House Bill 0289e1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
                                       HB 289, First Engrossed/ntc
  1                      A bill to be entitled
  2         An act relating to educational facilities;
  3         amending s. 235.435, F.S.; authorizing school
  4         districts to qualify construction projects for
  5         funding under the Special Facility Construction
  6         Account by using the school capital outlay
  7         surtax in lieu of the maximum millage against
  8         their nonexempt assessed property value;
  9         specifying funding eligibility of certain
10         projects; providing an effective date.
11
12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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14         Section 1.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
15  235.435, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
16         235.435  Funds for comprehensive educational plant
17  needs; construction cost maximums for school district capital
18  projects.--Allocations from the Public Education Capital
19  Outlay and Debt Service Trust Fund to the various boards for
20  capital outlay projects shall be determined as follows:
21         (2)(a)  The department shall establish, as a part of
22  the Public Education Capital Outlay and Debt Service Trust
23  Fund, a separate account, in an amount determined by the
24  Legislature, to be known as the "Special Facility Construction
25  Account." The Special Facility Construction Account shall be
26  used to provide necessary construction funds to school
27  districts which have urgent construction needs but which lack
28  sufficient resources at present, and cannot reasonably
29  anticipate sufficient resources within the period of the next
30  3 years, for these purposes from currently authorized sources
31  of capital outlay revenue.  A school district requesting
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                                       HB 289, First Engrossed/ntc
  1  funding from the Special Facility Construction Account shall
  2  submit one specific construction project, not to exceed one
  3  complete educational plant, to the Special Facility
  4  Construction Committee. No district shall receive funding for
  5  more than one approved project in any 3-year period. The first
  6  year of the 3-year period shall be the first year a district
  7  receives an appropriation. The department shall encourage a
  8  construction program that reduces the average size of schools
  9  in the district. The request must meet the following criteria
10  to be considered by the committee:
11         1.  The project must be deemed a critical need and must
12  be recommended for funding by the Special Facility
13  Construction Committee.  Prior to developing plans for the
14  proposed facility, the district school board must request a
15  preapplication review by the Special Facility Construction
16  Committee or a project review subcommittee convened by the
17  committee to include two representatives of the department and
18  two staff from school districts other than the district
19  submitting the project.  Within 60 days after receiving the
20  preapplication review request, the committee or subcommittee
21  must meet in the school district to review the project
22  proposal and existing facilities.  To determine whether the
23  proposed project is a critical need, the committee or
24  subcommittee shall consider, at a mimimum, the capacity of all
25  existing facilities within the district as determined by the
26  Florida Inventory of School Houses; the district's pattern of
27  student growth; the district's existing and projected capital
28  outlay full-time equivalent student enrollment as determined
29  by the department; the district's existing satisfactory
30  student stations; the use of all existing district property
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                                       HB 289, First Engrossed/ntc
  1  and facilities; grade level configurations; and any other
  2  information that may affect the need for the proposed project.
  3         2.  The construction project must be recommended in the
  4  most recent survey or surveys by the district under the rules
  5  of the State Board of Education.
  6         3.  The construction project must appear on the
  7  district's approved project priority list under the rules of
  8  the State Board of Education.
  9         4.  The district must have selected and had approved a
10  site for the construction project in compliance with s. 235.19
11  and the rules of the State Board of Education.
12         5.  The district shall have developed a school board
13  adopted list of facilities that do not exceed the norm for net
14  square feet occupancy requirements under the State
15  Requirements for Educational Facilities, using all possible
16  programmatic combinations for multiple use of space to obtain
17  maximum daily use of all spaces within the facility under
18  consideration.
19         6.  Upon construction, the total cost per student
20  station, including change orders, must not exceed the cost per
21  student station as provided in subsection (6).
22         7.  There shall be an agreement signed by the district
23  school board stating that it will advertise for bids within 30
24  days of receipt of its encumbrance authorization from the
25  department.
26         8.  The district shall, at the time of the request and
27  for a continuing period of 3 years, levy the maximum millage
28  against their nonexempt assessed property value as allowed in
29  s. 236.25(2) or shall raise an equivalent amount of revenue
30  from the school capital outlay surtax authorized under s.
31  212.055(6). Effective July 1, 1991, any district with a new or
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                                       HB 289, First Engrossed/ntc
  1  active project, funded under the provisions of this
  2  subsection, shall be required to budget no more than the value
  3  of 1.5 mills per year to the project to satisfy the annual
  4  participation requirement in the Special Facility Construction
  5  Account.
  6         9.  If a contract has not been signed 90 days after the
  7  advertising of bids, the funding for the specific project
  8  shall revert to the Special Facility New Construction Account
  9  to be reallocated to other projects on the list.  However, an
10  additional 90 days may be granted by the commissioner.
11         10.  The department shall certify the inability of the
12  district to fund the survey-recommended project over a
13  continuous 3-year period using projected capital outlay
14  revenue derived from s. 9(d), Art. XII of the State
15  Constitution, as amended, paragraph (3)(a) of this section,
16  and s. 236.25(2).
17         11.  The district shall have on file with the
18  department an adopted resolution acknowledging its 3-year
19  commitment of all unencumbered and future revenue acquired
20  from s. 9(d), Art. XII of the State Constitution, as amended,
21  paragraph (3)(a) of this section, and s. 236.25(2).
22         12.  Final phase III plans must be certified by the
23  board as complete and in compliance with the building and life
24  safety codes prior to August 1.
25         Section 2.  Any special facility construction project
26  for which phase III plans were certified by August 1, 1999, as
27  complete and in compliance with the building and life safety
28  codes as required by s. 235.435(2)(a)12., Florida Statutes, is
29  eligible for funding under s. 235.435(2), Florida Statutes, as
30  amended by this act, if otherwise qualified, beginning July 1,
31  2000.
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                                       HB 289, First Engrossed/ntc
  1         Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a
  2  law.
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