Bill Text: FL S1064 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Special Facility Construction Account
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-03-11 - Died in Appropriations Subcommittee on Education, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/HB 7029 (Ch. 2016-237) [S1064 Detail]
Download: Florida-2016-S1064-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2016 SB 1064 By Senator Flores 37-01223A-16 20161064__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to the Special Facility Construction 3 Account; amending s. 1013.64, F.S.; providing that a 4 school district may not receive funds from the Special 5 Facility Construction Account under certain 6 circumstances; revising the criteria for a request for 7 funding; authorizing the request for a preapplication 8 review to take place at any time; providing 9 exceptions; revising the time period for completion of 10 the review; providing that certain capital outlay 11 full-time equivalent student enrollment estimates be 12 determined by specified estimating conferences; 13 requiring surveys to be cooperatively prepared by 14 certain entities and approved by the Department of 15 Education; prohibiting certain consultants from 16 specified employment and compensation; requiring the 17 total cost per student station to include certain cost 18 overruns; requiring a school district to levy the 19 maximum millage against certain property value under 20 certain circumstances; reducing the required millage 21 to be budgeted for a project; requiring certain plans 22 to be finalized by a specified date; requiring a 23 representative of the department to chair the Special 24 Facility Construction Committee; providing an 25 effective date. 26 27 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 28 29 Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (2) of 30 section 1013.64, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 31 1013.64 Funds for comprehensive educational plant needs; 32 construction cost maximums for school district capital 33 projects.—Allocations from the Public Education Capital Outlay 34 and Debt Service Trust Fund to the various boards for capital 35 outlay projects shall be determined as follows: 36 (2)(a) The department shall establish, as a part of the 37 Public Education Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund, a 38 separate account, in an amount determined by the Legislature, to 39 be known as the “Special Facility Construction Account.” The 40 Special Facility Construction Account shall be used to provide 41 necessary construction funds to school districts which have 42 urgent construction needs but which lack sufficient resources at 43 present, and cannot reasonably anticipate sufficient resources 44 within the period of the next 3 years, for these purposes from 45 currently authorized sources of capital outlay revenue. A school 46 district requesting funding from the Special Facility 47 Construction Account shall submit one specific construction 48 project, not to exceed one complete educational plant, to the 49 Special Facility Construction Committee. ANodistrict may not 50shallreceive funding for more than one approved project in any 51 3-year period or while any portion of the district’s 52 participation requirement is outstanding. The first year of the 53 3-year period shall be the first year a district receives an 54 appropriation. The department shall encourage a construction 55 program that reduces the average size of schools in the 56 district. The request must meet the following criteria to be 57 considered by the committee: 58 1. The project must be deemed a critical need and must be 59 recommended for funding by the Special Facility Construction 60 Committee. BeforePrior todeveloping construction plans for the 61 proposed facility, the district school board must request a 62 preapplication review by the Special Facility Construction 63 Committee or a project review subcommittee convened by the chair 64 of the committee to include two representatives of the 65 department and two staff members from school districts not 66 eligible to participate in the program. A school district may 67 request a preapplication review at any time; however, if the 68 district school board seeks inclusion in the department’s next 69 annual capital outlay legislative budget request, the 70 preapplication review request must be made before February 1. 71 Within 9060days after receiving the preapplication review 72 request, the committee or subcommittee must meet in the school 73 district to review the project proposal and existing facilities. 74 To determine whether the proposed project is a critical need, 75 the committee or subcommittee shall consider, at a minimum, the 76 capacity of all existing facilities within the district as 77 determined by the Florida Inventory of School Houses; the 78 district’s pattern of student growth; the district’s existing 79 and projected capital outlay full-time equivalent student 80 enrollment as determined by the demographic, revenue, and 81 education estimating conferences established in s. 216.136 82department; the district’s existing satisfactory student 83 stations; the use of all existing district property and 84 facilities; grade level configurations; and any other 85 information that may affect the need for the proposed project. 