petitioner is owed a refund, the amount paid in excess of the amount due accrues interest at the rate of 12% per year from April 1. Finally, the bill eliminates current language which provides for a four percent discount that applies for 30 days after the mailing of a tax notice resulting from the action of a value adjustment board when the tax notice is issued after the taxes become delinquent. If the payments required under the bill are not made, the VAB must deny the petition in writing by April 20. Currently, property owners who object to an assessment may request an informal conference with the county property appraiser, file a petition with the Value Adjustment Board (VAB), and subsequently file an action in Circuit Court to contest the assessment. Property owners can pay property taxes in advance of a VAB hearing or may wait until the hearing process is complete. In Miami-Dade County, as well as in some of the state’s other large counties, the VAB process can take as long as 18 months to two years. As such, more counties have been unable to certify their tax rolls by April 1st, when property taxes are due. This causes problems for local governments and school boards that cannot finalize revenues as well as create cash-flow issues.  REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE CAPS (TABOR) The legislature did not approve any legislation that would have imposed TABOR-like restrictions on local governments. At the beginning of the session Senate President Mike Haridopolos made it clear that he wanted to replace the existing revenue limitation in the state constitution with a new standard based on inflation and population but that it would only affect state government. The House was reluctant to exclude local governments, but ultimately Senator Haridopolos prevailed and SJR958 will be on the ballot during the 2012 general election and must be approved by 60% of the voters.  MUNICIPAL TRANSPORTATION SURTAX South Miami currently receives $333,868 as its share of the People’s Transportation Plan (PTP). Because of the incorporation of Cutler Bay, Miami Gardens, and Doral, Miami-Dade County sought to reduce the amount provided to existing cities. That would have reduced the City’s share to $267,095. A legal opinion rendered in 2002 by then County Attorney Robert Ginsburg stated that if any new cities were created the funding for them would originate from the unincorporated budget that receives 80% of PTP dollars. Notwithstanding that opinion, former County Manager George Burgess advocated that the funding come from the existing cities share. Because of this, South Miami supported amendments to F.S. 212.055 to clarify that when a charter county revises interlocal agreements to include new municipalities, that the new municipalities are to be funded their pro rata share from the portion of the surtax allowed for use in the unincorporated area of the county, or for countywide services, and further clarifying that funding newly incorporated municipalities from the portion of the surtax dedicated to existing municipalities is expressly prohibited. This language was included in both CS/CS/CS/HB1363 and SB1180, the respective Department of Transportation legislative “packages,” but neither bill passed. During the last week of legislative session, the Board of County Commissioners approved funding the three new cities from Miami-Dade’s 80% share of the PTP, but only for one year until the existing interlocal agreements with all the cities expires in 2012. If no permanent agreement with the County is reached, this item will again be addressed legislatively.  INTERACTIVE TRAVEL SERVICES Senator Don Gaetz, who is slated to be Senate President in 2012-2014, and Representative Jason Broduer, filed legislation to provide that state transient rentals taxes, local tourist impact taxes, local tourist development taxes, local convention development taxes, and municipal resort taxes are imposed on the amount received by an entity operating transient rental accommodations – not on the payments received by unrelated firms facilitating the booking of reservations of such accommodations. The measures were SB 376 and HB493. The State Revenue Estimating Conference estimated that passage of this legislation would have a statewide negative fiscal impact of $28.7 Million during the 2011-12 Fiscal Year on local governments. Currently, more than 50 of Florida’s 67 counties have joined a suit against web travel companies such as Expedia, Orbitz, and Priceline alleging that they collect taxes on the entire amount they charge to a consumer but only remit taxes on the wholesale price they pay a lodging establishment for the room. Senator Gaetz and Representative Broduer spearheaded a legislative effort to settle the legal issues in favor of the online travel companies. They were unsuccessful. After much iteration, including killing the bill in the Finance and Tax Committee of the House of Representatives, HB493 passed the House but it was defeated in the Senate. All during the legislative session we worked in concert with the Association of Counties, the Florida League of Cities, and other stakeholders to assure this outcome.  