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News & Notes
CCC Workshop Registration Deadline Approaches
JobLine
City of Dunedin
Director of Planning & Development
Nassau County
Building Official
CALENDAR
June 15-18, 2008
GFOA 102nd Annual Conference
Broward County
June 22-25, 2008
GMIS Conference
Atlantic City, NJ
June 24-27, 2008
FAC Annual Conference
Miami-Dade County
The deadline to register for County Government Structure & Authority or County Government Roles & Responsibilities is next Wednesday, April 23. The Structure & Authority workshop will be held on April 30 and Roles & Responsibilities will be held on May 1. Each workshop will result in six hours of Core curriculum credit towards commissioner certification. Both workshops are located at the Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village in St. Johns County, information listed below. To register for either workshop, please click here.
TABOR Fails
On Monday, April 14th, the TBRC debated and failed to place CP45 or TABOR on the ballot for consideration of a constitutional amendment. The debate which lasted more than five hours saw the defeat of revenue caps on state and local governments as well as the defeat of a supermajority requirement to increase taxes or fees. Revenue caps or Amendment 11 was hotly debated as were many amendments to Amendment 11. Once it was clear to the commission that Amendment 11 did not have the 17 votes needed to pass, a strike all amendment requiring a super majority voting requirement (Amendment 29) was adopted.
Public Construction Projects
A bill limiting local government’s use of its own workforce on certain construction projects was significantly amended in the Senate Community Affairs Committee this week. As filed, SB 2418 by Senator Haridopolis would have required counties and cities that need to conduct repair and maintenance on public buildings in excess of $280,000 to competitively award such work to a licensed contractor, rather than using in-house personnel. The bill also affected road construction projects in that a county could only use its work force for road projects that (1) did not exceed $250,000 per project (excluding material costs), and (2) did not exceed one mile in length.
House Transportation Bill Passes Infrastructure Council
The House transportation bill, HB 1399 by Rep. Aubuchon, passed the House Infrastructure Council this week and will be heard in the Policy & Budget Council on Monday, April 21. Among the bill’s numerous provisions, it requires a local governmental entity to pay the cost of relocating a utility interfering with a public road if the utility facility serves the governmental entity exclusively.
Growth Management
Both House and Senate growth management bills are poised to be heard next week before making their way to the floor. The House bill, HB 7129, is expected to be heard in the House Infrastructure Council on Monday, April 21, while the Senate bill, SB 474, will be heard in the Senate Transportation Committee on Tuesday, April 22. Both bills make significant changes to local comprehensive planning requirements.
Direct Pay of Benefits
The House bill that authorizes the payment of health insurance policy benefits directly to licensed ambulance providers (HB 405) passed out of its last committee of reference in the House this week and is now heading to the floor in both chambers. HB 405 and SB 1012 are priority bills for the Association this year. Please contact members of your delegation and ask that they support their local EMS providers.
Cover Florida Health Access Program
On Wednesday the Senate unanimously approved the Governor’s "Cover Florida" program (SB 2354). This legislation would allow the state to solicit bids from health insurance companies to offer stripped-down health insurance to those who are not covered by private insurance or government-funded programs. If approved, Floridians would be able to purchase health insurance for as little as $150 a month.
Mining
SB 774 by Senator Baker and SB 2406 by Senator Bennett relating to mining were both voted down in Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation on Thursday afternoon. SB 774 previously contained a supermajority requirement for land use and an appeal to the cabinet for land use decisions relating to aggregate mining. SB 2406 previously contained an environmental preemption relating to limestone mining.
Wetlands/Stormwater Preemption
SB 1376 by Senator Dean was heard in General Government Appropriations on Tuesday afternoon. The bill was amended to remove the wetlands preemption, but the bill was temporarily passed before the stormwater preemption language was amended. The bill will be up in the same committee next Tuesday morning. FAC met with the stakeholders on Thursday morning to continue discussing potential compromises on the bill. Those discussions are ongoing.
