| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to court system funding; amending s. |
| 3 | 29.008, F.S.; defining the term "base year"; revising the |
| 4 | provisions for determining county compliance with the |
| 5 | funding of certain court expenses; amending s. 29.0085, |
| 6 | F.S.; providing that submission of certain county fiscal |
| 7 | information rely on certain base year statements; |
| 8 | providing an effective date. |
| 9 |
|
| 10 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 11 |
|
| 12 | Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 29.008, Florida |
| 13 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 14 | 29.008 County funding of court-related functions.-- |
| 15 | (4)(a) For purposes of this subsection, the term "base |
| 16 | year" means the average of the expenditures over the previous 5 |
| 17 | fiscal years for the items specified in paragraphs (1)(c)-(h). |
| 18 | (b) A county may demonstrate compliance with its funding |
| 19 | obligations under this section by showing a 1.5 percent growth |
| 20 | per year in expenditures for the Except for revenues used for |
| 21 | the payment of principal or interest on bonds, tax anticipation |
| 22 | certificates, or any other form of indebtedness as allowed under |
| 23 | s. 218.25(1), (2) or (4), the Department of Revenue shall |
| 24 | withhold revenue sharing receipts distributed pursuant to part |
| 25 | II of chapter 218 from any county not in compliance with the |
| 26 | county funding obligations for items specified in paragraphs |
| 27 | (1)(c)-(h)(a), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), and (h) and subsection |
| 28 | (3) over the base year statement required under s. 29.0085; |
| 29 | however, a county may expend less than the amount specified in |
| 30 | this paragraph if the difference is attributable to savings |
| 31 | realized through technology and equipment innovations. Any such |
| 32 | reduced expenditures may be certified by the chief judge of the |
| 33 | county. The department shall withhold an amount equal to the |
| 34 | difference between the amount spent by the county for the |
| 35 | particular item in county fiscal year 2002-2003, the base year, |
| 36 | plus 3 percent, and the amount budgeted by the county for these |
| 37 | obligations in county fiscal year 2004-2005, if the latter is |
| 38 | less than the former. Every year thereafter, the department |
| 39 | shall withhold such an amount if the amount budgeted in that |
| 40 | year is less than the base year plus 1.5 percent growth per |
| 41 | year. On or before December 31, 2004, counties shall send to the |
| 42 | department a certified copy of their budget documents for the |
| 43 | respective 2 years, separately identifying expenditure amounts |
| 44 | for each county funding obligation specified in paragraphs |
| 45 | (1)(a), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), and (h) and subsection (3). |
| 46 | Each year thereafter, on or before December 31 of that year, |
| 47 | each county shall send a certified copy of its budget document |
| 48 | to the department. |
| 49 | (b) Beginning in fiscal year 2005-2006, additional amounts |
| 50 | shall be withheld pursuant to paragraph (a), if the amount spent |
| 51 | in the previous fiscal year on the items specified in paragraphs |
| 52 | (1)(a), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), and (h), and subsection (3) is |
| 53 | less than the amount budgeted for those items. Each county shall |
| 54 | certify expenditures for these county obligations for the prior |
| 55 | fiscal year to the department within 90 days after the end of |
| 56 | the fiscal year. |
| 57 | (c) The department shall transfer the withheld payments to |
| 58 | the General Revenue Fund by March 31 of each year. These |
| 59 | payments are hereby appropriated to the Department of Revenue to |
| 60 | pay for these responsibilities on behalf of the county. |
| 61 | Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 29.0085, Florida |
| 62 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 63 | 29.0085 Annual statement of certain revenues and |
| 64 | expenditures.-- |
| 65 | (1) Each county shall submit annually to the Chief |
| 66 | Financial Officer a statement of revenues and expenditures as |
| 67 | set forth in this section in the form and manner prescribed by |
| 68 | the Chief Financial Officer in consultation with the Legislative |
| 69 | Committee on Intergovernmental Relations, provided that such |
| 70 | statement identify total county expenditures on each of the |
| 71 | services outlined in s. 29.008. The statement submitted pursuant |
| 72 | to this section for the average of the previous 5 county fiscal |
| 73 | years shall be the base year statement. |
| 74 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006. |