Florida Senate - 2006                        SENATOR AMENDMENT
    Bill No. CS for CS for CS for SB 1394
                        Barcode 332026
                            CHAMBER ACTION
              Senate                               House
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 3         Floor: 6/AD/2R          .                    
       04/26/2006 02:38 PM         .                    
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11  Senator Miller moved the following amendment:
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13         Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 
14         On page 3, before line 1,
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16  insert:  
17         Section 1.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section
18  337.401, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
19         337.401  Use of right-of-way for utilities subject to
20  regulation; permit; fees.--
21         (3)
22         (c)1.  It is the intention of the state to treat all
23  providers of communications services that use or occupy
24  municipal or charter county roads or rights-of-way for the
25  provision of communications services in a nondiscriminatory
26  and competitively neutral manner with respect to the payment
27  of permit fees. Certain providers of communications services
28  have been granted by general law the authority to offset
29  permit fees against franchise or other fees while other
30  providers of communications services have not been granted
31  this authority. In order to treat all providers of
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    11:33 AM   04/26/06                            s1394c3c-18-s01

Florida Senate - 2006 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS for CS for CS for SB 1394 Barcode 332026 1 communications services in a nondiscriminatory and 2 competitively neutral manner with respect to the payment of 3 permit fees, each municipality and charter county shall make 4 an election under either sub-subparagraph a. or 5 sub-subparagraph b. and must inform the Department of Revenue 6 of the election by certified mail by July 16, 2001. Such 7 election shall take effect October 1, 2001. 8 a.(I) The municipality or charter county may require 9 and collect permit fees from any providers of communications 10 services that use or occupy municipal or county roads or 11 rights-of-way. All fees permitted under this sub-subparagraph 12 must be reasonable and commensurate with the direct and actual 13 cost of the regulatory activity, including issuing and 14 processing permits, plan reviews, physical inspection, and 15 direct administrative costs; must be demonstrable; and must be 16 equitable among users of the roads or rights-of-way. A fee 17 permitted under this sub-subparagraph may not: be offset 18 against the tax imposed under chapter 202; include the costs 19 of roads or rights-of-way acquisition or roads or 20 rights-of-way rental; include any general administrative, 21 management, or maintenance costs of the roads or 22 rights-of-way; or be based on a percentage of the value or 23 costs associated with the work to be performed on the roads or 24 rights-of-way. In an action to recover amounts due for a fee 25 not permitted under this sub-subparagraph, the prevailing 26 party may recover court costs and attorney's fees at trial and 27 on appeal. In addition to the limitations set forth in this 28 section, a fee levied by a municipality or charter county 29 under this sub-subparagraph may not exceed $100. However, 30 permit fees may not be imposed with respect to permits that 31 may be required for service drop lines not required to be 2 11:33 AM 04/26/06 s1394c3c-18-s01
Florida Senate - 2006 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS for CS for CS for SB 1394 Barcode 332026 1 noticed under s. 556.108(5)(a)2.(b) or for any activity that 2 does not require the physical disturbance of the roads or 3 rights-of-way or does not impair access to or full use of the 4 roads or rights-of-way. 5 (II) To ensure competitive neutrality among providers 6 of communications services, for any municipality or charter 7 county that elects to exercise its authority to require and 8 collect permit fees under this sub-subparagraph, the rate of 9 the local communications services tax imposed by such 10 jurisdiction, as computed under s. 202.20, shall automatically 11 be reduced by a rate of 0.12 percent. 12 b. Alternatively, the municipality or charter county 13 may elect not to require and collect permit fees from any 14 provider of communications services that uses or occupies 15 municipal or charter county roads or rights-of-way for the 16 provision of communications services; however, each 17 municipality or charter county that elects to operate under 18 this sub-subparagraph retains all authority to establish rules 19 and regulations for providers of communications services to 20 use or occupy roads or rights-of-way as provided in this 21 section. If a municipality or charter county elects to operate 22 under this sub-subparagraph, the total rate for the local 23 communications services tax as computed under s. 202.20 for 24 that municipality or charter county may be increased by 25 ordinance or resolution by an amount not to exceed a rate of 26 0.12 percent. If a municipality or charter county elects to 27 increase its rate effective October 1, 2001, the municipality 28 or charter county shall inform the department of such 29 increased rate by certified mail postmarked on or before July 30 16, 2001. 31 c. A municipality or charter county that does not make 3 11:33 AM 04/26/06 s1394c3c-18-s01
