BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

HB 617 (Lopez, V.) and SB 694 (Gruters) require that owners and operators of private property used for motor vehicle parking must have a physical location in Florida, establish parking fees that are equal to that of the local governments and have posted signage that is clearly visible to those parking. Additionally, the bill removes a preemption in current law that prohibits local governments from regulating private parking lots. (Taggart)

HB 519 (Edmonds) and SB 530 (Polsky) would repeal the preemption on the regulation of tobacco and nicotine products. (Taggart)

SB 718 (Yarborough) and HB 653 (Canady) specify that before starting annexation procedures, a local government shall prepare a feasibility study for the proposed area. To provide needed clarification on the process of contraction, the bills require a city to get permission from at least 50% of owners in an area proposed to be de-annexed when more than 70% of the land is owned by individuals, corporations or legal entities. "Contraction" means the reversion of property within municipal boundaries to an unincorporated status. Currently corporations have no voice in the contraction process because they are not registered to vote from the land in question. The goal of the legislation is to prevent situations where a small group of property owners has requested a contraction of a large area of land and most of the land in question is owned by a corporation opposed to the contraction. (Cruz)

HB 169 (Lopez) and CS/SB 314 (Rodriguez) require employers of first responders to pay for up to 12 hours of licensed counseling following a work-related traumatic event. This benefit would be in addition to any potential workers' compensation claim or counseling services covered by health insurance. Covered first responders include firefighters, paramedics, emergency medical technicians and law enforcement officers, including those working on a volunteer basis. The bills also hold the employing agency responsible for paying for up to an additional 24 hours of treatment if a mental health specialist finds that the first responder requires more hours of counseling. CS/SB 314 was amended to cap the cost of employer-paid counseling at $500 per hour. The bill was also further expanded to include correctional officers. (Cruz)

HB 3 (Rommel) is a comprehensive bill aimed at eliminating the consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) from government investment strategies, procurements, bond issuances and use of banks. The relevant provisions to local governments are as follows: 

•HB 3 requires fiduciaries of all government retirement plans to make investment decisions that only consider pecuniary factors and do not include the consideration or furtherance of any social, political or ideological interests in those decisions. By December 15, 2023, and by December 15 of each odd-numbered year thereafter, each government retirement system or plan shall file a comprehensive report detailing and reviewing the governance policies concerning decision-making in vote decisions and adherence to the fiduciary standards as required by the bill. 

•HB 3 prohibits local governments from the issuance of bonds used to further an ESG purpose. The bill defines ESG bonds to include bonds that will be used to finance a project with an ESG purpose including, but not limited to, green bonds, Certified Climate Bonds, GreenStar designated bonds and other environmental bonds marketed as promoting an environmental objective; social bonds marketed as promoting a social objective; and sustainability bonds and sustainable development goal bonds marketed as promoting both environmental and social objectives. 

•HB 3 requires that any contract between a government entity and an investment manager include provisions requiring a disclaimer be included in any communications from the investment manager. The disclaimer the investment manager must include states: "The views and opinions expressed in this communication are those of the sender and do not reflect the views and opinions of the people of the State of Florida." 

•The bill amends the definition of a "qualified public depository" to prohibit banks from making it a practice to deny or cancel services of its customers based on a person's political opinions, speech, affiliations, lawful ownership or sales of firearms, production of fossil fuels or other factors related to ESG. Pursuant to current law, all public deposits may only be made in a qualified public depository.