LINE ITEM SUPPORT FOR WATER PROJECTS Because of the state fiscal exigencies, legislative leadership did not allow Community Issue Budget Requests (CBIR) to be filed. This is the vehicle to fund local projects through line- item support and, as such, there were no opportunities to fund line item water related projects. In fact, there were only two specific water projects in the budget; both in the legislative districts of Senate Appropriations Chairman J. D. Alexander and House Budget Chairwoman Denise Grimsley, and the Governor vetoed them. These were for the City of Frostproof and the City of Winter Haven. Notwithstanding, the legislature did allocate low- interest loan funding for wastewater, stormwater, and potable water projects through the Department of Environmental Protection. The Clean Water State Revolving Fund program provides low-interest loans for planning, designing, and constructing wastewater and stormwater projects. Funds are made available for Preconstruction Loans and Construction Loans. The Loan Terms include a 20-year amortization and low-interest rates. Preconstruction loans are available to all communities and provide up-front disbursements for administrative services, project planning and project design. There is $170,346,724 available for this purpose. The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Program provides low-interest loans for planning, designing, and constructing public water facilities. Funds are made available for Pre-construction Loans, Construction Loans of $75,000 minimum or more, and Pre- construction Grants and Construction Grants to small financially disadvantaged communities. The Loan Terms include a 20-year (30-year for financially disadvantaged communities) amortization and low-interest rates. There is $91,053,594 available for this purpose.  RED LIGHT CAMERAS Although South Miami has not authorized the use of Red-light cameras, we closely followed the effort of Representative Richard Corcoran, slated to be House Speaker during the 2016-18 term, to repeal the law passed during the 2010 legislative session that authorized the use of traffic infraction detectors. Representative Corcoran filed HB4087 and that bill passed the House but died in the Senate. Realizing that there was little appetite in the Senate for his initiative, Representative Corcoran then amended SB1150, a transportation bill sponsored by Senate Transportation Chairman Jack Latvala, to require local governments to fund a study and gain Florida Department of Transportation approval prior to a camera being installed. Senator Latvala refused to accept said amendment and the bill died. Representative Corcoran has pledged to continue the effort next legislative session. The issue of Red-light cameras is contentious and most probably a compromise solution will be reached. The most likely outcome is that those jurisdictions that have approved and/or installed traffic infraction detectors will be grandfathered. Negative Outcomes:    FLORIDA FOREVER AND FLORIDA RECREATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (FRDAP) Over the past ten years, the Florida Forever program has purchased over 2.4 million acres for state and local parks, open spaces, and wildlife habitats with a combination of local funds and an annual appropriation from Tallahassee. Because of the current fiscal shortfall, the legislature did not appropriate any dollars this year but authorized Florida Forever to spend up to $305 million to be potentially generated from the sale of surplus state lands and office buildings. The Governor vetoed said authorization. This comes after Florida Forever received $15 million last year, a significant drop from the $300 million annual appropriation received every year prior to 2008. FRDAP is a competitive grant program that provides financial assistance to local governments for development or acquisition of land for public outdoor recreational purposes. Although the City of South Miami has benefited from this program in the past, we understand there were no city parks on the FRDAP 2011-12 priority list. The Department of Environmental Protection had requested over $27,000,000 to meet current obligations but this request was not funded.  PROPERTY ASSESSMENT Representative Chris Dorworth, slated to be House Speaker during the 2014-16 term, sponsored CS/CS/CS/CS/CS/HJR381, an amendment to the state constitution that reduces the current assessment limitation on non-homestead real property from 10% to 5%. That cap would sunset in 2023. The constitutional amendment would also allow the Legislature by general law to prohibit increases in the assessed value of homestead properties if the just value of the property decreases and provide buyers who have not owned a home in Florida within the last three years an additional exemption. The discount would equal 50% of the home’s assessed value and would end after five years. This amendment will be on the ballot during the 2012 general election and must be approved by 60% of the voters. Approval of this legislation sparked a debate over the underlying premise of providing some property owners with tax protections that are unavailable to others. Passed in the early 1990s, the Save our Homes imitative has led to wide disparities in the property taxes paid on similarly situated properties depending on when the property was purchased. Supporters of this bill said it would provide relief to commercial property owners, new homebuyers, and renters and thus spur economic growth. Critics stated the proposal would further reduce the tax base of cities and counties already hamstrung by declining property values and sluggish growth. POLICY POSITIVE OUTCOMES:   CHARTER SCHOOLS Amendatory language pre-empting local governments from establishing zoning regulations on charter schools was filed by the House of Representatives to HB7195. The Senate refused to accept it. When the companion bill was sent to the House, CS/CS/CS/SB1546, the Senate sponsor accepted similar language; but one that stated that “a local governing authority shall not adopt or impose any local building requirements or site-development restrictions, such as parking