BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

HB 765 (Roth) is a bill dealing with building permit applications. The bill would require municipalities to notify the owner of a property and the contractor listed on the permit within 60 days before the permit is set to expire. The bill increases the permit reduction fee by 25% for each business day the local government fails to meet the established timeframes. HB 765 also requires a municipality to accept applications electronically and post the status update of each building permit application on their website. The bill prohibits a municipality from using a permit application unless it includes an attachment with a specified “notice” statement that is referenced in the bill. (Branch)

CS/CS/HB 89 (Maggard) and CS/SB 512 (Hooper) would prohibit a local government from making substantive changes to building plans after a permit has been issued. If substantive changes are made after a permit is issued, the local government must identify the specific plan features that do not comply with the Florida Fire Prevention Code or Life Safety or local amendments, identify the specific code chapters and sections upon which the finding is based and provide this information to the permitholder. A local fire inspector, plans reviewer or building official who fails to comply will be subject to disciplinary action. (Branch)

HB 1153 (Steele) and CS/SB 1432 (Trumbull) would freeze the current local tax rate for CST for 3 years, from January 2023 to January 2026. Additionally the bills would prevent local governments from charging franchise fees for the location of the utilities in the public right of way.  Lastly, the bill reduces the state tax rate for CST percentage by 1.44% as well as the portion on direct to home satellite services by 1.44%. (Chapman)

SJR 122 (Avila) and HJR 469 (Fernandez-Barquin) would reduce the limitation on annual increases of homestead property tax assessments from 3% to 2%. In 1994, the State of Florida established a 3% Save Our Homes (SOH) Cap assessment limit on all residential properties that receive a homestead exemption. The 3% SOH Cap limits any increase to the assessed value of a homestead exempt property for tax purposes to a maximum of 3% each year. SB 120 would reduce the assessment limit to a maximum of 2% each year. SJR 122 and HJR 469 are constitutional amendments and would require the approval of the Florida Legislature and the voters of Florida. (Chapman)

CS/HB 439 (McClain) and CS/SB 1604 (Ingoglia):

As amended, CS/HB 439 in its current form revises and amends a variety of elements impacting local government comprehensive planning as well as methodologies in data usage and planning period timeframes. The bills include local governments must comply with Special Magistrate decisions where land use decisions were challenged by petitioners who were previously denied. Several key terms are redefined such as Density, Intensity, Urban Service Area, and Urban Sprawl. The bill requires the use of the State Office of Economics, Demographics, and Research as the sole source of data for Comprehensive Planning. The bill removes the consideration of Levels of Service as a basis for denying a petition. Planned Unit Developments are removed from this section of Florida Statutes pertaining to architectural/design standards. The bills also prohibit the formation of new Design Review Boards unless established before January 1, 2020. The bills have a retroactive date of January 1, 2022. SB 1604 includes many of the same provisions of HB 439 but does not include the Special Magistrate mandate and data source requirements are different to allow for local data input into comprehensive plans. CS/SB 1604 was amended to remove the original language pertaining to the Special Magistrate decisions, the redefinitions section, the limitation on the use of local data and the prohibition of using levels of service as a basis for denial. CS/SB 1604 removes the ability of local governments to require certain design elements to single-family or two-family dwellings located in a planned unit development or master planned community. The bill also limits the application of those elements in communities with a design review board to only those board adopted prior to January 1, 2020. (Chapman)

SB 682 (DiCeglie) and CS/HB 671 (Esposito) are comprehensive building permit bills. Of concern to cities, the bills do the following:

•Require the local jurisdiction to reduce the permit fee by 75% if an owner retains a private provider.

•Reduce the time frame of when municipalities must provide written notice of receipt and any other additional information that is required for a properly completed application to an applicant.

•Reduce the amount of times a municipality can ask an applicant for additional information.

•Allow an application to be “deemed” approved if municipalities fail to meet any of the timeframes. 

CS/HB 671 was amended to allow local governments to adopt by ordinance a minimum freeboard requirement or a maximum voluntary freeboard that exceeds the requirements in the Florida Building Code. (Branch)

CS/HB 401 (Beltran) and SB 604 (Gruters) increase the statutory limits on liability for tort claims against the state and its agencies and subdivisions (which include cities). The current statutory limits for claims are $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident. CS/HB 401 was amended to increase the caps for damages against state and local government entities to $2,500,000 per person and $5,000,000 per incident. SB 604 (Gruters) would increase the caps to $400,000 per person and $600,000 per incident. (Cruz)

CS/HB 1331 (Busatta Cabrera) substantially amends provisions of law relating to municipal water and electric utility extraterritorial surcharges, extraterritorial service and transfers of enterprise funds. The bill authorizes a municipal utility to transfer a portion of its earnings to the municipality for general government purposes. The revenues transferred to fund general government purposes may not exceed a rate equal to the amount derived by applying the average of the midpoints of the rates of return on equity approved by the PSC for investor-owned utilities in the state. The amount of the transfer must be further reduced based on the percentage of extraterritorial customers served by the utility. The bill eliminates the automatic 25% surcharge that may be added to the rates and fees charged to extraterritorial customers. (O’Hara)

