Florida Senate - 2016                                     SB 546
       
       
        
       By Senator Simpson
       
       
       
       
       
       18-00392-16                                            2016546__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the sale or exchange of lands;
    3         amending s. 373.089, F.S.; extending the timeframe
    4         within which a certified appraisal may be obtained for
    5         parcels of land to be sold as surplus; revising the
    6         procedures a water management district must follow for
    7         publishing a notice of intention to sell surplus
    8         lands; providing an exception from such notice
    9         requirements if a parcel of land is valued below a
   10         certain threshold; authorizing such parcels to be sold
   11         directly to the highest bidder; authorizing districts
   12         to include restrictions on future use of such parcels;
   13         providing an effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Subsections (1), (3), and (7) of section
   18  373.089, Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (8) is
   19  added to that section, to read:
   20         373.089 Sale or exchange of lands, or interests or rights
   21  in lands.—The governing board of the district may sell lands, or
   22  interests or rights in lands, to which the district has acquired
   23  title or to which it may hereafter acquire title in the
   24  following manner:
   25         (1) Any lands, or interests or rights in lands, determined
   26  by the governing board to be surplus may be sold by the
   27  district, at any time, for the highest price obtainable;
   28  however, in no case shall the selling price be less than the
   29  appraised value of the lands, or interests or rights in lands,
   30  as determined by a certified appraisal obtained within 360 120
   31  days before the effective date of a contract for sale.
   32         (3) Before selling any surplus land, or interests or rights
   33  in land, it shall be the duty of the district to cause a notice
   34  of intention to sell to be published in a newspaper published in
   35  the county in which the land, or interests or rights in the
   36  land, is situated once each week for 3 successive weeks, (three
   37  insertions being sufficient.), The first publication of the
   38  required notice must occur at least which shall be not less than
   39  30 days, but not nor more than 45 days, before prior to any sale
   40  and must include, which notice shall set forth a description of
   41  lands, or interests or rights in lands, to be offered for sale.
   42         (7) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section, the
   43  governing board shall first offer title to lands acquired in
   44  whole or in part with Florida Forever funds which are determined
   45  to be no longer needed for conservation purposes to the Board of
   46  Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund unless the
   47  disposition of those lands is for the following purposes:
   48         (a) Linear facilities, including electric transmission and
   49  distribution facilities, telecommunication transmission and
   50  distribution facilities, pipeline transmission and distribution
   51  facilities, public transportation corridors, and related
   52  appurtenances.
   53         (b) The disposition of the fee interest in the land where a
   54  conservation easement is retained by the district to fulfill the
   55  conservation objectives for which the land was acquired.
   56         (c) An exchange of the land for other lands that meet or
   57  exceed the conservation objectives for which the original land
   58  was acquired in accordance with subsection (4).
   59         (d) To be used by a governmental entity for a public
   60  purpose.
   61         (e) The portion of an overall purchase deemed surplus at
   62  the time of the acquisition.
   63  
   64  If In the event the Board of Trustees of the Internal
   65  Improvement Trust Fund declines to accept title to the lands
   66  offered under this section, the land may be disposed of by the
   67  district under the provisions of this section.
   68         (8) Notwithstanding this section, if a parcel of land is no
   69  longer essential or necessary for conservation purposes and is
   70  valued at $25,000 or less as determined by a certified appraisal
   71  obtained within 360 days before any sale, the governing board
   72  may determine that the parcel of land is surplus. The notice of
   73  sale shall be published, as required under subsection (3), one
   74  time only. The governing board shall send notice of its
   75  intention to sell the parcel to adjacent property owners by
   76  certified mail and publish the notice on its website.
   77         (a) Within 14 days after such notice, the district may sell
   78  the parcel to an adjacent property owner or accept sealed bids
   79  if there are two or more owners of adjacent property and may
   80  sell the parcel to the highest bidder or reject all offers.
   81         (b) Within 30 days after such notice, the district shall
   82  accept sealed bids and may sell the parcel to the highest bidder
   83  or reject all offers.
   84         (c) The district may include a restriction on the future
   85  use of the surplus parcel as a term and condition of the sale.
   86         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.