Senate Bill 0080c1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 CS for SB 80
By the Committee on Fiscal Policy and Senator Kurth
309-1669-00
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to grant proposals for
3 community centers; authorizing the Department
4 of Community Affairs to administer a grant
5 program for funding the acquisition,
6 renovation, or construction of community
7 centers; authorizing counties, municipalities,
8 special districts, and certain nonprofit
9 corporations to apply for such grants;
10 requiring that a grant recipient provide
11 certain matching funds; providing for
12 preference to be given to certain projects;
13 providing requirements for grant recipients;
14 providing for a review panel to review grant
15 applications; providing for membership of the
16 review panel and terms of office; requiring the
17 review panel to annually recommend grant
18 recipients to the Secretary of Community
19 Affairs; providing that the department may not
20 allocate a project grant unless the funds are
21 appropriated by the Legislature; authorizing
22 the Department of Community Affairs to adopt
23 rules; providing an effective date.
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25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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27 Section 1. Grants for acquisition, renovation, or
28 construction of community centers; funding; approval;
29 allocation.--
30 (1)(a) The Department of Community Affairs may accept
31 and administer moneys appropriated to it for providing grants
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Florida Senate - 2000 CS for SB 80
309-1669-00
1 to counties, municipalities, special districts, and qualified
2 corporations for the acquisition, renovation, or construction
3 of community centers. As used in this section, the term
4 "community center" means a free-standing building owned or
5 managed by a county, municipality, special district, or
6 qualified corporation that provides recreational
7 opportunities, educational programs, and meeting rooms for the
8 community. This definition also includes recreational centers
9 or other similar facilities to the extent that they comply
10 with these criteria.
11 (b) Eligible expenses shall include, but not be
12 limited to, feasibility studies, planning reports, property
13 appraisals, title searches, property purchases, surveys and
14 borings, site and facility plans, designs and permits, site
15 preparation, utility systems, site and facility security,
16 access features, building areas and spaces, equipment and
17 furniture, graphics and signage, landscape beautification, and
18 project management. Expenses that occur in the time period
19 that begins two calendar years prior to the announcement of a
20 grant application submission cycle and ends on the grant
21 completion date stipulated in the executed grant agreement for
22 a project shall be eligible for reimbursement. Should an
23 approved and recommended project be retained on a project list
24 for a subsequent grant cycle as described in paragraph (3)(b),
25 the original eligible expenses date shall remain in effect.
26 (2)(a) A county, municipality, special district, or
27 qualified corporation may apply for a grant of state funds to
28 acquire, renovate, or construct a community center. As used in
29 this section, the term "special district" means a special
30 district, as defined in s. 189.403, that has official
31 responsibilities for the provision of community center
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2000 CS for SB 80
309-1669-00
1 facilities or services. As used in this section, the term
2 "qualified corporation" means a corporation that is designated
3 as a not-for-profit corporation pursuant to s. 501(c)(3) or
4 (4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954; is described in, and
5 allowed to receive contributions pursuant to, s. 170 of the
6 Internal Revenue Code of 1954; and is a corporation not for
7 profit incorporated under chapter 617, Florida Statutes.
8 (b) The state grant may be used to cover up to 75
9 percent of the project cost, and the county, municipality,
10 special district, or qualified corporation must demonstrate to
11 the department that funds are available and committed to the
12 project. The maximum amount that may be awarded to a single
13 project under this section is $1.5 million.
14 (c) The county, municipality, special district, or
15 nonprofit corporation must demonstrate to the department that
16 the community supports the project and has dedicated funds to
17 operate and maintain the community center.
18 (d) The department shall give preference to projects
19 that are located in:
20 1. Enterprise zones, empowerment zones, and services
21 areas in which at least 75 percent of the residents are of low
22 or moderate income, as defined by the United States Department
23 of Housing and Urban Development; or
24 2. Communities that have fewer than one community
25 center per 35,000 residents.
26 (e) Ten percent or $150,000, whichever is less, of the
27 grant funds awarded under this section may be used by the
28 Department of Community Affairs for administrative purposes
29 contingent upon approval of an expenditure plan pursuant to
30 the legislative consultation and review requirements set forth
31 in s. 216.177.
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Florida Senate - 2000 CS for SB 80
309-1669-00
1 (f) Each applicant that receives a grant must
2 continually monitor its performance under the grant-supported
3 activities to ensure that time schedules are met, project
4 objectives are accomplished within specified time periods, and
5 other performance goals are achieved.
6 (g) Grants may not continue for more than 36 months.
7 (3)(a) A review panel shall review each application
8 for a grant to acquire, plan, design, permit, renovate, or
9 construct a community center which is submitted under
10 subsection (2). The Governor, the President of the Senate, and
11 the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall each appoint
12 two members to serve on the review panel, and those six
13 members shall jointly appoint a seventh member to the panel.
14 Members of the panel shall be appointed to 3-year terms and
15 may not be reappointed to the panel within 1 year after
16 completing a 3-year term. In order to provide for staggered
17 terms, the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the
18 Speaker of the House of Representatives shall each initially
19 appoint one member to a 1-year term. A vacancy on the panel
20 shall be filled for the unexpired portion of the term in the
21 same manner as the original appointment. The review panel
22 shall elect a chairperson from among its members to serve a
23 1-year term and the chairperson may be reelected.
24 (b) Beginning in Fiscal Year 2002-2003, the review
25 panel shall annually submit to the Secretary of Community
26 Affairs for approval a list of all applications that the panel
27 recommends be included by the Department of Community Affairs
28 in its legislative budget request for an award of grants,
29 arranged in order of priority. However, for Fiscal Year
30 2001-2002, the review panel must submit the list to the
31 Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of
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Florida Senate - 2000 CS for SB 80
309-1669-00
1 the Senate by December 31, 2000. The department may allocate
2 grants only for projects for which the Legislature has
3 appropriated funds. Any project that is approved and
4 recommended by the Secretary of Community Affairs but which is
5 not funded by the Legislature shall be retained on the project
6 list for the subsequent grant cycle. Thereafter, the grant
7 applicant must submit the information required by the
8 department in compliance with the established deadline date of
9 the latest grant cycle in order to adequately indicate the
10 current status of the project.
11 (4) The Department of Community Affairs shall adopt by
12 rule criteria to be applied by the review panel in
13 recommending applications for the award of grants and shall
14 adopt rules for administering this section.
15 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
16 law.
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18 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
19 Senate Bill 80
20
21 The committee substitute includes special districts among
those eligible to participate in the grant award process.
22
The committee substitute defines eligible expenses under the
23 grant award process.
24 Subject to appropriation by the Legislature, the bill will
transfer to the Department of Community Affairs $150,000 or 10
25 percent of the total grant proceeds awarded, whichever is
less, to administer grant awards under the provisions of the
26 bill.
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