Florida 2023 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1271 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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10	10	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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14	14	A bill to be entitled 1
15	15	An act relating to state acquisition of lands; 2
16	16	amending ss. 253.025 and 570.715, F.S.; requiring, 3
17	17	rather than authorizing, the Department of 4
18	18	Environmental Protection and the Department of 5
19	19	Agriculture and Consumer Services to disclose 6
20	20	appraisal reports to private landowners or their 7
21	21	representatives during acquisition negotiations; 8
22	22	requiring private landowners and their representatives 9
23	23	to maintain the confiden tiality of such reports or 10
24	24	information disclosed by the Department of Agriculture 11
25	25	and Consumer Services; requiring the final purchase 12
26	26	price in certain option contracts for state land 13
27	27	acquisitions and less than fee simple conservation 14
28	28	easement acquisitions to be the fair market value as 15
29	29	determined by the highest appraisal; removing 16
30	30	provisions subjecting the final purchase price in 17
31	31	certain contracts to approval by the Board of Trustees 18
32	32	of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund or the 19
33	33	Secretary of Environmental P rotection, as applicable; 20
34	34	conforming a provision to changes made by the act; 21
35	35	providing an effective date. 22
36	36	23
37	37	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 24
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47	47	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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51	51	Section 1. Subsection (8) of section 253.025, Florida 26
52	52	Statutes, is amended to read : 27
53	53	253.025 Acquisition of state lands. — 28
54	54	(8) Before approval by the board of trustees, or, when 29
55	55	applicable, the Department of Environmental Protection, of any 30
56	56	agreement to purchase land pursuant to this chapter, chapter 31
57	57	259, chapter 260, or chapter 375, and before negotiations with 32
58	58	the parcel owner to purchase any other land, title to which will 33
59	59	vest in the board of trustees, an appraisal of the parcel shall 34
60	60	be required as follows: 35
61	61	(a) The board of trustees shall adopt by rule the method 36
62	62	for determining the value of parcels sought to be acquired by 37
63	63	state agencies pursuant to this section. 38
64	64	(b) Each parcel to be acquired shall have at least one 39
65	65	appraisal. Two appraisals are required when the estimated value 40
66	66	of the parcel exceeds $1 million. However, if b oth appraisals 41
67	67	exceed $1 million and differ significantly, a third appraisal 42
68	68	may be obtained. If a parcel is estimated to be worth $100,000 43
69	69	or less and the director of the Division of State Lands finds 44
70	70	that the cost of an outside appraisal is not justified , a 45
71	71	comparable sales analysis, an appraisal prepared by the 46
72	72	division, or other reasonably prudent procedures may be used by 47
73	73	the division to estimate the value of the parcel, provided the 48
74	74	public's interest is reasonably protected. The state is not 49
75	75	required to appraise the value of lands and appurtenances that 50
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84	84	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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88	88	are being donated to the state. 51
89	89	(c) Appraisal fees and associated costs shall be paid by 52
90	90	the agency proposing the acquisition. All appraisals used for 53
91	91	the acquisition of lands pursuant to this section shall be 54
92	92	prepared by a state-certified appraiser. The board of trustees 55
93	93	shall adopt rules for selecting individuals to perform 56
94	94	appraisals pursuant to this section. Each fee appraiser selected 57
95	95	to appraise a particular parcel shall, before contracting with 58
96	96	the agency or a participant in a multiparty agreement, submit to 59
97	97	the agency an affidavit substantiating that he or she has no 60
98	98	vested or fiduciary interest in such parcel. 61
99	99	(d) The fee appraiser and the review appraiser for the 62
100	100	agency may not act in any ma nner that may be construed as 63
101	101	negotiating with the owner of a parcel proposed for acquisition. 64
102	102	(e) The board of trustees shall adopt by rule the minimum 65
103	103	criteria, techniques, and methods to be used in the preparation 66
104	104	of appraisal reports. Such rules shal l incorporate, to the 67
105	105	extent practicable, generally accepted appraisal standards. Any 68
106	106	appraisal issued for acquisition of lands pursuant to this 69
107	107	section must comply with the rules adopted by the board of 70
108	108	trustees. A certified survey must be made which meet s the 71
109	109	minimum requirements for upland parcels established in the 72
110	110	Standards of Practice for Land Surveying in Florida published by 73
111	111	the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and which 74
112	112	accurately portrays, to the greatest extent practicable, the 75
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121	121	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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125	125	condition of the parcel as it currently exists. The requirement 76
126	126	for a certified survey may, in part or in whole, be waived by 77
127	127	the board of trustees any time before submitting the agreement 78
128	128	for purchase to the Division of State Lands. When an existing 79