SB 1380 (Martin) provides that any municipal electric utility serving any electric retail customer located outside of the municipality’s corporate boundaries is a “public utility” subject to regulation by the Public Service Commission (PSC) for a minimum of five years. The bill directs the PSC to develop rules for such regulation. (O’Hara)

SB 798 (Ingoglia) and CS/HB 975 (Holcomb) provide that a city or county may not prohibit or "unreasonably restrain" a private entity from providing recycling or solid waste services to commercial, industrial or multifamily residential properties. In addition, the bills authorize a local government to require such private entities to obtain a permit, license or non-exclusive franchise but specify the local government's fee may not exceed the local government's administrative cost and that the fee must be commensurate with fees for other industries. The bills prohibit the use of exclusive franchise agreements and restrict a local government from providing its own solid waste or recycling services. Current contracts and franchises in place as of January 2023 would be permitted to continue to their date of expiration, but the bills specify that a local government may not recognize an "evergreen" contract or additional renewal or extension of a contract or agreement. CS/HB 975 was amended to provide that the bill does not apply to a local government that is the sole provider of solid waste collection services in its jurisdiction performed by employees of a municipality or county using municipal or county-owned equipment. (O'Hara)

HB 405 (Tramont) proposes an amendment to the Florida Constitution that would prohibit nonpartisan municipal elections. The proposal also provides that only qualified electors in a municipal election with the same party affiliation as a candidate for office may vote in the primary election for such office (even if a candidate has no opponent with a different party affiliation). The same prohibitions and limitations are imposed on all other state, county and local primary elections, including school boards. In addition, the proposal specifies that a candidate for office may not be prohibited from disclosing his or her party affiliation to the electors and may not be prohibited from campaigning or qualifying for office based on party affiliation. (O'Hara)

SB 100 (Garcia) and HB 561 (Mooney, Jr.) – Mangrove Replanting & Restoration

HB 55 (Garcia) and SB 108 (Rodriguez) – Trees and Other Vegetation within Rights-of-Way

SB 54 (Rodriguez) and HB 135 (Mooney) – Land Acquisition Trust Fund (Keys)

HB 125 (McClain) and SB 194 (Hooper) – Utility System Rate Base Values

HB 207 (Edmonds) and SB 592 (Powell) – Notice of Contaminated Water Systems

HB 325 (Valdes), SB 484 (Bradley), HB 759 (Baker) and SB 1720 (Rouson) – Flood Disclosures for Property Sales

SB 716 (Stewart) and HB 1291 (Antone) – Flood Zone Disclosures for Dwelling Units

HB 527 (Skidmore) and SB 1484 (Pizzo) – Office of the Blue Economy

HB 407 (Shoaf) and SB 702 (Simon) – Apalachicola Bay Area of Critical State Concern

SB 320 (Harrell) and HB 547 (Sirois) – Land Acquisition Trust Fund (Indian River Lagoon)

HB 557 (Bell) and SB 602 (Burton) – Land Acquisition Trust Fund (Heartland Headwaters)

HB 713 (McFarland) and SB 742 (Grall) – Administrative Procedures and Permitting Process Review

HB 739 (Cassel) and SB 1336 (Polsky) – Disposal of Food Waste Material

SB 724 (Boyd) and HB 1181 (Robinson) – Seagrass Restoration Technology Development Initiatives

HB 821 (Yeager) and SB 1162 (DiCeglie) – Renewable Energy Cost Recovery

SB 930 (Stewart) – Excise Tax on Water Extracted for Commercial or Industrial Use

SB 1134 (Gruters) and HB 1505 (Grant) – Outstanding Florida Springs (Warm Mineral Springs)

HB 1149 (Massullo) – Carbon Sequestration

HB 1187 (Beltran) and SB 1216 (Ingoglia) – Campaign Finance

SB 1206 (Thompson) and HB 1469 (Joseph) – Elections

HB 1195 (Cross) and SB 1268 (Rouson) – Urban Agriculture Pilot Projects

SB 1368 (Wright) and HB 1367 (Altman) – Unlawful Dumping (water control districts)

SB 1248 (Ingoglia) – Political Parties

CS/CS/HB 23 (Bell) and CS/CS/SB 162 (Collins) state that water and wastewater facility operators are essential first responders. The bills require the Department of Environmental Protection to issue a license by reciprocity to any applicant who: (1) is a water treatment plant operator, water distribution system operator or domestic wastewater treatment plant operator and who holds an active and valid license from another state, the federal government or tribal government, for which the licensure requirements are comparable to or exceed Florida's licensure requirements; (2) has passed a licensure examination comparable to the Department's licensure examination, subject to approval of the Department; (3) is not the subject of a disciplinary or enforcement action outside of Florida at the time of application; (4) submits a completed application for reciprocal licensure; and (5) remits the application fee. The bills further direct the Department to issue a license by reciprocity to any applicant who: (1) has performed comparable duties while serving in the U.S. armed forces, for which the requirements for performing the duties are comparable to or exceed the Department's licensure requirements; (2) has passed a skills assessment or competency examination comparable to the Department's licensure exam, subject to approval by the Department; (3) is not the subject of any disciplinary or enforcement action at the time of application; (4) submits a completed application to the Department; and (5) remits the application fee. Lastly, the bills authorize the Department, during a declared state of emergency, to issue a temporary operator license by reciprocity under specified conditions and to waive the application fee for such temporary operator license. The bills direct the Department to adopt rules to implement the bills’ provisions.  (O'Hara)