and site-size criteria, that are addressed by and more stringent than those found in the State Requirements for Educational Facilities of the Florida Building Code. Beginning July 1, 2011, a local governing authority must treat charter schools equitably in comparison to similar requirements, restrictions, and processes imposed upon public schools that are not charter schools.” (emphasis supplied) The key to this is the regulatory and public processes followed by Miami-Dade County Public Schools in locating and/or expanding a public school and the coordination with local jurisdictions where the school is to be sited. It can be reasonably argued that charter schools would now have to comply with those procedures. Locating and/or expanding a public school in a municipality is governed by two relevant Florida Statutes (013.33 and 1013.35, F. S.) These require that the school board enter into an interlocal agreement that meets certain minimum standards; including that the two entities agree on how population growth and distribution will affect the city along with student enrollment, the impact on local government development plans (traffic, land use, and impact on surrounding neighborhoods), the timing of improvements to support proposed expansion, local government participation in the preparation of the school board’s plan over the next 5, 10, and 20 years, public oversight, and a dispute resolution process. In addition to our lobbying efforts, and that of the League of Cities, the Chairman of the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners, Joe Martinez, sent out an e-mail on April 29th to his lobbying team elevating opposition to the original House amendment to priority status and detailing the issues the County has had with charter schools not complying with their agreements regarding enrollment and traffic.  GROWTH MANAGEMENT This year’s Growth Management reform (HB7207) was passed as a conforming bill to the state budget and largely removes state government oversight from the comprehensive planning process. According to Senator Mike Bennett, Chairman of the Committee on Community Affairs, the goal of the legislation was to give local governments “as much leeway as possible. We know local governments want to be in control. They do not believe Tallahassee should be telling Biscayne Bay they can’t build a sidewalk in Biscayne Bay.” The bill makes school and transportation concurrency optional for cities and counties and substantially reduces the burdens on cities associated with the preparation of evaluation and appraisal reports. The state’s role is now limited to comment on areas of state or critical concern. Finally, the Department of Community Affairs is merged into a new entity called the Department of Economic Opportunity and downsized from its current form.  PUBLIC OFFICERS SEVERANCE PAY CS/CS/CS/SB88 restricts severance pay for any public officer, agent, employee or contractor. The legislation allows up to 20 weeks of severance but that can be exceeded by a two-thirds vote of the membership of a particular public body. Employment contracts valid before July 1st of this year that have severance pay provisions are grandfathered. A contract renewal or renegotiation after July 1st requires compliance with the restrictions. The legislation passed handily, but by a close 60-55 vote on the last night of session, the House of Representative adopted an amendment by Representative Eddy Gonzalez to include the provision allowing severance pay beyond 20 weeks under the provisions described above. The focus of much of the debate on that particular amendment was the severance package awarded to former Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess.  VACATION RENTALS Representative Mike Horner and Senator Greg Evers proposed legislation preempting local governments from treating vacation rentals differently from other residential properties based solely on their classification, use, or occupancy. Working in concerts with the Florida League of Cities and the Association of Counties, the legislation was amended to grandfather any local government with ordinances regulation vacation rentals existing prior to July 1st of this year.  OPEN HOUSE PARTIES Currently, 856.015, F.S., states that a person in control of a residence who allows an open house party to take place commits a second degree misdemeanor if they know a minor has possession of or consumed any alcoholic beverage or drug at their residence and the person fails to take responsible steps to prevent the possession or consumption of the alcoholic beverage or drug by the minor. This legislation amends present law to make a second or subsequent violation a first degree misdemeanor. Furthermore, the bill also provides that any violation of s. 856.015, F.S., which results in serious bodily injury or death, will be punishable by a first degree misdemeanor. A first degree misdemeanor is punishable by up to 1 year in jail and/or a fine not to exceed $1,000.  PROPERTY INSURANCE Although SB408, a comprehensive property insurance bill was approved, that legislation does not have the significant negative impact on South Miami that CS/SB1714 would have had. As such, we focused our lobbying efforts on the latter bill which we believe would have made a significant percentage of properties located in the City ineligible for Citizens Property Insurance coverage. That, in turn, would have impacted the real estate market and made a momentous dent on South Miami’s economy. Beginning in 2012, all structures with a replacement value of $1 million or more would be ineligible for Citizens coverage; in 2014 the threshold would be reduced to $750,000 and in 2016 that would be reduced further to $500,000. Up to January 1, 2015, Citizens would have had to impose a minimum rate increase of 25% per year for every single residential policy. Finally, beginning on February 1st of next year, Citizens would not cover screened enclosures, in 2013 detached structures would be ineligible, and in 2014 the limitation would extend to certain items of personal property. The Senate bill died in the Rules Committee, the last step prior to the floor, and the House bill died on the calendar for final consideration.  