The purpose of this agenda item is to establish a position as it relates to the upcoming State of Florida legislative session.  Typically by this time of the year, Pasco County has organized its Legislative Delegation meeting.  However, they have not yet and it does not appear that there will be a local meeting before the session begins on March 2, 2021.  Nonetheless, I would suggest that as a city we remain vigilant in our attention to movement at the state level during the upcoming legislative session since we likely can expect more attempts to minimize the powers of local government and placing traditional sources of revenue at risk.

Therefore, in regard to public policy, in the absence of any specific legislative proposals I recommend that the City Council support the authority of local governments to exercise their powers of governance and protect traditional sources of revenue.

In respect to the City's priorities, I recommend that you consider supporting the 2021 Florida League of Cities Legislative Action Agenda which is attached to this agenda item for reference.  The Florida League of Cities is advocating for the following policy positions:

Sales Tax Fairness

Change laws to ensure that all retailers are treated the same relating to e-commerce sales by out-of-state retailers.

Short Term Rentals

Change laws to ensure that short-term rental properties abide by state and local regulations, are properly licensed and insured, and comply with state and local taxation requirements as well as industry-accepted safety practices.

Discharges to Surface Waters

Establish legislation which provides reasonable time frames for utilities to eliminate, to the extent possible in compliance with regulatory requirements and with specified exceptions, discharges to surface waters unless a utility demonstrates it is not environmentally, technically or economically feasible.

Affordable Housing

Establish legislation which will require that all monies from the Sadowski State and Local Government Housing Trust Funds be used only for Florida’s affordable housing programs.

Annexation

Establish legislation which facilitates the municipal annexation of unincorporated areas while protecting private property rights and respecting municipal boundaries.  This legislation is of particular interest to the City as it would ease in the annexation of enclaves.

Other areas of interest by the Florida League of Cities which will be supported during the legislative session include cybersecurity, transportation, mobility plans, digital divide and resiliency and sustainability.

In addition to the issues identified by Florida League of Cities, staff recommends that you consider the following policy positions:

Public Works

Oppose legislation regarding wastewater discharge which would require certain domestic wastewater utilities to submit a plan to the Department of Environmental Protection by November 2021 for eliminating non-beneficial surface water discharges (e.g., treated effluent, reclaimed water or reuse water) within a five-year time frame.

Oppose legislation regarding impact fees which would cap impact fee increases to no more than 3% annually. The bill would allow a local government to collect an impact fee only if it has a planned or funded capital improvements within the applicable impact fee assessment district at the time the fee is collected.

Oppose legislation regarding the displacement of private waste companies which would require a local government that displaces an existing solid waste provider to, in addition to the procedural and three-year notice requirements in current law, pay the provider an amount equal to the company’s preceding 18 months’ gross receipts for the service in the displaced area.

Police Department

Oppose legislation which would require each county to establish a citizens review board to “independently” investigate each law enforcement agency within the county. The bill would require one member of the citizens review board to participate in a law enforcement agency’s investigative team for any complaints related to use of force, abuse of authority, discourtesy and discriminatory language.

Library

Support legislation to support the following funding initiatives: State Aid to Public Libraries Grant Program, Library Cooperative Grant Program, Public Library Construction Grants, Career Online High School and Colleges’ and Universities’ Essential Library and Distance Learning Services.

Fire Department

Support legislation which would heighten legal protections to governmental entities against liability as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Support legislation which would require bleeding control kits in state buildings and schools.

City Clerk

Support legislation that allow governmental agencies the option to post legal notices on publicly accessible websites.

Parks and Recreation

Support legislation that would allow the City to restrict smoking within the boundaries of any public park that is owned by the City.

As always, staff will continue to monitor pertinent legislative as it moves through the process during the legislative session and will provide updates to Council as needed.