Florida Senate - 2017                                     SB 514
       
       
        
       By Senator Stargel
       
       22-00502-17                                            2017514__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to fees of the Department of Business
    3         and Professional Regulation; amending s. 455.271,
    4         F.S.; revising the amount of the additional
    5         delinquency fee a board or the department must impose
    6         under certain circumstances; amending s. 553.721,
    7         F.S.; revising the surcharge rate assessed on certain
    8         permits; providing an effective date.
    9          
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         Section 1. Subsection (7) of section 455.271, Florida
   13  Statutes, is amended to read:
   14         455.271 Inactive and delinquent status.—
   15         (7) Notwithstanding the professional practice acts
   16  administered by the department, each board, or the department
   17  when there is no board, shall, by rule, impose an additional
   18  delinquency fee of $25, not to exceed the biennial renewal fee
   19  for an active status license, on a delinquent status licensee
   20  when such licensee applies for active or inactive status.
   21         Section 2. Section 553.721, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   22  read:
   23         553.721 Surcharge.—In order for the Department of Business
   24  and Professional Regulation to administer and carry out the
   25  purposes of this part and related activities, there is created a
   26  surcharge, to be assessed at the rate of 1.0 1.5 percent of the
   27  permit fees associated with enforcement of the Florida Building
   28  Code as defined by the uniform account criteria and specifically
   29  the uniform account code for building permits adopted for local
   30  government financial reporting pursuant to s. 218.32. The
   31  minimum amount collected on any permit issued shall be $2. The
   32  unit of government responsible for collecting a permit fee
   33  pursuant to s. 125.56(4) or s. 166.201 shall collect the
   34  surcharge and electronically remit the funds collected to the
   35  department on a quarterly calendar basis for the preceding
   36  quarter and continuing each third month thereafter. The unit of
   37  government shall retain 10 percent of the surcharge collected to
   38  fund the participation of building departments in the national
   39  and state building code adoption processes and to provide
   40  education related to enforcement of the Florida Building Code.
   41  All funds remitted to the department pursuant to this section
   42  shall be deposited in the Professional Regulation Trust Fund.
   43  Funds collected from the surcharge shall be allocated to fund
   44  the Florida Building Commission and the Florida Building Code
   45  Compliance and Mitigation Program under s. 553.841. Funds
   46  allocated to the Florida Building Code Compliance and Mitigation
   47  Program shall be $925,000 each fiscal year. The Florida Building
   48  Code Compliance and Mitigation Program shall fund the
   49  recommendations made by the Building Code System Uniform
   50  Implementation Evaluation Workgroup, dated April 8, 2013, from
   51  existing resources, not to exceed $30,000 in the 2016-2017
   52  fiscal year. Funds collected from the surcharge shall also be
   53  used to fund Florida Fire Prevention Code informal
   54  interpretations managed by the State Fire Marshal and shall be
   55  limited to $15,000 each fiscal year. The State Fire Marshal
   56  shall adopt rules to address the implementation and expenditure
   57  of the funds allocated to fund the Florida Fire Prevention Code
   58  informal interpretations under this section. The funds collected
   59  from the surcharge may not be used to fund research on
   60  techniques for mitigation of radon in existing buildings. Funds
   61  used by the department as well as funds to be transferred to the
   62  Department of Health and the State Fire Marshal shall be as
   63  prescribed in the annual General Appropriations Act. The
   64  department shall adopt rules governing the collection and
   65  remittance of surcharges pursuant to chapter 120.
   66         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.