•Lastly, the bill amends procurement requirements of all governmental entities to prohibit government bodies from giving a preference to vendors based on ESG factors or requesting information from vendors related to ESG. (Cruz)

HB 727 (Rayner-Goolsby) and SB 778 (Rouson) authorize local governments to enact land development regulations to allow for small-footprint grocery stores within food insecure areas. Food insecure areas are areas where people have limited access to affordable, healthful and nutritious foods. The bills define a small-footprint grocery store as a store that has less than $1 million in gross sales, and 20% of its gross receipts are from the retail sale of nutrient-dense foods. The bills also give local governments the authority to require mandatory reporting of certain information from the small-footprint grocery store. (Cruz)

SB 668 (Collins) prohibits governmental agencies from displaying to the public any flag that does not follow the protocol adopted by the Governor. The current protocol is based on the United States Flag Code and the Florida Flag Code and directs the public and governmental agencies on how to display the United States Flag, the State Flag, the POW/MIA flag, the Firefighter Memorial Flag and the Honor and Remember Flag. (Taggart)

SB 1068 (Collins) prohibits local governments from withholding issuance of a business tax receipt or enacting or enforcing an ordinance or resolution that prohibits a drone delivery service’s operation based on the location of the delivery service’s drone port. (Branch)

SB 782 (Hooper) and HB 869 (McClain) are a broad agency package for the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Within this package is a new requirement for vacation rental licensees or licensed agents to create an online account and provide an email contact for all communications. Any changes made to the address or number of houses/units under a license must be submitted to the division within 30 days. (Taggart)

HB 563 (Amesty) would prohibit the use of TikTok, or other applications developed or provided by ByteDance Limited, on a government-issued device. (Taggart)

HB 347 (Bankson) specifies that a person who owns, operates or uses a public-use airport is not subject to civil liability or criminal prosecution as it relates to noise or nuisances that result from operation or use. The bill does not prohibit a local government from regulating the location and construction of a public-use airport after July 1, 2023. (Branch)

HB 321 (Stevenson) and HB 323 (Stevenson) – Movable Tiny Homes

SB 570 (Powell) – Building Permits

HB 611 (Lopez) – Bonds of Contractors Constructing Public Buildings

CS/SB 102 (Calatayud) and HB 627 (Busatta Cabrera) are comprehensive housing bills that sunset after 10 years. Of interest to municipalities:  

Funding and Tax Credits

•The bills propose over $700 million for affordable housing programs including $252 million for SHIP, $259 million for SAIL and $100 million for the Florida Hometown Heroes Housing Program.

•The bills create a new Live Local Corporate Tax Donation program for taxpayers to donate funds directly to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC) for the SAIL program in return for tax credits against corporate and insurance liability tax.

Affordable Housing Tax Exemptions

•HB 627 authorizes municipalities to provide property tax incentives for developments that serve households at 50% AMI or below.

•CS/SB 102 was amended to authorize municipalities to provide property tax incentives for developments that serve households at 60% AMI or below. The bill also now gives local governments the ability to deny or revoke exemptions based on multiple code violations.

Zoning and Land Use

•The bills preempt municipalities’ regulation on zoning, density and height for certain multifamily affordable housing developments in commercial areas and prohibit any local government from enacting rent control.

•The bills also require municipalities to post an inventory of lands appropriate for affordable housing on its website. (Branch)

SB 154 (Bradley) is a comprehensive condominium bill. Of interest to cities, the bill does the following:

•Authorizes a municipality to determine that a milestone inspection is deemed necessary when a condo building reaches 25 years of age instead of 30 years for a building that is three stories or more in height. The condo association is responsible for the inspection.

•Allows a municipality to extend the deadline for a milestone inspection under certain circumstances upon showing a good cause. The bill provides a definition of a “good cause.”

•Requires the condo association to submit a phase two progress report to the local enforcement agency that specifies a timeline for the completion of repairs. The phase two inspection must be performed if any substantial structural deterioration is identified during phase one inspection. (Branch)

