Georgia-2011-SB37-Introduced

To provide for multiyear lease agreements managed by the State Properties Commission; to amend Article 2 of Chapter 16 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the "State Properties Code," so as to provide the State Properties Commission the authority to enter into multiyear lease or rental agreements; to provide for legislative oversight of certain multiyear lease or rental agreements by the General Assembly; to provide for fiscal policies for multiyear lease or rental agreements to be adopted by the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission; to provide for related matters; to provide a contingent effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

Article 2 of Chapter 16 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the "State Properties Code," is amended by revising Code Section 50-16-41, relating to authorizing rental agreements without competitive bidding, limitations, charging the commission with the management of administrative space, standards governing the utilization of administrative space, reassignment of administrative space, and rules and regulations therefor, as follows:

(a) Notwithstanding any provisions and requirements of law to the contrary and particularly notwithstanding the requirements of Code Section 50-16-39, the commission is authorized to negotiate, prepare, and enter into in its own name rental agreements whereby a part of the property is rented, without public competitive bidding, to a person for a length of time not to exceed one year and for adequate monetary consideration (in no instance to be less than a rate of $250.00 per year), which shall be determined by the commission, and pursuant to such terms and conditions as the commission shall determine to be in the best interest of the state. The same property or any part thereof shall not be the subject matter of more than one such rental agreement to the same person unless the commission shall determine that there are extenuating circumstances present which would make additional one-year rental agreements beneficial to the state; provided, however, the same property or any part thereof shall not after April 24, 1975, be the subject matter of more than a total of three such one-year rental agreements to the same person.

(b) The commission is given the authority and charged with the duty of managing the utilization of administrative space by all state entities, except that the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Labor may manage their own space but only for leases that are for a term of one year or less, within the State of Georgia, and required for their core mission. The commission shall manage the utilization of administrative space for all multiyear lease agreements entered into on behalf of any state entity, including the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Labor. The commission shall manage in a manner that is the most cost efficient and operationally effective and which provides decentralization of state government. Such management shall include the authority to assign and reassign administrative space to state entities based on the needs of the entities as determined by standards for administrative space utilization promulgated by the commission pursuant to subsection (g) of this Code section and shall include the obligation to advise the Office of Planning and Budget and state entities of cost-effective, decentralized alternatives.

(c) The management of the utilization of administrative space by the commission shall include entering into any necessary agreements to rent or lease administrative space, whether existing or to be constructed, and shall include administrative space rented or leased by a state entity from the Georgia Building Authority or from any other public or private person, firm, or corporation. When it becomes necessary to rent or lease administrative space, the space shall be rented or leased by the commission and for a term not to exceed 20 years. The space shall be assigned to the state entity or entities requiring the space. A multiyear lease resulting from a sale and lease back shall be treated as a conveyance of real property by the state and shall be reviewed for approval or disapproval by the General Assembly and Governor in the same manner as a conveyance of state properties provided for in Code Section 50-16-39.

(d) If the commission reassigns all or any portion of any administrative space which is leased or rented by one state entity to another state entity, the state entity to which the administrative space is reassigned shall may pay to the commission rental charges, as determined by the commission, for the utilization of the space; and the commission shall may, in turn, use the rental charges so paid for the purpose of paying or partially paying, as the case may be, the rent or lease payments due the lessor of the administrative space in accordance with the terms of the lease or rent contract existing at the time of the reassignment of the administrative space. Any such payments to a lessor by the commission shall be on behalf of the state entity which is the lessee of the administrative space reassigned as provided in this Code section.

(e) The management of the utilization of administrative space given to the commission by this Code section shall not be construed to impair the obligation of any contract executed before July 1, 1976, between any state entity and the Georgia Building Authority or between any state entity and any other public or private person, firm, or corporation; and the powers given to the commission by this Code section shall not be implemented or carried out in such a manner as to impair the obligation of any such contract.

