Bill Text: FL S0772 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Expressway Authorities
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Failed) 2014-05-02 - Died in Appropriations, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/CS/SB 218 (Ch. 2014-169), CS/CS/SB 230 (Ch. 2014-171), CS/CS/CS/SB 846 (Ch. 2014-183) [S0772 Detail]
Download: Florida-2014-S0772-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Expressway Authorities
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Failed) 2014-05-02 - Died in Appropriations, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/CS/SB 218 (Ch. 2014-169), CS/CS/SB 230 (Ch. 2014-171), CS/CS/CS/SB 846 (Ch. 2014-183) [S0772 Detail]
Download: Florida-2014-S0772-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2014 SB 772 By Senator Garcia 38-00785-14 2014772__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to expressway authorities; amending s. 3 338.165, F.S.; revising provisions for toll rate 4 adjustments to limit applicability to certain 5 authorities; amending s. 348.0003, F.S.; revising 6 governing body membership provisions for certain 7 authorities; amending s. 348.0004, F.S.; revising 8 powers of certain authorities to increase tolls and 9 incur debt; revising authorized use of surplus 10 revenues; providing that certain toll increases are 11 rescinded and such tolls must be reduced by a 12 specified date; requiring certain authorities to 13 provide periodic financial audits to the governing 14 body of the county; amending s. 348.0005, F.S.; 15 revising authority of certain authorities to issue 16 bonds; providing an effective date. 17 18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 19 20 Section 1. Subsection (3) of section 338.165, Florida 21 Statutes, is amended to read: 22 338.165 Continuation of tolls.— 23 (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 24 department, including the turnpike enterprise, shall index toll 25 rates on existing toll facilities to the annual Consumer Price 26 Index or similar inflation indicators. Toll rate adjustments for 27 inflation under this subsection may be made no more frequently 28 than once a year and, except as provided in s. 348.0004(2), must 29 be made no less frequently than once every 5 years as necessary 30 to accommodate cash toll rate schedules. Except as provided in 31 s. 348.0004(2), toll rates may be increased beyond these limits 32 as directed by bond documents, covenants, or governing body 33 authorization or pursuant to department administrative rule. 34 Section 2. Paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section 35 348.0003, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 36 348.0003 Expressway authority; formation; membership.— 37 (2) The governing body of an authority shall consist of not 38 fewer than five nor more than nine voting members. The district 39 secretary of the affected department district shall serve as a 40 nonvoting member of the governing body of each authority located 41 within the district. Each member of the governing body must at 42 all times during his or her term of office be a permanent 43 resident of the county which he or she is appointed to 44 represent. 45 (d) Notwithstanding any provision ofto the contrary in46 this subsection, in any county as defined in s. 125.011(1), the 47 governing body of an authority shall consist of nineup to 1348 members, and the following provisions of this paragraph shall 49 apply specifically to such authority. Except for the district 50 secretary of the department, the members must be residents of 51 the county. FourSevenvoting members shall be appointed by the 52 governing body of the county. At the discretion of the governing 53 body of the county, up to two of the members appointed by the 54 governing body of the county may be elected officials residing 55 in the county. FourFivevoting members of the authority shall 56 be appointed by the Governor. One member shall be the district 57 secretary of the department serving in the district that 58 contains such county. This member shall be an ex officio voting 59 member of the authority. A member of the authority appointed by 60 the governing body of the county or appointed by the Governor 61 may not serve as a member of any other transportation-related 62 board, commission, or organization, such as the Florida 63 Transportation Commission or a metropolitan planning 64 organization, while serving as a member of the authority. If the 65 governing board of an authority includes any member originally 66 appointed by the governing body of the county as a nonvoting 67 member, when the term of such member expires, that member shall 68 be replaced by a member appointed by the Governor until the 69 governing body of the authority is composed of fourseven70 members appointed by the governing body of the county and four 71fivemembers appointed by the Governor. The qualifications, 72 terms of office, and obligations and rights of members of the 73 authority shall be determined by resolution or ordinance of the 74 governing body of the county in a manner that is consistent with 75 this paragraph and subsections (3) and (4). 