The Florida Senate

¹235.2155  School Infrastructure Thrift Program Act.--

(1)  This section may be cited as the "School Infrastructure Thrift Program Act of 1997."

(2)  The School Infrastructure Thrift Program (SIT Program) is established within the Department of Education, and the State Board of Education may adopt rules as necessary to operate the program. To facilitate the program's purposes, the department shall aggressively seek the elimination or revision of obsolete, excessively restrictive, or unnecessary laws, rules, and regulations for the purpose of reducing ²the cost of constructing educational facilities and related costs without sacrificing safety or quality of construction. Such efforts must include, but are not limited to, the elimination of duplicate or overlapping inspections; the relaxation of requirements relating to landscaping, operable glazing, operable windows, radon testing, firesafety, and emergency shelter construction where lawful, safe, and cost-beneficial; and other cost savings identified as lawful, safe, and cost-beneficial. The program's purposes are to:

(a)  Facilitate cost savings by school districts relating to educational facilities construction.

(b)  Provide incentives for school districts to maximize dollars available for construction of educational facilities and related costs.

(c)  Provide a funding mechanism for utilization solely related to the construction of new ³educational facilities.

(3)  Funds shall be appropriated to the SIT Program on an annual basis as determined by the Legislature. Notwithstanding ss. 216.301 and 216.351, undisbursed balances of appropriations to the SIT Program shall not revert. It is the intent of the Legislature to continue funding the SIT Program with funds available through frugal government operation and agency savings.

⁴(4)  School districts may participate in the SIT Program by local option of the school board. Participating school districts may request funds in the program beginning July 1, 1997, for projects commenced after or for projects underway at the time this act becomes a law, if the projects comply with s. 235.216.

(5)

(a)  Annually by December 30, beginning in 1997, each participating school district shall report to the Commissioner of Education, with supporting data, its compliance with s. 235.216 together with any proposal for spending SIT Program dollars on new projects within the district commencing the following fiscal year.

(b)  The commissioner shall examine the data and proposals from each school district and, by February 1, shall report to the Legislature each participating district's compliance with s. 235.216 for the prior fiscal year and make recommendations, ranked in order of priority, for SIT Program awards for the following fiscal year.

⁴(c)  If a school district receives SIT Program funds and fails to comply with this section and s. 235.216, the district may not receive an award the following fiscal year and must return the dollars not spent or encumbered as required by this section and s. 235.216 with interest thereon at the legal rate.

(d)  The commissioner's criteria for SIT Program evaluation and recommendation for awards must be based on the school district meeting the requirements in this section and s. 235.216, the soundness of the proposal, school district need, and the balance of dollars in the SIT Program.

⁴(6)  Awards from the SIT Program shall be made by the commissioner from funds appropriated by the Legislature and may only be used for construction of a new educational facility and related costs. SIT Program dollars that are not spent or encumbered as required by this section must be returned to the SIT Program as required by paragraph (5)(c).

(7)  For each new project of a school district that meets the criteria of s. 235.216, the commissioner may award up to 20 percent of the total project cost from SIT Program dollars.

History.--s. 22, ch. 97-153; s. 2, ch. 97-265.

¹Note.--Section 22, ch. 97-153, created s. 235.2155, "[i]n order to implement Specific Appropriation 46A of the 1997-1998 General Appropriations Act."

²Note.--As created by s. 2, ch. 97-265. As created by s. 22, ch. 97-153, the sentence uses the word "construction" instead of the words "the cost of constructing educational facilities."

³Note.--As created by s. 2, ch. 97-265. Section 22, ch. 97-153, used the word "instructional" instead of the word "educational."

⁴Note.--As created by s. 2, ch. 97-265. This version is published here as the last expression of legislative will (see Journal of the House of Representatives 1997, pp. 2173 and 2175). Subsection (4), paragraph (c) of subsection (5), and subsection (6), were also created by s. 22, ch. 97-153, and that version reads:

(4)  School districts may participate in the SIT Program by local option of the school board. Participating school districts may access the funds in the program as of July 1, 1997, for projects commenced after or for projects underway at the time this act becomes a law, but must establish compliance with s. 235.216 at the time of the initial report required by subsection (5).

(c)  If a school district received SIT Program funds before December 30, 1997, and failed to comply with s. 235.216, the district may not receive an award the following fiscal year and must return the dollars not spent or encumbered as required by subsection (4) with interest thereon at the legal rate.

(6)  Awards from the SIT Program shall be made by the commissioner from funds appropriated by the Legislature and may only be used for construction of a new instructional facility and related costs. SIT Program dollars that are not spent or encumbered as required by s. 235.216 must be returned to the SIT Program as required by paragraph (5)(c).