Florida Senate - 2018                                    SB 1516
       
       
        
       By Senator Perry
       
       
       
       
       
       8-01323-18                                            20181516__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to metropolitan planning
    3         organizations; amending s. 339.175, F.S.; revising
    4         voting membership requirements for metropolitan
    5         planning organizations according to population;
    6         prohibiting an entire county commission from being
    7         members of a governing board; revising the percentage
    8         of membership which may be composed of county
    9         commissioners; requiring metropolitan planning
   10         organizations to adopt certain bylaws; revising
   11         provisions relating to reappointment of members;
   12         requiring metropolitan planning organizations to
   13         comply with certain provisions by a specified date;
   14         providing an effective date.
   15          
   16  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   17  
   18         Section 1. Subsection (3) and paragraph (b) of subsection
   19  (4) of section 339.175, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   20         339.175 Metropolitan planning organization.—
   21         (3) VOTING MEMBERSHIP.—
   22         (a)1. The voting membership of an M.P.O. designated in an
   23  urbanized area with a population of 500,000 or fewer shall
   24  consist of at least 5 but not more than 11 25 apportioned
   25  members, with the exact number determined on an equitable
   26  geographic-population ratio basis, based on an agreement among
   27  the affected units of general-purpose local government and the
   28  Governor, as required by federal regulations.
   29         2.The voting membership of an M.P.O. designated in an
   30  urbanized area with a population of more than 500,000 shall
   31  consist of at least 5 but not more than 15 apportioned members,
   32  with the exact number determined on an equitable geographic
   33  population ratio basis, based on an agreement among the affected
   34  units of general-purpose local government and the Governor, as
   35  required by federal regulations.
   36         3. In accordance with 23 U.S.C. s. 134, the Governor may
   37  also allow M.P.O. members who represent municipalities to
   38  alternate with representatives from other municipalities within
   39  the metropolitan planning area which do not have members on the
   40  M.P.O. With the exception of instances in which all of the
   41  county commissioners in a single-county M.P.O. are members of
   42  the M.P.O. governing board, County commissioners shall compose
   43  at least one-third of the M.P.O. governing board membership;
   44  however, the entire county commission may not be members of the
   45  M.P.O. governing board. A multicounty M.P.O. may satisfy this
   46  requirement by any combination of county commissioners from each
   47  of the counties constituting the M.P.O. Voting members shall be
   48  elected officials of general-purpose local governments, one of
   49  whom may represent a group of general-purpose local governments
   50  through an entity created by an M.P.O. for that purpose. An
   51  M.P.O. may include, as part of its apportioned voting members, a
   52  member of a statutorily authorized planning board, an official
   53  of an agency that operates or administers a major mode of
   54  transportation, or an official of Space Florida. As used in this
   55  section, the term “elected officials of a general-purpose local
   56  government” excludes constitutional officers, including
   57  sheriffs, tax collectors, supervisors of elections, property
   58  appraisers, clerks of the court, and similar types of officials.
   59  County commissioners shall compose not less than 30 20 percent
   60  of the M.P.O. membership if an official of an agency that
   61  operates or administers a major mode of transportation has been
   62  appointed to an M.P.O. Each M.P.O. shall adopt bylaws governing
   63  the operation of the M.P.O., including voting privileges. An
   64  M.P.O. may not adopt a weighted voting structure.
   65  
   66  For purposes of this section, the term “elected officials of a
   67  general-purpose local government” excludes constitutional
   68  officers, including sheriffs, tax collectors, supervisors of
   69  elections, property appraisers, clerks of the court, and similar
   70  types of officials.
   71         (b) In metropolitan areas in which authorities or other
   72  agencies have been or may be created by law to perform
   73  transportation functions and are or will be performing
   74  transportation functions that are not under the jurisdiction of
   75  a general-purpose local government represented on the M.P.O.,
   76  such authorities or other agencies may be provided voting
   77  membership on the M.P.O. In all other M.P.O.’s in which
   78  transportation authorities or agencies are to be represented by
   79  elected officials of from general-purpose local governments, the
   80  M.P.O. shall establish a process by which the collective
   81  interests of such authorities or other agencies are expressed
   82  and conveyed.
   83         (c) Any other provision of this section to the contrary
   84  notwithstanding, a charter chartered county with a population of
   85  over 1 million population may elect to reapportion the
   86  membership of an M.P.O. if the M.P.O. whose jurisdiction is
   87  wholly contained within the county. The charter county may
   88  exercise the provisions of this paragraph if:
   89         1. The M.P.O. approves the reapportionment plan by a three
   90  fourths vote of its membership;
   91         2. The M.P.O. and the charter county determine that the
   92  reapportionment plan is needed to fulfill specific goals and
   93  policies applicable to that metropolitan planning area; and
   94         3. The charter county determines the reapportionment plan
   95  otherwise complies with all federal requirements pertaining to
   96  M.P.O. membership.
   97  
   98  A Any charter county that elects to exercise the provisions of
   99  this paragraph shall notify the Governor in writing.
  100         (d) Any other provision of this section to the contrary
  101  notwithstanding, a any county as defined in s. 125.011(1)
  102  chartered under s. 6(e), Art. VIII of the State Constitution may
  103  elect to have its county commission serve as the M.P.O., if the
  104  M.P.O. jurisdiction is wholly contained within the county. A Any
  105  charter county that elects to exercise the provisions of this
  106  paragraph shall so notify the Governor in writing. Upon receipt
  107  of such notification, the Governor must designate the county
  108  commission as the M.P.O. The Governor must appoint four
  109  additional voting members to the M.P.O., one of whom must be an
  110  elected official representing a municipality within the county,
  111  one of whom must be an expressway authority member, one of whom
  112  must be a person who does not hold elected public office and who
  113  resides in the unincorporated portion of the county, and one of
  114  whom must be a school board member.
  115         (4) APPORTIONMENT.—
  116         (b) Except for members who represent municipalities on the
  117  basis of alternating with representatives from other
  118  municipalities that do not have members on the M.P.O. as
  119  provided in paragraph (3)(a), the members of an M.P.O. shall
  120  serve 4-year terms. Members who represent municipalities on the
  121  basis of alternating with representatives from other
  122  municipalities that do not have members on the M.P.O. as
  123  provided in paragraph (3)(a) may serve terms of up to 4 years as
  124  further provided in the interlocal agreement described in
  125  paragraph (2)(b). The membership of a member who is a public
  126  official automatically terminates upon the member’s leaving his
  127  or her elective or appointive office for any reason, or may be
  128  terminated by a majority vote of the total membership of the
  129  entity’s governing board represented by the member. A vacancy
  130  shall be filled by the original appointing entity. A member may
  131  be reappointed for one or more additional 4-year term terms.
  132         Section 2. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to
  133  the contrary, by July 1, 2019, each metropolitan planning
  134  organization shall update its membership, interlocal agreement,
  135  governing documents, and any other relevant information to
  136  comply with changes made by this act to s. 339.175, Florida
  137  Statutes.
  138         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.