Bill Text: FL S1640 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Special Assessments/Renewable Energy/Municipality
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-07 - Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration [S1640 Detail]
Download: Florida-2011-S1640-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2011 SB 1640 By Senator Bennett 21-00900A-11 20111640__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to special assessments for the 3 purchase of renewable energy for a municipality; 4 amending s. 170.01, F.S.; authorizing a municipality 5 to collect special assessments to pay the additional 6 costs to purchase renewable energy for the 7 municipality; providing an effective date. 8 9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 10 11 Section 1. Section 170.01, Florida Statutes, is amended to 12 read: 13 170.01 Authority for providing improvements and levying and 14 collecting special assessments against property benefited.— 15 (1) Any municipality of this state may, by its governing 16 authority: 17 (a) Provide for the construction, reconstruction, repair, 18 paving, repaving, hard surfacing, rehard surfacing, widening, 19 guttering, and draining of streets, boulevards, and alleys; for 20 grading, regrading, leveling, laying, relaying, paving, 21 repaving, hard surfacing, and rehard surfacing of sidewalks; for 22 constructing or reconstructing permanent pedestrian canopies 23 over public sidewalks; and in connection with any of the 24 foregoing, provide related lighting, landscaping, street 25 furniture, signage, and other amenities as determined by the 26 governing authority of the municipality; 27 (b) Order the construction, reconstruction, repair, 28 renovation, excavation, grading, stabilization, and upgrading of 29 greenbelts, swales, culverts, sanitary sewers, storm sewers, 30 outfalls, canals, primary, secondary, and tertiary drains, water 31 bodies, marshlands, and natural areas, all or part of a 32 comprehensive stormwater management system, including the 33 necessary appurtenances and structures thereto and including, 34 but not limited to, dams, weirs, and pumps; 35 (c) Order the construction or reconstruction of water 36 mains, water laterals, alternative water supply systems, 37 including, but not limited to, reclaimed water, aquifer storage 38 and recovery, and desalination systems, and other water 39 distribution facilities, including the necessary appurtenances 40 thereto; 41 (d) Pay for the relocation of utilities, including the 42 placement underground of electrical, telephone, and cable 43 television services, pursuant to voluntary agreement with the 44 utility, but nothing contained in this paragraph shall affect a 45 utility’s right to locate or relocate its facilities on its own 46 initiative at its own expense; 47 (e) Provide for the construction or reconstruction of parks 48 and other public recreational facilities and improvements, 49 including appurtenances thereto; 50 (f) Provide for the construction or reconstruction of 51 seawalls; 52 (g) Provide for the drainage and reclamation of wet, low, 53 or overflowed lands; 54 (h) Provide for offstreet parking facilities, parking 55 garages, or similar facilities; 56 (i) Provide for mass transportation systems; 57 (j) Provide for improvements to permit the passage and 58 navigation of watercraft;and59 (k) Pay the additional costs of renewable energy, as 60 defined in s. 366.91, which are in excess of a public utility’s 61 full avoided costs, as defined in s. 366.051, pursuant to an 62 agreement with the public utility; and 63 (l)(k)Provide for the payment of all or any part of the 64 costs of any such improvements by levying and collecting special 65 assessments on the abutting, adjoining, contiguous, or other 66 specially benefited property. 67 68 However, offstreet parking facilities, parking garages, or other 69 similar facilities and mass transportation systems must be 70 approved by vote of a majority of the affected property owners. 71 Any municipality which is legally obligated for providing 72 capital improvements for water, alternative water supplies, 73 including, but not limited to, reclaimed water, water from 74 aquifer storage and recovery, and desalination systems, or sewer 75 facilities within an unincorporated area of the county may 76 recover the costs of the capital improvements by levying and 77 collecting special assessments for the purposes authorized in 78 this section on the specially benefited property; however, 79 collections of the special assessment shall not take place until 80 the specially benefited property connects to the capital 81 improvement. 82 (2) Special assessments may be levied only for the purposes 83 enumerated in this section and shall be levied only on benefited 84 real property at a rate of assessment based on the special 85 benefit accruing to such property from such improvements when 86 the improvements funded by the special assessment provide a 87 benefit which is different in type or degree from benefits 88 provided to the community as a whole. 89 (3) Any municipality, subject to the approval of a majority 90 of the affected property owners, may levy and collect special 91 assessments against property benefited for the purpose of 92 stabilizing and improving: 93 (a) Retail business districts, 94 (b) Wholesale business districts, or 95 (c) Nationally recognized historic districts, 96 97 or any combination of such districts, through promotion, 98 management, marketing, and other similar services in such 99 districts of the municipality. This subsection does not 100 authorize a municipality to use bond proceeds to fund ongoing 101 operations of these districts. 102 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011. 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160161 162 163 164 165166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204