Florida Senate - 2016                       CS for CS for SB 546
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Appropriations; and Environmental
       Preservation and Conservation; and Senator Simpson
       
       576-03003-16                                           2016546c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the sale or exchange of lands;
    3         amending s. 373.089, F.S.; extending the timeframe
    4         within which a certified appraisal may be obtained for
    5         parcels of land to be sold as surplus; revising the
    6         procedures a water management district must follow for
    7         publishing a notice of intention to sell surplus
    8         lands; providing an exception from such notice
    9         requirements if a parcel of land is valued below a
   10         certain threshold; authorizing such parcels to be sold
   11         directly to the highest bidder; providing an effective
   12         date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Subsections (1), (3), and (7) of section
   17  373.089, Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (8) is
   18  added to that section, to read:
   19         373.089 Sale or exchange of lands, or interests or rights
   20  in lands.—The governing board of the district may sell lands, or
   21  interests or rights in lands, to which the district has acquired
   22  title or to which it may hereafter acquire title in the
   23  following manner:
   24         (1) Any lands, or interests or rights in lands, determined
   25  by the governing board to be surplus may be sold by the
   26  district, at any time, for the highest price obtainable;
   27  however, in no case shall the selling price be less than the
   28  appraised value of the lands, or interests or rights in lands,
   29  as determined by a certified appraisal obtained within 360 120
   30  days before the effective date of a contract for sale.
   31         (3) Before selling any surplus land, or interests or rights
   32  in land, it shall be the duty of the district to cause a notice
   33  of intention to sell to be published in a newspaper published in
   34  the county in which the land, or interests or rights in the
   35  land, is situated once each week for 3 successive weeks, (three
   36  insertions being sufficient.), The first publication of the
   37  required notice must occur at least which shall be not less than
   38  30 days, but not nor more than 360 45 days, before prior to any
   39  sale and must include, which notice shall set forth a
   40  description of lands, or interests or rights in lands, to be
   41  offered for sale.
   42         (7) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, the
   43  governing board shall first offer title to lands acquired in
   44  whole or in part with Florida Forever funds which are determined
   45  to be no longer needed for conservation purposes to the Board of
   46  Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund unless the
   47  disposition of those lands is for the following purposes:
   48         (a) Linear facilities, including electric transmission and
   49  distribution facilities, telecommunication transmission and
   50  distribution facilities, pipeline transmission and distribution
   51  facilities, public transportation corridors, and related
   52  appurtenances.
   53         (b) The disposition of the fee interest in the land where a
   54  conservation easement is retained by the district to fulfill the
   55  conservation objectives for which the land was acquired.
   56         (c) An exchange of the land for other lands that meet or
   57  exceed the conservation objectives for which the original land
   58  was acquired in accordance with subsection (4).
   59         (d) To be used by a governmental entity for a public
   60  purpose.
   61         (e) The portion of an overall purchase deemed surplus at
   62  the time of the acquisition.
   63  
   64  If In the event the Board of Trustees of the Internal
   65  Improvement Trust Fund declines to accept title to the lands
   66  offered under this section, the land may be disposed of by the
   67  district under the provisions of this section.
   68         (8)If a parcel of land is no longer essential or necessary
   69  for conservation purposes and is valued at $25,000 or less as
   70  determined by a certified appraisal obtained within 360 days
   71  before the effective date of a contract for the sale, the
   72  governing board may determine that the parcel of land is
   73  surplus. The notice of intention to sell shall be published as
   74  required under subsection (3), one time only. The governing
   75  board shall send the notice of intention to sell the parcel to
   76  adjacent property owners by certified mail and publish the
   77  notice on its website.
   78         (a) Fourteen days after publication of such notice, the
   79  district may sell the parcel to an adjacent property owner, or
   80  if there are two or more owners of adjacent property, accept
   81  sealed bids and sell the parcel to the highest bidder or reject
   82  all offers.
   83         (b) Thirty days after publication of such notice, the
   84  district shall accept sealed bids and may sell the parcel to the
   85  highest bidder or reject all offers.
   86         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.