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HomeMy Public PortalAboutLTC 095-2017 Legislative Session Week 8 Report - April 24-28, 2017BAL HARBOUR - VILLAGE - OFFICE OF THE VILLAGE MANAGER LETTER TO COUNCIL NO. 095-2017 To: Mayor Gabriel Groisman and Members of the Village Council From: Jorge M. Gonzalez, Village Manager (N ,".c� Date: May 19, 2017 6 Q Subject: Legislative Session Week 8 Report - April 24-28, 2017 The purpose of this Letter to Council (LTC) is to transmit the attached Legislative Session Week 8 Report provided by Ron L. Book. If you have any questions or need any additional information, please feel free to contact me. JMG/AC Ronald L Book, P B, [111 OflI(ES PROEESS10OOl OSSO(18T10O 2017 Session Week 8 Report At this time, we are in the middle of the House and Senate budget conference process, which began last Thursday afternoon, and continued non-stop throughout the weekend. The conference is working within a compressed time frame, as announced by the Senate President and Speaker. Procedurally, the completed budget must be delivered to Senate and House members some time on Tuesday, 5/2, to comply with the required 72 -hour waiting period, and vote on Friday, 5/5, which is the scheduled end of the 2017 Regular Session. As reported via email over the weekend, on Saturday night, the two chairmen of the full Appropriations committees, Senator Latvala and Representative Trujillo, met, and met again twice Sunday, exchanging the Senate and House funding offers for major areas of the budget. However, at the end of Sunday's late afternoon meeting, the two Chairmen announced that a significant number of items remain undecided, and will again "bump" to the presiding officers. This means that most funding issues remain open and unresolved. Senate President Negron and Speaker Corcoran will work to finalize the budget by Tuesday, at the latest. Negotiations continue in every area of the budget, as well as gaming. This includes funding and policy decisions in education, environmental issues, transportation, and health care. > All of these issues are all being discussed and decided at the highest levels of leadership, and all budget decisions will be finalized based on the vote on the additional homestead tax exemption in the Senate today, Monday, 5/1. The latest version of the additional homestead tax exemption bill is summarized below. Additional Homestead Tax Exemption: HJR 7105 (LaRosa) is a joint resolution which proposes an amendment to the Florida Constitution adding a further homestead tax exemption. The original draft would increase by up to $25,000 the current homestead exemption from non -school property taxes by exempting the assessed value between $75,000 and up to $100,000. This bill did pass the House with a vote of 81 — 35, on Tuesday of this week, and sent to the Senate in Messages. The Senate then, put this bill on the agenda for the Rules committee, which it was debated and passed on Friday morning, with a vote of 9 — 2, and then Friday afternoon, in an unusual move, was heard on the Senate floor, and debated extensively. The bill was then amended to change the language, so that the homestead tax exemption would apply to the valuation of homestead property greater than $100,000 and up to $125,000. Bal Harbour Village Sanitary Sewer System Improvements Sponsored by Representative Geller and Senator Campbell. This budget request would partially fund the sanitary sewer improvements throughout the Village. Local Match: 97% Amount Requested: $850,000 The Bal Harbour Village -Utility Master Plan was originally funded in the Senate budget at $425,000, but was not funded in the House budget. At this moment, this project is still in play, however throughout the budget conference process, the amount was cut to $50,000. We continue to work to increase this amount. Harbour Centre 118851 N.E. 29th Ave., Ste. 1010 I Aventura, FL 33180 Phone: 305.935.1866 I Fax: 305.935.9737 104 West Jefferson Street I Tallahassee, FL 32301 Phone: 850.224.3427 I Fax 850.224.3361 Beach Renourishment/The Village Sand Bypass Project: Our firm is in ongoing conversations with County staff regarding the status of the Sand Bypass project. The Miami -Dade County Mayor's staff is reviewing our request to update the master plan with his department, and we should have more information in the next few weeks. Beach Renourishment Funding/Coastal Management: SB 1590 (Latvala) HB 1213 (Peters) The bill would allocate $50 million a year, or 7.6%, whichever is less, from the state's Land Acquisition Trust Fund. The bill would require the Department of Environmental Protection to develop a new three-year plan for beach restoration projects, similar to the state's five-year transportation work plan. In this three-year plan, projects would be scored on their return on investment and economic impact. It also would refocus attention on sand management at inlets and seek a revision in a ranking system so the most serious erosion problems are prioritized. SB 1590 passed the Appropriations committee with a vote of 16 — 0, and is now ready for the full Senate. HB 1213 was not heard this week. Public Records/Attorney's Fees: SB 80 (Steube) and HB 163 (Burgess) As reported, these companion bills grant discretion to a court to award attorney fees and costs relating to public records. CS/CS/SB 80 requires a court to award attorney fees and enforcement costs in actions to enforce public records laws if the court determines that an agency unlawfully refused access to a public record and the plaintiff provided written notice identifying the public records request to an agency records custodian at least 5 business days before filing the action. The 5 -day notice period excludes holidays and weekends. Advance written notice is not required if the agency does not prominently post contact information for its records custodian in the agency's primary administrative building in which public records are kept and on the agency's website, if the agency has a website. However, if the court determines that a plaintiff requested records or filed the enforcement action based on an improper purpose, the court must award reasonable costs and attorney fees against the plaintiff. An improper purpose is one in which a person requests records mainly to harass an agency, cause a violation of the public records law, or for frivolous purpose. The bill further specifies that monetary damages are not available in an action to enforce the public records laws. SB 80 and HB 163 have passed the Senate 38 — 0, and the House 115 — 0, and will next be sent to the Governor for action. Vacation Rentals: SB 188 (Steube) and HB 425 (LaRosa) The vacation rental bills are still moving, however, both bills are substantially different than originally filed. The Senate bill would allow local governments to amend their vacation rental ordinances or regulations, to be less restrictive, including providing regulatory relief for military personnel and disabled veterans. The bill maintains the preemption that would prohibit local governments from regulating vacation rentals. Additionally, the bill permits any local vacation rentals ordinance that was passed prior to June 1, 2011, to maintain its grandfathered status, if the ordinance is ratified in a local referendum by at least a two-thirds of the electors. The Senate bill was amended to exempt the statutorily defined, area of critical state concern, which is specifically the Florida Keys. The House bill does not include the provision exempting the Keys, but does require that all rental property be treated equally, regardless of the type of rental the owner chooses for the property. The House bill requires that the owner of the vacation rental property submit a copy of the vacation rental license required under chapter 509, to the local jurisdiction, who in turn, cannot charge a fee for the submission. Additional language clarifies that the copy of the rental license can only be used for informational purposes. -2- Both bills include language authorizing a local government to amend a law, ordinance or regulation that was adopted on or before June 1, 2011, to be less restrictive, or to reduce the regulatory burden, on active duty and temporary duty armed forces personnel, and veterans with a 30 percent or more disability rating. SB 188 was discussed at length, and passed the Rules committee with a vote of 11 — 1. HB 425, after a long debate as well, passed the House with a vote of 63 — 56. NNN -3-