Fertilizer
SB 2352 by Senator Aronberg was heard in Community Affairs Thursday afternoon, but the committee ran out of time, so it was temporarily passed. It will likely be on the agenda next Tuesday morning. The bill continues to be amended, but it is still very complicated and does not resemble the task force recommendations. It again mandates that counties pass a fertilizer ordinance.
FAC 2008 Annual Conference
Join us at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa, June 24-27 for the Florida Association of Counties 2008 Annual Conference. Hundreds of county officials will gather in Miami-Dade County to learn, network and share best practices to better serve Florida’s counties. From workshops with outstanding speakers to an exposition hall filled with knowledgeable service providers, participants will gain new ideas and practices they can apply on the job.
The Florida Association of Counties' conference, “Restore the Partnership: Working Together for Florida’s Future,” is focused on rebuilding the state-county partnership by educating state legislators on county issues. Please join us at the conference to discuss these vital partnerships.
SCTAS Special Project Deadline: 6 Weeks Remaining
This is a reminder to all participating small counties that there are less than 6 weeks left to complete your SCTAS funded projects. You must send in the necessary paperwork by June 2 by mailing it to PO Box 549 Tallahassee, FL 32303 or by faxing it to (850) 893-8456.
Many special projects are underway toward completion, but please be advised that we are unable to grant extensions. If your documentation is not received by June 2, your SCTAS assistance may be in jeopardy.
Valuable New Member Service- FREE
FAC is excited to announce a new and FREE benefit for its members. Each county is now eligible to receive one free email subscription to OrdinanceWatch. OrdinanceWatch sends email alerts on proposed city and county ordinances and resolutions from around the state on topics of interest to your county. Some of you may have been receiving these email alerts in the past from OrdinanceWatch. Previously, there was no subscription fee, but as of March 1, that changed.
Legislative Day Survey
If you attended the FAC Legislative Day in Tallahassee on Wednesday, March 26, we hope you enjoyed the event. Please help us with future program planning by completing an online survey. Just click here and you will be taken directly to the survey. It should only take a few minutes to complete. We appreciate your feedback!
We’d also like to thank the sponsors that made this event possible!
2008 Public Service Awards of Excellence Request for Nominations
The North Florida Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration is currently accepting nominations for its 2008 Public Service Awards of Excellence. These awards will be given in three categories (Leadership Achievement, Management Achievement and Exemplary Achievement), honoring individuals for their outstanding achievements. You can support this process by nominating candidates or informing others of this important recognition effort.
Hillsborough County Awarded A Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Reinvestment Grant
Hillsborough County has been awarded a Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Reinvestment Grant award from the Florida Department of Children and Families in the amount of $999,999 over a period of three state fiscal years at $333,333 a year. The funds from the grant will be used to provide needed intensive case management, treatment, and ancillary social services and support not otherwise available for ex-offenders.
NACo Expands Green Government Initiative with Launch of “Green Counties” Database
Through the National Association of Counties (NACo) Green Government Initiative, the association has launched a “green counties” searchable database of counties implementing proenvironment and energy efficient practices, policies and programs. The database contains copies of county policies, program descriptions, case studies, job descriptions, resolutions and more. Users can search by keyword, state, county size, type of document or issue areas such as climate change, green buildings, renewable energy, land use, purchasing and waste management to learn about their programs and initiatives.
About Florida Housing
Florida Housing Finance Corporation (Florida Housing) is the state’s affordable housing agency that administers the state’s single family and multifamily programs. We were created by the Florida Legislature over 20 years to help our fellow Floridians obtain safe, decent housing that might otherwise be unavailable to them. Florida Housing's Board of Directors and staff are continuing to work to increase affordable housing opportunities for Floridians, ensure that Florida Housing's programs are well matched to the housing needs of Floridians, and communicate the importance of affordable housing to Florida's communities. For more information, go to www.floridahousing.org.