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Arcia, Miriam
From: Westall, Lynn
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 1:24 PM
To: Westall, Lynn; Diaz, Manuel A (Mayor); Gonzalez, Angel (Commissioner); Regalado, Tomas
(Commissioner); Sanchez, Joe (Commissioner); Sarnoff, Marc (Commissioner); Spence -
Jones, Michelle (Commissioner)
Cc: Hernandez, Pedro G. (City Manager); Conway, Mary; Spring, Larry; Fernandez, Jorge L.;
Thompson, Priscilla; Valdez, Suzanna; Castaneda, Frank; Crapp Jr., Tony; Zorrilla, Teresa;
Wright, Steve; Miro, Claudia M.; Alexander, Koteles; Pita Ph.D., Michelle; Binns II, Basil;
Cabrera, Gilbert; Ortiz -Petit, Ignacio
Subject: RE: Legislative Update - Item D4.1 on the MaylOth agenda
Attachments: funding_for member projects.pdf; Legislative Update - 2007.pdf
Pls find attached a supplement attachment that accompanies the legislative update.
Thank you.
Lynn Westall
Senior Assistant to the City Manager
City of Miami
305.250.5407 (office)
305.250.5410 (fax)
Iwestall(c�miamigov.com
From: Westall, Lynn
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2007 1:19 PM
To: Diaz, Manuel A (Mayor); Gonzalez, Angel (Commissioner); Regalado, Tomas (Commissioner); Sanchez, Joe
(Commissioner); Sarnoff, Marc (Commissioner); Spence -Jones, Michelle (Commissioner)
Cc: Hernandez, Pedro G. (City Manager); Conway, Mary; Spring, Larry; Fernandez, Jorge L.; Thompson, Priscilla;
Valdez, Suzanna; Castaneda, Frank; Crapp Jr., Tony; Zorrilla, Teresa; Wright, Steve; Miro, Claudia M.; Alexander,
Koteles; Pifia Ph.D., Michelle; Binns II, Basil; Cabrera, Gilbert; Westall, Lynn
Subject: Legislative Update - Item D4.1 on the MaylOth agenda
Importance: High
The following attached report is being provided on behalf of City Manager, Pedro G. Hernandez.
A hardcopy will also be distributed this evening to each respective office.
Thank you.
Lynn Westall
Senior Assistant to the City Manager
City of Miami
305.250.5407 (office)
305.250.5410 (fax)
Iwestall a�miamigov.com
5/14/2007
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The Florida House of Representatives
MEMORANDUM
To: Members, Florida House of Representative
From: Marco Rubio, Speaker
Date: 02/19/2007
Re: Funding for Member Projects
Dear fellow members:
You may have recently read in the news clips some comments Chairman Sansom made
to the freshman class regarding funding for member projects. Chairman Sansom and I
had talked about this earlier in the week and I completely agree with his assessment of
the situation. Based on our conversation I would like to take this opportunity to lay out in
more complete detail where Chair Sansom and I are on the budget, and to describe the
House policy regarding funding for member projects this session.
In preparing our budget, we must be mindful of the two new constitutional requirements
enacted by the voters last fall. Article III, Section 19, of the Florida Constitution requires
"Unless approved by a three -fifths vote of the membership of each house, appropriations
made for recurring purposes from nonrecurring general revenue funds for any fiscal year
shall not exceed three percent of the total general revenue funds estimated to be
available at the time such appropriation is made." In addition, the constitution requires us
to prepare a long range financial outlook.
With these two new requirements in mind, the first thing we need to know to prepare our
budget is how much revenue we have available to spend. Last November our revenue
estimating conference reduced the estimate for recurring general revenue for fiscal year
2007-2008 by approximately $467 million dollars. Since that time, we have had three
months of actual collections. The downward trend in these collections suggests that the
forecast may need to be reduced even further.
Actual Collections for the month of January were nearly $108 million dollars below the
official estimate. Cumulatively for the three months - November, December and January -
general revenue collections were close to $160 million dollars below the estimate. The
largest decline comes from sales tax collections, representing $70 million of the January
shortfall and $165 million of the total revenue loss.