SB 170 (Trumbull) imposes new requirements on municipalities for adopting and enforcing ordinances. First, the bill requires a municipality to prepare a business impact estimate before adopting an ordinance and specifies the minimum content that must be included in the statement. The bill exempts various ordinances from this requirement. The business impact estimate must be posted on the municipality's website no later than the date of publication of notice of the proposed ordinance. Second, the bill requires a municipality to suspend enforcement of an ordinance that is the subject of a civil action challenging the ordinance's validity on the grounds that it is arbitrary or unreasonable or expressly preempted by state law. This requirement applies only if: the action was filed within 90 days of the ordinance's effective date; suspension of the ordinance was requested in the complaint; and the municipality was served with a copy of the complaint. If the municipality prevails in the civil action, the municipality may enforce the ordinance unless the plaintiff appeals the decision and obtains a stay of enforcement from the court. Third, the bill authorizes the award of attorney fees, costs and damages to a prevailing plaintiff in a civil action commenced after October 1, 2023, in which an ordinance is alleged to be arbitrary or unreasonable. Attorney fees, costs and damages are capped at $50,000. The bill authorizes a court to impose sanctions upon a party for filing a paper, pleading or motion for an improper purpose (such as to harass or delay). The bill requires courts to prioritize and expedite the disposition of cases in which enforcement of an ordinance is suspended. The bills exempt various ordinances from the stay of enforcement provision. (O'Hara)

HB 695 (Hawkins) – Determinations for Tax Exemptions

HB 711 (Overdorf) – Aircraft Taxes

SB 882 (Brodeur) and HB 885 (Plasencia) – Local Government Infrastructure Tax

HB 29 (Eskamani) and SB 114 (Book) – Tax Exemption for Diapers and Incontinence Products

HB 103 (F. Robinson) and SB 182 (Rodriguez) – Taxpayer Delinquencies

HB 253 (Barnaby) and SB 180 (Gruters) – Securities Transactions

HB 205 (Gossett-Seidman) and SB 116 (Rodriguez) – Tax Exemption for Charges for Private Investigations

SB 372 (Ingoglia) and HB 507 (Overdorf) – Federal Taxation

SB 374 (Ingoglia) and HB 509 (Overdorf) – Trust Funds/Internal Revenue Service Civil Liability Trust Fund/DFS

SB 672 (Avila)  and HB 717 (Amesty)– Homestead Property Tax Exemptions

SB 686 (Brodeur) and HB 681 (Plasencia) – Sales Tax Exemption for Certain Investigation and Security Services

HB 747 (Woodson) and SB 762 (Wright) – Property Tax Exemption for Surviving Spouses of Veterans

SB 756 (Calatayud) – Cigarette Tax Distributions 

HB 791 (Brackett) – Taxes on Purchases Made Through Private-label Credit Card Programs

HB 309 (Shoaf) and SB 640 (Simon) allow for a fiscally constrained county bordering either the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean to utilize up to 10 percent of the tourist development tax revenues received to reimburse for expenses incurred in providing public safety services needed to address impacts related to increased tourism and visitors to the area.  However, the revenues may not be used by a county or municipality to supplant the normal operating expenditures for public safety operations related to tourism or special events. (Chapman)

HB 229 (Cross) and SB 220 (Rodriguez) authorize local governments to adopt ordinances to grant partial ad valorem tax exemptions to property owners whose properties are used to provide affordable housing. (Cruz)

SB 474 (Garcia) revises the timeframe under which certain appeals of value adjustment board decision must be filed by a property appraiser under certain circumstances.  It specifies when erroneous assessment of homestead property must be corrected as in the year the error is discovered, removes duplicative language from the sections pertaining to correcting the error when present in subsequent years. The bill authorizes a taxpayer to appeal the amount of a homestead assessment limitation difference with the value adjustment board.  Includes adding appeals for which a value adjustment board must meet to hear taxpayer claims for adjustments. (Chapman)

SB 698 (Ingoglia) and HB 731 (Temple) require referendums to reenact an expiring source of county or municipal revenue to be held at a general election immediately preceding the expiration or enactment date. Sources of revenue identified by the bill include Tourist Development Tax, Children’s Services Special District Millage Rate, Dependent District Millage Rates, Municipal Millage Rates in Excess of Limits, Local Government Discretionary Sales Tax, Ninth Cent Fuel Tax and Local Option Fuel Tax. (Chapman)