(f) The commission is authorized and directed to develop and promulgate standards governing the utilization of administrative space by all state entities which require emphasis on cost effectiveness and decentralization. The standards shall be uniformly applied to all state entities except as otherwise provided by subsection (g) of this Code section, but the standards shall recognize and provide for different types of administrative space required by the various state entities and the different types of administrative space that may be required by a single state entity.

(g) The commission shall be authorized to reassign administrative space to the various state entities in order to bring the utilization of administrative space into conformity with the standards promulgated under subsection (f) of this Code section. Any additional administrative space required by a state entity shall be approved by and obtained through the commission. The commission shall be authorized to grant exceptions to the standards governing the utilization of administrative space when the reassignment of such space would involve unnecessary expenses or the disruption of services being provided by a state entity. The commission shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations governing the granting of such exceptions, and the rules and regulations shall be uniformly applied by the commission to all state entities requesting an exception to the standards.

(h) For purposes of cost effectiveness and decentralization, the following factors, among other factors, shall be considered:

(1) Dual location of programs within a city should be considered in order to take advantage of possible economies of scale and as a matter of convenience to the general public; or

(2) When all factors are reasonably equivalent, preferences will be given to location of state government programs and facilities in those counties which are determined by the Department of Community Affairs to be the most economically depressed, meaning those 71 tier 1 counties of the state designated as least developed under paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of Code Section 48-7-40.

(i) The commission is authorized and directed to promulgate rules and regulations governing budgetary requirements for administrative space utilized by state entities in cooperation with the Office of Planning and Budget whereby the entities shall be accountable in the budgetary process for administrative space assigned to and utilized by them. The budgetary requirements may provide for the payment of rent to the commission by state entities or may otherwise provide procedures for the assessment of rent charges for administrative space utilized by state entities or any combination of the foregoing.

(j) The commission shall provide a multiyear leasing report annually, no later than September 1 of each year, to the Governor, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, chairpersons of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the House Committee on Appropriations, and chairpersons of the Senate State Institutions and Property Committee and the House Committee on State Institutions and Property. The report shall provide the total sum of all leasing obligations to be paid by the state for the upcoming fiscal year. Such report shall include an itemization and total of all revenues collected from the previous fiscal year and provide an itemized budget allocation for the upcoming fiscal year. The report shall also provide a list of all existing multiyear lease agreements and the identity of the contracting parties for each.

(j)(k) In addition to the standards and rules and regulations specifically provided for by this Code section, the commission is authorized to adopt such other rules and regulations as may be required to carry out this Code section efficiently and effectively.

(l)(1) The Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission is authorized to establish fiscal policies regarding multiyear lease and rental agreements and, each fiscal year, may establish a total multiyear contract value authority. During the fiscal year, the multiyear contract value authority may be revised as determined necessary by the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission. The total multiyear contract value authority may be based upon the Governor's revenue estimate for subsequent fiscal years and other information as determined by the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission.

(2) No multiyear lease or rental agreement shall be entered into under the provisions of this Code section until the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission has established the fiscal policies and multiyear contract value authority for the current and future fiscal years. Any multiyear lease or rental agreement entered into that is not in compliance with such fiscal policies and multiyear contract value authority shall be void and of no effect.

(3) At the beginning of each fiscal year, a budget unit's appropriations shall be encumbered for the estimated payments for any multiyear lease and rental agreements in that fiscal year. The commission shall have the right to terminate, without further obligation, any multiyear lease or rental agreement if the commission determines that adequate funds will not be available for the payment obligations of the commission under the agreement. The commission's determination regarding the availability of funds for its obligations shall be conclusive and binding on all parties to the multiyear lease or rental agreement."

This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2013; provided, however, that this Act shall only become effective on January 1, 2013, upon the ratification of a resolution at the November, 2012, state-wide general election, which resolution amends the Constitution so as to provide for the authorization of agencies to enter into lease and rental contracts exceeding one year. If such resolution is not so ratified, this Act shall not become effective and shall stand repealed on January 1, 2013.