Florida Senate - 2019                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 7014
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì553006xÎ553006                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/07/2019           .                                
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       The Committee on Community Affairs (Hooper) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 523 - 567
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 14. Subsections (2), (3), and (4) of section
    6  218.391, Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (9) is
    7  added to that section, to read:
    8         218.391 Auditor selection procedures.—
    9         (2) The governing body of a charter county, municipality,
   10  special district, district school board, charter school, or
   11  charter technical career center shall establish an auditor
   12  selection audit committee.
   13         (a) The auditor selection committee for a Each noncharter
   14  county must shall establish an audit committee that, at a
   15  minimum, shall consist of each of the county officers elected
   16  pursuant to the county charter or s. 1(d), Art. VIII of the
   17  State Constitution, or their respective designees a designee,
   18  and one member of the board of county commissioners or its
   19  designee.
   20         (b) The auditor selection committee for a municipality,
   21  special district, district school board, charter school, or
   22  charter technical career center must consist of at least three
   23  members. One member of the auditor selection committee must be a
   24  member of the governing body of an entity specified in this
   25  paragraph, who shall serve as the chair of the committee.
   26         (c) An employee, a chief executive officer, or a chief
   27  financial officer of the county, municipality, special district,
   28  district school board, charter school, or charter technical
   29  career center may not serve as a member of an auditor selection
   30  committee established under this subsection; however, an
   31  employee, a chief executive officer, or a chief financial
   32  officer of the county, municipality, special district, district
   33  school board, charter school, or charter technical career center
   34  may serve in an advisory capacity.
   35         (d) The primary purpose of the auditor selection audit
   36  committee is to assist the governing body in selecting an
   37  auditor to conduct the annual financial audit required in s.
   38  218.39; however, the audit committee may serve other audit
   39  oversight purposes as determined by the entity’s governing body.
   40  The public may shall not be excluded from the proceedings under
   41  this section.
   42         (3) The auditor selection audit committee shall:
   43         (a) Establish factors to use for the evaluation of audit
   44  services to be provided by a certified public accounting firm
   45  duly licensed under chapter 473 and qualified to conduct audits
   46  in accordance with government auditing standards as adopted by
   47  the Florida Board of Accountancy. Such factors shall include,
   48  but are not limited to, ability of personnel, experience,
   49  ability to furnish the required services, and such other factors
   50  as may be determined by the committee to be applicable to its
   51  particular requirements.
   52         (b) Publicly announce requests for proposals. Public
   53  announcements must include, at a minimum, a brief description of
   54  the audit and indicate how interested firms can apply for
   55  consideration.
   56         (c) Provide interested firms with a request for proposal.
   57  The request for proposal shall include information on how
   58  proposals are to be evaluated and such other information the
   59  committee determines is necessary for the firm to prepare a
   60  proposal.
   61         (d) Evaluate proposals provided by qualified firms. If
   62  compensation is one of the factors established pursuant to
   63  paragraph (a), it shall not be the sole or predominant factor
   64  used to evaluate proposals.
   65         (e) Rank and recommend in order of preference no fewer than
   66  three firms deemed to be the most highly qualified to perform
   67  the required services after considering the factors established
   68  pursuant to paragraph (a). If fewer than three firms respond to
   69  the request for proposal, the committee shall recommend such
   70  firms as it deems to be the most highly qualified.
   71         (4) The governing body shall inquire of qualified firms as
   72  to the basis of compensation, select one of the firms
   73  recommended by the auditor selection audit committee, and
   74  negotiate a contract, using one of the following methods:
   75         (a) If compensation is not one of the factors established
   76  pursuant to paragraph (3)(a) and not used to evaluate firms
   77  pursuant to paragraph (3)(e), the governing body shall negotiate
   78  a contract with the firm ranked first. If the governing body is
   79  unable to negotiate a satisfactory contract with that firm,
   80  negotiations with that firm shall be formally terminated, and
   81  the governing body shall then undertake negotiations with the
   82  second-ranked firm. Failing accord with the second-ranked firm,
   83  negotiations shall then be terminated with that firm and
   84  undertaken with the third-ranked firm. Negotiations with the
   85  other ranked firms shall be undertaken in the same manner. The
   86  governing body, in negotiating with firms, may reopen formal
   87  negotiations with any one of the three top-ranked firms, but it
   88  may not negotiate with more than one firm at a time.
   89         (b) If compensation is one of the factors established
   90  pursuant to paragraph (3)(a) and used in the evaluation of
   91  proposals pursuant to paragraph (3)(d), the governing body shall
   92  select the highest-ranked qualified firm or must document in its
   93  public records the reason for not selecting the highest-ranked
   94  qualified firm.
   95         (c) The governing body may select a firm recommended by the
   96  audit committee and negotiate a contract with one of the
   97  recommended firms using an appropriate alternative negotiation
   98  method for which compensation is not the sole or predominant
   99  factor used to select the firm.
  100         (d) In negotiations with firms under this section, the
  101  governing body may allow a designee to conduct negotiations on
  102  its behalf.
  103         (9) If the entity fails to select the auditor in accordance
  104  with the requirements of subsections (3)-(6), the entity must
  105  again perform the auditor selection process in accordance with
  106  this section to select an auditor to conduct audits for
  107  subsequent fiscal years.
  108  
  109  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  110  And the title is amended as follows:
  111         Delete lines 49 - 54
  112  and insert:
  113         specified purposes; amending s. 218.391, F.S.;
  114         revising membership, and restrictions thereof, for an
  115         auditor selection committee; prescribing requirements
  116         and procedures for selecting an auditor if certain
  117         conditions exist; amending s.