PAIN MANAGEMENT CLINICS The State of Florida has the dubious distinction of leading the nation in prescription drug abuse. Called “Pill Mills,” there are 838 clinics statewide and 183 in South Florida alone. These numbers led to Senator Eleanor Sobel remarking that “we have more pill mills in Florida than we have McDonald’s.” The bill that passed (HB7095) had split Republican legislators for weeks as the Governor and House of Representatives wanted to not fund the statewide prescription drug database that is slated to become operational by the end of August of this year. Ultimately, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos, the wife of the Senate President, (who was instrumental in nudging her husband to broker a deal) worked toward a successful compromise. The legislation prescribes medical standards and operational restrictions for pain- management clinics and requires more stringent permitting regulations for community pharmacies to be conformed under the new standards by July 2012. Doctors will automatically lose their licenses for 6 months and be fined $10,000 for overprescribing violations, the prospection drug database continue to be funded but it changes the reporting requirements from 15 days to 7 and requires criminal background checks of those who have access to it, imposes a 5,000-unit cap restriction on narcotics prescriptions, includes a tracking of narcotics sold wholesale and a buy-back program for doctors to return them to distributors, and provides $3 million to local law enforcement agencies to put in force these new rules.  BILLBOARDS Section 27 of CS/CS/CS/HB1363, the comprehensive Department of Transportation package, would have pre-empted local governments from establishing “sign permit fees” for the installation of any sign, wall mural, or media tower in their jurisdiction. This was in response to a dispute between the City of Miami and a particular billboard company who was seeking additional sign placement consideration from Miami. The proposed language, however, had statewide application. Said section would have relaxed the billboard requirements and limited the cost of the sign permit fee to the “actual cost of administering the local government sign ordinance.” This language was included in the House version of the transportation bill, reportedly placed there on orders of House leadership, but the Senate refused to concur with this provision. This was one of the key reasons the transportation bill failed this session.  BERT HARRIS ACT After 10 years to trying, legislation finally passed revising the Bert Harris Private Property Rights Act. This was originally enacted in 1995. The Bert Harris Act encompasses government actions that constitute an “inordinate burden” on a citizen’s property. An inordinate burden is defined as “an action of one or more governmental entities that has directly restricted or limited use of real property such that the property owner is permanently unable to attain the reasonable, investment-backed expectation for the existing use of the real property.” We were part of a coalition of lobbying groups opposing the changes to the Bert Harris. Although the bill passed, we were able nevertheless to secure a number of amendments that reduced its impact. These included A) Moratoria longer than 12 months are no longer considered “not temporary.” They will be examined on a case-by-case basis, B) The proposed 120-day settlement period was extended to 150-days, C) The length of time since passage of an ordinance can be considered in determining whether there are truly reasonable investment-backed expectations when the first application occurs many years afterwards Negative Outcomes:   SOBER HOMES Senator Ellyn Bogdanoff and Representative Luis Garcia filed legislation (SB1348 and HB1055) establishing standards for the operations of SOBER Homes in Florida and not allowing the clustering of these in residential neighborhoods. During the legislative interim, we worked with the Department of Children and Families and helped establish a stakeholders workgroup that surveyed what other states were doing and reached consensus on the language of the legislation. The bills defined the term “sober transitional living home” to mean a community residential home that provides a peer- supported and managed alcohol-free and drug-free living environment. A sober transitional living home must follow all local and county standards of occupancy and may not provide onsite substance abuse treatment unless it is provided by a licensed service provider. No SOBER Home could be located within 1,000 feet of another. Senator Bogdanoff’s bill was heard by the Children, Families, and Elder Affairs Committee where it was approved unanimously. Unfortunately, Representative Garcia’s bill was never heard in committee, a victim of partisan politics. During the course of the legislative session various Republican members of the House of Representatives joined as co-sponsors of the legislation, including the Chairman of the Tea Party Caucus, but due to other political considerations leadership refused to agenda the bill.