CS/SB 458 (Rodriguez) and HB 827 (Basabe) authorize the Department of Environmental Protection to provide wastewater grant program grants to projects directed at or focused on a water body that is included in the Department's verified list of impaired waters. (O'Hara)

SB 970 (Berman) and HB 957 (Eskamani) amend multiple provisions of law relating to renewable energy. The bills prohibit the drilling, exploration for or the production of oil, gas or other petroleum products on the lands and waters of the state. The bills provide that by 2050, 100% of the electricity used in the state will be generated from 100% renewable energy and that by 2051, the state will have net zero carbon emissions. The bills direct the Office of Energy within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to coordinate with state, regional and local entities to develop a unified statewide renewable energy plan. (O'Hara)

SB 798 (Ingoglia) and CS/HB 975 (Holcomb) provide that a city or county may not prohibit or "unreasonably restrain" a private entity from providing recycling or solid waste services to commercial, industrial or multifamily residential properties. In addition, the bills authorize a local government to require such private entities to obtain a permit, license or non-exclusive franchise but specify the local government's fee may not exceed the local government's administrative cost and that the fee must be commensurate with fees for other industries. The bills prohibit the use of exclusive franchise agreements and restrict a local government from providing its own solid waste or recycling services. Current contracts and franchises in place as of January 2023 would be permitted to continue to their date of expiration, but the bills specify that a local government may not recognize an "evergreen" contract or additional renewal or extension of a contract or agreement. CS/HB 975 was amended to provide that the bill does not apply to a local government that is the sole provider of solid waste collection services in its jurisdiction performed by employees of a municipality or county using municipal or county-owned equipment. (O'Hara)

HB 661 (Truenow) and SB 1420 (Rodriguez) authorize counties and municipalities to access sanitary sewer laterals within their jurisdiction to investigate, repair or replace the lateral. A sanitary sewer lateral is a privately owned pipeline connecting a property to the main sewer line. The bills require municipalities and counties to notify private property owners within a specified timeframe if the government intends to access the owner's sanitary sewer lateral and an anticipated timeframe for the work. The bills specify that local governments who establish sanitary sewer lateral programs are legally and financially responsible for all work that is performed and authorizes such programs to use specified state or local funds to evaluate and rehabilitate impaired laterals. (O'Hara)

SB 734 (Polsky) and HB 1079 (Cross) authorize the Department of Environmental Protection to provide grants to coastal counties for saltwater intrusion vulnerability assessments that analyze the effects of saltwater intrusion on a county's water supply, water utility infrastructure, wellfield protection and freshwater supply management. The bills require the Department to update its comprehensive statewide flood vulnerability and sea level rise data set to include information received from the county saltwater intrusion vulnerability assessments. The bills direct the Department to provide 50% cost-share funding to counties, up to $250,000, for each grant, and exempt counties with a population of 50,000 or less from the cost-share requirement. (O'Hara)

HB 177 (Gossett-Seldman) and SB 172 (Berman) require the Department of Health to adopt and enforce certain rules and issue health advisories for beach waters and public bathing places if the results of bacteriological water sampling at the site fail to meet health standards. The bills also expand the current law preemption of the issuance of health advisories related to bacteriological sampling of beach waters to include public bathing places. The bills specify that beach waters and public bathing places must close if closure is necessary to protect health and safety and must remain closed until the water quality is restored in accordance with the Department's standards. The bills require the Department to adopt by rule specifications for signage that must be used when it issues a health advisory against swimming in affected beach waters or public bathing places due to elevated levels of specified bacteria and require such signage to be placed at beach access points and access points to public bathing places until the health advisory is removed. The bills specify that municipalities and counties are responsible for posting and maintaining the signage around beaches and public bathing places they own. Finally, the bills require the Department to develop an interagency database for reporting fecal indicator bacteria data and specify that fecal indicator bacteria relating to sampled beach waters and public bathing places must be published in the database within five business days after receipt of the data. (O'Hara)

HB 669 (Fine) and CS/SB 950 (Rodriguez) amend current law relating to Property Assessed Clean Energy programs (PACE), whereby local governments, alone or in partnership with a program administrator, may finance qualifying improvements on residential property relating to energy conservation and efficiency or renewable energy. The bills expand the types of projects that are eligible for PACE financing, including septic tank upgrades, repair of lateral sewer lines, septic-to-sewer connections and remediation of certain environmental contaminants. The bills add nonresidential real property, which includes multifamily residential property composed of five or more dwelling units, to PACE program eligibility. The bills add several consumer protections to the current PACE program, including capping the total of all non-ad valorem assessments plus any mortgage debt on the property at 100% of a residential property's fair market value, requiring a determination that a property owner meets certain creditworthiness requirements, and allowing property owners to cancel a financing agreement within three days of execution. (O'Hara)