There will be one more month of actual collections before the next official General
Revenue Estimating Conference in March. If this downward trend continues during
February, the general revenue estimate will likely be reduced. We do not know the
418 The Capitol, 402 South Monroe Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1300
02/19/2007
Page 2
amount of the reduction, but it could be significant. The official forecast from the March
conference will be used in preparing our budget this spring.
My purpose in sharing this information with you is to be as transparent as possible about
our budget situation. I have already begun to discuss budget priorities with our council
chairs. Based on this most recent revenue collection data and the potential for a
downward revision in our revenue estimates, one possible scenario is that we will have
only enough revenue to fund a continuation budget.
The good news is that a continuation budget means that each council will be given a
spending allocation which is sufficient to continue traditional levels of service delivery.
We will have adequate revenues to fully fund priorities like enrollment growth in K-12,
Medicaid, KidCare, safety and security needs, and ongoing environmental programs like
Florida Forever.
The bad news is that a continuation budget does not include funding for program
expansions, new initiatives, or member projects. If a council determines that it wants to
fund new priorities including member projects, this must be accomplished through making
reductions to the continuation budget. Thus, it will be up to each council chair to
determine whether to fund member projects through the elimination of items in the
continuation budget.
We will not know the actual amount of money available for budget priorities until after the
mid March General Revenue Estimating Conference. Hopefully, the scenario will be
brighter than the one I have outlined here. However, if the reduction in the general
revenue estimate is very large, we may have to make reductions to the continuation
budget.
Regardless of how the revenue projections come out, I am confident of the House's
commitment to passing a sound budget which funds the state's priorities, stays below the
constitutional 3 percent threshold for the expenditure of non -recurring revenue on
recurring programs, and carries forward sufficient revenue to balance the budget in future
years without raising taxes. Given the awesome talent of this great institution, I know that
the Florida House of Representatives will pass a budget which meets these requirements
with flying colors.
Thank you for taking the time to review this information and I will continue to update you
as new information becomes available on the budget.
CITY OF MIAMI
INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM
To: The Honorable Tomas Regalado
City Commissioner, District 4
dr
Tani
From: Pedro G. H
City M
ez, P.E.
Date: May 9, 2007
Subject: Legislative Update
The Florida Legislature adjourned sine die on Friday, May 4, 2007. What follows is an
overview of how our legislative agenda fared pending a more detailed report as bills are
signed into law:
PROPERTY TAX REFORM
Unable to agree on any proposal, the Legislature has called a special session from June
12 through June 22 for the purpose of addressing property tax reform.
At last report, it was believed a package in the amount of $20 to $25 billion was being
discussed, which included a rollback and more specific adjustments for low income
property, seniors, waterfront marinas and tangible personal property. Portability and
special assessments for affordable rental properties also remain viable topics.
Mayor Diaz spent the final week of the legislative session in Tallahassee where he met
with Governor Crist, Senate and House leaders to advocate an approach that ties the
homestead exemption to the median price of homes by county. This approach was very
well received by the Governor, Senate and House leaders.
ACTION — Continue to advocate for targeted property tax relief that does not
cripple the city's ability to deliver critical services to citizens.
MIAMI PARTNERSHIP - $80 million
As part of our continued work with the Miami Partnership, Mayor Diaz met last year with
former Governor Jeb Bush and Office of Tourism, Trade, Economic Development
(OTTED) Director Pamela Dana to advocate for funding the work of the University of
Miami to recruit and expand bio-science facilities in the city. We further hosted Dr.
Dana on a tour of the University's new facilities being constructed in the Health District,
including the City's first green building. Through the Governor's advocacy, the
Legislature this year funded the Innovation Incentive Program in the state budget from
which the University of Miami Institute of Human Genomics received $80 million.
BUDGET
In mid February, the House Speaker sent a memorandum to the members (attached) that
due to budget constraints; the new budget would "not include funding for program
expansions, new initiatives, or member projects." This created a very tight budgetary
scenario.