76 Section 3. Paragraphs (e) and (f) of subsection (2) and 77 subsection (7) of section 348.0004, Florida Statutes, are 78 amended to read: 79 348.0004 Purposes and powers.— 80 (2) Each authority may exercise all powers necessary, 81 appurtenant, convenient, or incidental to the carrying out of 82 its purposes, including, but not limited to, the following 83 rights and powers: 84 (e)1. To fix, alter, charge, establish, and collect tolls, 85 rates, fees, rentals, and other charges for the services and 86 facilities system, which tolls, rates, fees, rentals, and other 87 charges must always be sufficient to comply with any covenants 88 made with the holders of any bonds issued pursuant to the 89 Florida Expressway Authority Act. However, such right and power 90 may be assigned or delegated by the authority to the department. 91 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, but subject to any 92 contractual requirements contained in documents securing any 93 indebtedness outstanding on July 1, 2014, that is payable from 94 tolls, in any county as defined in s. 125.011, the authority may 95 increase tolls only to the extent necessary to adjust for 96 inflation pursuant to the index toll adjustments provided under 97 s. 338.165. Notwithstanding s. 338.165 or any other provision of 98 law, in any county as defined in s. 125.011, any such toll 99 increase pursuant to the index toll adjustments provided under 100 s. 338.165 must first be approved by resolution adopted by a 101 supermajority vote, consisting of one vote greater than a 102 majority, of the governing board of the county. Notwithstanding 103 s. 338.165 or any other provision of law, in any county as 104 defined in s. 125.011, toll rates may not be increased beyond 105 the index toll adjustments provided under s. 338.165 unless 106 required for compliance with contractual requirements contained 107 in documents in existence on July 1, 2014, securing any 108 outstanding indebtedness payable from tolls. Notwithstanding s. 109 338.165 or any other provision of lawto the contrary, in any 110 county as defined in s. 125.011(1), to the extent surplus 111 revenues exist, they may be used only as provided in s. 112 338.165(2) or to pay debt obligations outstanding on July 1, 113 2014for purposes enumerated in subsection (7), provided the114expenditures are consistent with the metropolitan planning115organization’s adopted long-range plan. Notwithstanding any 116 other provision of lawto the contrary, but subject to any 117 contractual requirements contained in documents securing any 118 outstanding indebtedness payable from tolls, in any county as 119 defined in s. 125.011(1), the board of county commissioners may, 120 by ordinance adopted on or before September 30, 1999, alter or 121 abolish existing tolls and currently approved increases thereto 122 if the board provides a local source of funding to the county 123 expressway system for transportation in an amount sufficient to 124 replace revenues necessary to meet bond obligations secured by 125 such tolls and increases. 126 2. In any county as defined in s. 125.011, any toll 127 increase after January 1, 2014, and any toll increase approved 128 to take effect after January 1, 2014, which do not comply with 129 subparagraph 1. are rescinded. Any such toll that was increased 130 after January 1, 2014, which increase is rescinded by this 131 subparagraph, must, by August 1, 2014, be reduced to the rate 132 that existed as of January 1, 2014. 133 (f) In any county as defined in s. 125.011(1), until July 134 1, 2014, to borrow money, make and issue negotiable notes, 135 bonds, refund bonds and other evidence of indebtedness, either 136 in temporary or definitive form, of the authority, which bonds 137 or other evidence of indebtedness may be issued pursuant to the 138 State Bond Act, or in the alternative, pursuant to the 139 provisions of s. 348.0005(2), to finance an expressway system 140 within the geographic boundaries of the authority, and to 141 provide for the security of the bonds or other evidence of 142 indebtedness and the rights and remedies of the holders of the 143 bonds or other evidence of indebtedness. Any bonds or other 144 evidence of indebtedness pledging the full faith and credit of 145 the state shall only be issued pursuant to the State Bond Act. 146 Effective July 1, 2014, bonds may not be issued by the authority 147 or on behalf of the authority by any state agency or county 148 government, except that refunding bonds may be issued by or for 149 the authority as necessary and prudent for administration and 150 discharge of outstanding debt. 151 1. An authority shall reimburse the county in which it 152 exists for any sums expended from any county gasoline tax funds 153 used for payment of such obligations. Any county gasoline tax 154 funds so disbursed shall be repaid in accordance with the terms 155 of any lease-purchase or interlocal agreement with any county or 156 the department together with interest, at the rate agreed to in 157 such agreement. In no event shall any county gasoline tax funds 158 be more than a secondary pledge of revenues for repayment of any 159 obligations issued pursuant to this part. 160 2. To the extent allowable by federal tax law, in any 161 county as defined in s. 125.011(1), an authority may refund any 162 bonds previously issued, to the extent allowable by federal tax163laws,to finance or refinance an expressway system regardless of 164 whether the bonds being refunded were issued by such authority, 165 an agency of the state, or a county. 