86 2. The construction project must be recommended in the most 87 recent survey or survey amendment cooperatively preparedsurveys88 by the district and the department, and approved by the 89 department under the rules of the State Board of Education. If a 90 district employs a consultant in the preparation of a survey or 91 survey amendment, the consultant may not be employed by or 92 receive compensation from a third party that designs or 93 constructs a project recommended by the survey. 94 3. The construction project must appear on the district’s 95 approved project priority list under the rules of the State 96 Board of Education. 97 4. The district must have selected and had approved a site 98 for the construction project in compliance with s. 1013.36 and 99 the rules of the State Board of Education. 100 5. The district shall have developed a district school 101 board adopted list of facilities that do not exceed the norm for 102 net square feet occupancy requirements under the State 103 Requirements for Educational Facilities, using all possible 104 programmatic combinations for multiple use of space to obtain 105 maximum daily use of all spaces within the facility under 106 consideration. 107 6. Upon construction, the total cost per student station, 108 including change orders, must not exceed the cost per student 109 station as provided in subsection (6) except for cost overruns 110 created by a disaster as defined in s. 252.34 or an 111 unforeseeable circumstance beyond the district’s control as 112 determined by the Special Facility Construction Committee. 113 7. There shall be an agreement signed by the district 114 school board stating that it will advertise for bids within 30 115 days of receipt of its encumbrance authorization from the 116 department. 117 8. For construction projects for which Special Facilities 118 Construction Account funding is sought before the 2019-2020 119 fiscal year, the district shall, at the time of the request and 120 for a continuing period necessary to meet the district’s 121 participation requirementof 3 years, levy the maximum millage 122 against itstheirnonexempt assessed property value as allowed 123 in s. 1011.71(2) or shall raise an equivalent amount of revenue 124 from the school capital outlay surtax authorized under s. 125 212.055(6). Beginning with construction projects for which 126 Special Facilities Construction Account funding is sought in the 127 2019-2020 fiscal year, the district shall, for a minimum of 3 128 years before submitting the request and for a continuing period 129 necessary to meet its participation requirement, levy the 130 maximum millage against the district’s nonexempt assessed 131 property value as authorized under s. 1011.71(2) or shall raise 132 an equivalent amount of revenue from the school capital outlay 133 surtax authorized under s. 212.055(6). Any district with a new 134 or active project, funded under the provisions of this 135 subsection, shall be required to budget no more than the value 136 of 1 mill1.5 millsper year to the project until the district’s 137to satisfy the annualparticipation requirement relating to the 138 local discretionary capital improvement millage or the 139 equivalent amount of revenue from the school capital outlay 140 surtax is satisfiedin the Special Facility Construction141Account. 142 9. If a contract has not been signed 90 days after the 143 advertising of bids, the funding for the specific project shall 144 revert to the Special Facility New Construction Account to be 145 reallocated to other projects on the list. However, an 146 additional 90 days may be granted by the commissioner. 147 10. The department shall certify the inability of the 148 district to fund the survey-recommended project over a 149 continuous 3-year period using projected capital outlay revenue 150 derived from s. 9(d), Art. XII of the State Constitution, as 151 amended, paragraph (3)(a) of this section, and s. 1011.71(2). 152 11. The district shall have on file with the department an 153 adopted resolution acknowledging its3-yearcommitment to 154 satisfy its participation requirement, which is equivalent toof155 all unencumbered and future revenue acquired from s. 9(d), Art. 156 XII of the State Constitution, as amended, paragraph (3)(a) of 157 this section, and s. 1011.71(2), in the year of the initial 158 appropriation and for the 2 years immediately following the 159 initial appropriation. 160 12. Final phase III plans must be certified by the district 161 school board as complete and in compliance with the building and 162 life safety codes before June 1 of the year the application is 163 madeprior to August 1. 164 (b) The Special Facility Construction Committee shall be 165 composed of the following: two representatives of the Department 166 of Education, a representative from the Governor’s office, a 167 representative selected annually by the district school boards, 168 and a representative selected annually by the superintendents. A 169 representative of the department shall chair the committee. 170 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.