Both chambers passed a budget on May 3 that includes the following items of note:
• Kinloch Storm Sewer Improvements — $1 Million
• Flagami Storm Sewer Improvements — $400,000
• Fairlawn Storm Sewer Improvements — $250,000
• Urban Security Initiative Miami - $31.8 Million
• Watson Island Heliport — $1 Million
• Watson Island Transportation Improvements — $500,000
• Miami Boundless Playgrounds — $250,000
• Morningside Park Pool Renovations - $200,000
• Unite for Peace — $100,000
• Miami River Dredging Project - $5 Million
• Miami River Federal Channel Dredging - $800,000
• Miami River Commission - $250,000
********************
• Bay of Pigs Museum and Library - $100,000
• CAMACOL / Florida Bio Trade - $50,000
• Camillus Behavioral Health Treatment Services — $250,000
• Continuation / Additional Congregate and Homebound Meals Services
Allapattah - $100,000
• Goodwill Industries of Florida - $500,000
• Haitian American History Project — $50,000
• Haitian American Bar Association — $100,000
• League Against Cancer - $650,000
• Little Havana Activities Center - $705,000 (overall)
• Osun's Village - $500,000
• San Juan Bosco Clinic - $200,000
Several of these items are subject to gubernatorial veto and are therefore not final until
the Governor approves the budget.
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AFFORDABLE HOUSING
The Legislature passed CS/HB 1375 that includes a range of issues deemed to forward
affordable housing development that reduces the local government match required for the
CWIPP program and enhances other program procedures; raises the gap cap in certain
counties; clarifies the port master plan process omitted in last years growth management
bill; allows public housing authorities to self -insure; revises the DRI guidelines for hotel
in large counties; transportation concurrency exemption for affordable housing
development located in close proximity to employment centers; requires the comp plan
housing element contain goals and policies to guide the local government in facilitating
private and public provision of affordable housing to serve workforce residents; new
deferral for ad valorem taxes and non -ad valorem assessments on affordable rental
housing property; creates a new Bridge Loan program to preserve affordable multifamily
rental and mobile home park housing for low-income families.
The Legislature however did not take action on Scrapping the Cap on Sadowski Funds.
ACTION — Continue to apply pressure on the Legislature through coalitions with
other cities and interested groups to Scrap the Cap.
DOUBLED HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION FOR LOW INCOME SENIORS
The Legislature passed and the Governor signed into law HB333 (Lopez-Cantera)
allowing municipalities to revise the amount of additional homestead exemption up to
$50,000 for low-income seniors in accordance with the amendment to s. 6(f), Art. VII of
the State Constitution adopted at the 2006 general election.
ENERGY
The Legislature passed HB 7123, a comprehensive energy policy bill. The bill gives
sales tax breaks for the production and distribution of biofuels. It also calls for a
greenhouse gas inventory to determine the major pollutants of Florida's air, and
establishes a statewide task force to help implement a coherent energy policy. The bill
promotes more stringent "green" building codes, particularly for government buildings.
Citizens who purchase solar technology for their homes will be able to get a property tax
break for the cost and installation of the product. The bill also creates a $20 million
cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant that will be managed by the University of Florida.
The bill directs the state Public Service Commission to recommend an appropriate
renewable portfolio standard. It also calls for a study on implementing a net -metering
policy. Unfortunately, the bill does not include a sales -tax break for the purchase of
alternative -fuel vehicles and a tax holiday for energy -efficient appliances due to budget
pressures in a tight fiscal year.
ACTION — Advocate for sales tax break for the purchase of alternative fuel
vehicles and for sales tax holiday for energy efficient appliances.
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GROWTH MANAGEMENT
The Legislature passed HB 7203 (Economic Expansion & Infrastructure Council), a
growth management package primarily intended to address implementation issues related
to SB 360 enacted in 2005. Changes in the bill include: revising the definition of financial
feasibility to provide that a local comprehensive plan is financially feasible for purposes
of transportation and school concurrency if the adopted level -of -service standards are
achieved and maintained by the end of the capital improvement schedule planning period;
extending the deadline for local governments to update their capital improvements
element to December 2008; providing that a comprehensive plan amendment is
financially feasible if supported by a binding development order condition or
development agreement that addresses proportionate fair share mitigation; expanding
areas that are eligible for designation as Transportation Concurrency Exception Areas;
including airport passenger terminals, concourses, hangers and air cargo facilities as
"public transit" facilities exempt from concurrency requirements; modifying how
proportionate fair share mitigation may be used and expressly stating that such mitigation
does not include mitigation for reducing or eliminating infrastructure backlogs; extending
the maximum duration of development agreements from 10 to 20 years; allowing local
governments to establish by inter -local agreement a tax increment financing area for
conservation lands; and authorizing a developer to proceed with development if
accelerated school facilities will be made available under certain circumstances. In
addition, HB 7203 establishes a pilot program in the following cities and counties:
Broward County and its municipalities; Pinellas County and its municipalities; Miami;
Hialeah; Jacksonville and Tampa. Under the pilot project, these local government
comprehensive plan amendments would be exempt from compliance review by the
Department of Community Affairs (although still subject to comment from the state and
subject to challenge after adoption by the state and third parties). Also, HB 7203
authorizes a municipality or county to establish a "transportation concurrency backlog
area" and develop a plan to use a portion of tax increment financing from the area to fund
transportation improvements on backlogged facilities.