166 (7) In any county as defined in s. 125.011(1), an 167 expressway authority must provide a complete financial audit to 168 the governing body of the county every 2 yearsmay finance or169refinance the planning, design, acquisition, construction,170extension, rehabilitation, equipping, preservation, maintenance,171or improvement of a public transportation facility or172transportation facilities owned or operated by such county, an173intermodal facility or facilities, multimodal corridor or174corridors, including, but not limited to, bicycle facilities or175greenways that will improve transportation services within the176county, or any programs or projects that will improve the levels177of service on an expressway system, subject to approval of the178governing body of such county after public hearing. 179 Section 4. Section 348.0005, Florida Statutes, is amended 180 to read: 181 348.0005 Bonds.— 182 (1) Bonds may be issued on behalf of an authority as 183 provided by the State Bond Act. 184 (2)(a) An authority in any county as defined in s. 185 125.011(1), may issue only refunding bonds pursuant to this 186 part, which do not pledge the full faith and credit of the state 187 in such principal amount as, in the opinion of the authority, is 188 necessary to provide sufficient moneys to refund outstanding 189 bondsfor achieving its corporate purposes. 190 (b) The refunding bonds of an authority in any county as 191 defined in s. 125.011(1), issued pursuant to the provisions of 192 this part, whether on original issuance or refunding,must be 193 authorized by resolution of the authority, after approval of the 194 issuance of the refunding bonds at a public hearing, and may be 195 either term or serial bonds, shall bear such date or dates, 196 mature at such time or times, bear interest at such rate or 197 rates, be payable semiannually, be in such denominations, be in 198 such form, either coupon or fully registered, shall carry such 199 registration, exchangeability and interchangeability privileges, 200 be payable in such medium of payment and at such place or 201 places, be subject to such terms of redemption and be entitled 202 to such priorities on the revenues, rates, fees, rentals, or 203 other charges or receipts of the authority including any county 204 gasoline tax funds received by an authority pursuant to the 205 terms of any interlocal or lease-purchase agreement between an 206 authority or a county, as such resolution or any resolution 207 subsequent thereto may provide. The refunding bonds must be 208 executed by such officers as the authority determines under the 209 requirements of s. 279.06. 210 (c) Said bonds shall be sold by the authority at public 211 sale by competitive bid. However, if the authority, after 212 receipt of a written recommendation from a financial adviser, 213 shall determine by official action after public hearing by a 214 two-thirds vote of all voting members of the authority that a 215 negotiated sale of the bonds is in the best interest of the 216 authority, the authority may negotiate for sale of the bonds 217 with the underwriter or underwriters designated by the authority 218 and the county in which the authority exists. The authority 219 shall provide specific findings in a resolution as to the 220 reasons requiring the negotiated sale, which resolution shall 221 incorporate and have attached thereto the written recommendation 222 of the financial adviser required by this subsection. 223 (d) Any such resolution or resolutions authorizing any 224 bonds hereunder which do not pledge the full faith and credit of 225 the state may contain provisions that are part of the contract 226 with the holders of the bonds, as an authority determines 227 proper. In addition, an authority may enter into trust 228 indentures or other agreements with its fiscal agent, or with 229 any bank or trust company within or without the state, as 230 security for such bonds, and may, under the agreements, assign 231 and pledge the revenues, rates, fees, rentals, tolls, or other 232 charges or receipts of an authority, including any county 233 gasoline tax funds received by an authority. 234 (e) Any of the bonds issued pursuant to this part are 235 negotiable instruments and have all the qualities and incidents 236 of negotiable instruments under the law merchant and the 237 negotiable instruments law of the state. 238 (f) Notwithstanding any provisionof the provisionsof this 239 part, in any county as defined in s. 125.011(1), each project, 240 building, or facility which has beenor will befinanced by the 241 issuance of bonds or other evidence of indebtedness before July 242 1, 2014, and that does not pledge the full faith and credit of 243 the state under this part and any refinancing thereof is 244 approved for purposes of s. 11(f), Art. VII of the State 245 Constitution. 246 Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.