Florida Senate - 2006 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS for CS for CS for SB 1394 Barcode 332026 1 an election as provided for in this subparagraph shall be 2 presumed to have elected to operate under the provisions of 3 sub-subparagraph b. 4 2. Each noncharter county shall make an election under 5 either sub-subparagraph a. or sub-subparagraph b. and shall 6 inform the Department of Revenue of the election by certified 7 mail by July 16, 2001. Such election shall take effect October 8 1, 2001. 9 a. The noncharter county may elect to require and 10 collect permit fees from any providers of communications 11 services that use or occupy noncharter county roads or 12 rights-of-way. All fees permitted under this sub-subparagraph 13 must be reasonable and commensurate with the direct and actual 14 cost of the regulatory activity, including issuing and 15 processing permits, plan reviews, physical inspection, and 16 direct administrative costs; must be demonstrable; and must be 17 equitable among users of the roads or rights-of-way. A fee 18 permitted under this sub-subparagraph may not: be offset 19 against the tax imposed under chapter 202; include the costs 20 of roads or rights-of-way acquisition or roads or 21 rights-of-way rental; include any general administrative, 22 management, or maintenance costs of the roads or 23 rights-of-way; or be based on a percentage of the value or 24 costs associated with the work to be performed on the roads or 25 rights-of-way. In an action to recover amounts due for a fee 26 not permitted under this sub-subparagraph, the prevailing 27 party may recover court costs and attorney's fees at trial and 28 on appeal. In addition to the limitations set forth in this 29 section, a fee levied by a noncharter county under this 30 sub-subparagraph may not exceed $100. However, permit fees may 31 not be imposed with respect to permits that may be required 4 11:33 AM 04/26/06 s1394c3c-18-s01
Florida Senate - 2006 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS for CS for CS for SB 1394 Barcode 332026 1 for service drop lines not required to be noticed under s. 2 556.108(5)(a)2.(b) or for any activity that does not require 3 the physical disturbance of the roads or rights-of-way or does 4 not impair access to or full use of the roads or 5 rights-of-way. 6 b. Alternatively, the noncharter county may elect not 7 to require and collect permit fees from any provider of 8 communications services that uses or occupies noncharter 9 county roads or rights-of-way for the provision of 10 communications services; however, each noncharter county that 11 elects to operate under this sub-subparagraph shall retain all 12 authority to establish rules and regulations for providers of 13 communications services to use or occupy roads or 14 rights-of-way as provided in this section. If a noncharter 15 county elects to operate under this sub-subparagraph, the 16 total rate for the local communications services tax as 17 computed under s. 202.20 for that noncharter county may be 18 increased by ordinance or resolution by an amount not to 19 exceed a rate of 0.24 percent, to replace the revenue the 20 noncharter county would otherwise have received from permit 21 fees for providers of communications services. If a noncharter 22 county elects to increase its rate effective October 1, 2001, 23 the noncharter county shall inform the department of such 24 increased rate by certified mail postmarked on or before July 25 16, 2001. 26 c. A noncharter county that does not make an election 27 as provided for in this subparagraph shall be presumed to have 28 elected to operate under the provisions of sub-subparagraph b. 29 3. Except as provided in this paragraph, 30 municipalities and counties retain all existing authority to 31 require and collect permit fees from users or occupants of 5 11:33 AM 04/26/06 s1394c3c-18-s01
Florida Senate - 2006 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS for CS for CS for SB 1394 Barcode 332026 1 municipal or county roads or rights-of-way and to set 2 appropriate permit fee amounts. 3 4 (Redesignate subsequent sections.) 5 6 7 ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T =============== 8 And the title is amended as follows: 9 On page 1, line 3, after the semicolon, 10 11 insert: 12 amending s. 337.401, F.S.; correcting a 13 cross-reference; 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 6 11:33 AM 04/26/06 s1394c3c-18-s01