Florida Senate - 2019                                     SB 854
       
       
        
       By Senator Gruters
       
       
       
       
       
       23-00495-19                                            2019854__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to special neighborhood improvement
    3         districts; amending s. 163.511, F.S.; revising the
    4         number of directors allowed for the boards of special
    5         neighborhood improvement districts; requiring local
    6         planning ordinances to specify director term lengths
    7         and provide for staggered terms; requiring that
    8         directors be landowners in, rather than residents of,
    9         the proposed area and be subject to certain taxation;
   10         removing obsolete language; providing an effective
   11         date.
   12          
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. Paragraph (f) of subsection (1) and subsections
   16  (7) and (8) of section 163.511, Florida Statutes, are amended to
   17  read:
   18         163.511 Special neighborhood improvement districts;
   19  creation; referendum; board of directors; duration; extension.—
   20         (1) After a local planning ordinance has been adopted
   21  authorizing the creation of special neighborhood improvement
   22  districts, the governing body of a municipality or county may
   23  declare the need for and create special residential or business
   24  neighborhood improvement districts by the enactment of a
   25  separate ordinance for each district, which ordinance:
   26         (f) Provides for the appointment of a three-, five-, or
   27  seven-member 3-member board of directors for the district, the
   28  members of which must be elected to staggered terms. The number
   29  of appointed directors must be specified in the ordinance.
   30         (7) The business and affairs of a special neighborhood
   31  improvement district shall be conducted and administered by a
   32  board of three, five, or seven directors who must shall be
   33  landowners in residents of the proposed area and who are subject
   34  to ad valorem taxation in the district. Upon their appointment
   35  and qualification and in January of each year, the directors
   36  shall organize by electing from their number a chair and a
   37  secretary, and may also employ staff and legal representatives
   38  as deemed appropriate, who shall serve at the pleasure of the
   39  board and may receive such compensation as shall be fixed by the
   40  board. The secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of
   41  the district and is the shall be custodian of all books and
   42  records of the district. The directors may shall not receive any
   43  compensation for their services or, nor may they be employed by
   44  the district.
   45         (8) Within 30 days of the approval of the creation of a
   46  special neighborhood improvement district, if the district is in
   47  a municipality, a majority of the governing body of the
   48  municipality, or, if the district is in the unincorporated area
   49  of the county, a majority of the county commission, shall
   50  appoint the three directors provided for under this section, as
   51  specified in the local planning ordinance herein for staggered
   52  terms of 3 years. The initial appointments shall be as follows:
   53  one for a 1-year term, one for a 2-year term, and one for a 3
   54  year term. Each director shall hold office until his or her
   55  successor is appointed and qualified unless the director ceases
   56  to be qualified to act as a director or is removed from office.
   57  Vacancies on the board shall be filled for the unexpired portion
   58  of a term in the same manner as the initial appointments were
   59  made.
   60         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.