FILM INDUSTRY INCENTIVES - $25 million
Governor Crist singed a bill that provides $25 million to the film and entertainment
industry in cash rebates for bringing business into the state.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE / LAW ENFORCEMENT
Modify Florida Statutes Chapter 419 Community Residential Homes — Died in
Committee.
ACTION - reintroduce next year.
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Support allowing the use of red light cameras for traffic enforcement — Died in
Committee.
ACTION — reintroduce next year.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Support passage of HB 603 / SB 1418 An act relating to local business taxes, authorizing
use of tax revenues to attract, retain, or expand small businesses. Died in Committee.
Support an exception to FS Section 288.1 l62 seeking to increase the number of facilities
that may be certified as facilities for new or retained professional sports franchises under
said statute. — Died in Senate
TELECOMMUNICATIONS / UTILITIES
The Legislature passed HB 529 (Traviesa) that gives cable franchising responsibility to
the state. This bill responds to recent FCC action preempting municipalities from
exercising control over video franchising services. The Bill retains right of way authority
for municipalities and attempts revenue neutrality. Build out requirements however are
not contained.
COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION TAX CREDIT
The Legislature passed HB 129 (Precourt), increasing the amount of available tax credits
to $15 million against sales tax, corporate income tax & insurance premium tax,
respectively, for projects under community contribution tax credit program & provides
separate annual limitations for certain projects.
TRANSPORTATION
The Legislature passed HB 985 (Glorioso), an omnibus transportation package that
includes numerous revisions to law. Of primary interest are the following provisions:
local governments are authorized to negotiate with a developer or property owner to
provide a credit against any future transportation concurrency requirements or obligations
if the developer voluntarily contributes right-of-way and physically constructs or expands
a state transportation facility or segment; local governments are authorized to create a
"transportation concurrency backlog authority" (Authority) which would have broad
powers including issuing bonds, borrowing money, or seeking grant money to pay for
projects included on the transportation concurrency backlog priority list created by the
Authority. Local governments are required to consider the impact on the accessibility,
availability, and transport of aggregate mining materials when they propose any change
to their comprehensive plan, any land use zoning change or adoption of local ordinance.
Local governments are also prohibited from imposing any moratorium or combination of
moratoria of more than 12 months duration on the mining or extraction of construction
aggregate materials. Local governments are authorized to regulate wall murals. Current
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language dealing with the powers, duties and responsibilities of the Metropolitan
Planning Organizations is also extensively amended by HB 985. Other important
provisions in the bill include: an increase in the bond cap limit for the Florida Turnpike
Enterprise to allow the Enterprise to fund additional projects; revisions to the matching
fund formula for fixed -guideway revenue bonds to allow for various matching options up
to a limit of 50 percent on the state's share of the eligible project cost; revisions to the
funding formula for certain airport and aviation development projects; authorizing local
governments to issue bonds backed by local option fuel and sales taxes more than once
each year; creation of the Enhanced Bridge Program for Sustainable Transportation
within the FDOT to provide a funding mechanism to improve local bridges; authorizing
FDOT to use innovative financing techniques such as public -private partnerships, toll
facility leases, and user fees to fund road construction projects and many other
provisions.
CC: The Honorable Manuel Diaz
The Honorable Angel Gonzalez
The Honorable Joe Sanchez
The Honorable Michelle Spence -Jones
The Honorable Marc Sarnoff
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