129	129	boundary map and description of a parcel are determined by the 80
130	130	division to be sufficient for appraisal purposes, the division 81
131	131	director may temporarily waive the requirement for a survey 82
132	132	until any time before conveyance of title to the parcel. 83
133	133	(f) Appraisal repor ts are confidential and exempt from s. 84
134	134	119.07(1), for use by the agency and the board of trustees , 85
135	135	until an option contract is executed or, if no option contract 86
136	136	is executed, until 2 weeks before a contract or agreement for 87
137	137	purchase is considered for appro val by the board of trustees. 88
138	138	The Department of Environmental Protection shall may disclose 89
139	139	appraisal reports to private landowners or their representatives 90
140	140	during negotiations for acquisitions using alternatives to fee 91
141	141	simple techniques, if the department determines that disclosure 92
142	142	of such reports will bring the proposed acquisition to closure . 93
143	143	However, the private landowner or their representative must 94
144	144	agree to maintain the confidentiality of the reports or 95
145	145	information. The department may also disclose ap praisal 96
146	146	information to public agencies or nonprofit organizations that 97
147	147	agree to maintain the confidentiality of the reports or 98
148	148	information when joint acquisition of property is contemplated, 99
149	149	or when a public agency or nonprofit organization enters into a 100
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158	158	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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162	162	written agreement with the department to purchase and hold 101
163	163	property for subsequent resale to the board of trustees. In 102
164	164	addition, the department may use, as its own, appraisals 103
165	165	obtained by a public agency or nonprofit organization, if the 104
166	166	appraiser is selected from the department's list of appraisers 105
167	167	and the appraisal is reviewed and approved by the department. 106
168	168	For purposes of this paragraph, the term "nonprofit 107
169	169	organization" means an organization that is exempt from federal 108
170	170	income tax under s. 501(c)(3) of t he Internal Revenue Code and, 109
171	171	for purposes of the acquisition of conservation lands, an 110
172	172	organization whose purpose must include the preservation of 111
173	173	natural resources. The agency may release an appraisal report 112
174	174	when the passage of time has rendered the conc lusions of value 113
175	175	in the report invalid or when the acquiring agency has 114
176	176	terminated negotiations. 115
177	177	(g) Before acceptance of an appraisal, the agency shall 116
178	178	submit a copy of such report to the division. The division shall 117
179	179	review such report for compliance wi th the rules of the board. 118
180	180	Any questions of applicability of laws affecting an appraisal 119
181	181	shall be addressed by the legal office of the agency. 120
182	182	(h) The appraisal report shall be accompanied by the sales 121
183	183	history of the parcel for at least the previous 5 ye ars. Such 122
184	184	sales history shall include all parties and considerations with 123
185	185	the amount of consideration verified, if possible. If a sales 124
186	186	history would not be useful, or it is cost prohibitive compared 125
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195	195	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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199	199	to the value of a parcel, the sales history may be waive d by the 126
200	200	board of trustees. The board of trustees shall adopt a rule 127
201	201	specifying guidelines for waiver of a sales history. 128
202	202	(i) The board of trustees may consider an appraisal 129
203	203	acquired by a seller, or any part thereof, in negotiating to 130
204	204	purchase a parcel, but such appraisal may not be used in lieu of 131
205	205	an appraisal required by this subsection or to determine the 132
206	206	maximum offer allowed by law. 133
207	207	(j)1. The board of trustees shall adopt by rule the method 134
208	208	for determining the value of parcels sought to be acquired by 135
209	209	state agencies pursuant to this section. An offer by a state 136
210	210	agency may not exceed the value for that parcel as determined 137
211	211	pursuant to the highest approved appraisal or the value 138
212	212	determined pursuant to the rules of the board of trustees, 139
213	213	whichever value is less. 140
214	214	2. For a joint acquisition by a state agency and a local 141
215	215	government or other entity apart from the state, the joint 142
216	216	purchase price may not exceed 150 percent of the value for a 143
217	217	parcel as determined in accordance with the limits in 144
218	218	subparagraph 1. The state agency share of a joint purchase offer 145
219	219	may not exceed what the agency may offer singly pursuant to 146
220	220	subparagraph 1. 147
221	221	3. This paragraph does not apply to the acquisition of 148
222	222	historically unique or significant property as determined by the 149
223	223	Division of Historical Resources of the Department of State. 150
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237	237	Notwithstanding this subsection, on behalf of the board of 152
238	238	trustees and before the appraisal of parcels approved for 153
239	239	purchase under this chapter or chapter 259, the Secretary of 154
240	240	Environmental Protect ion or the director of the Division of 155
241	241	State Lands may enter into option contracts to buy such parcels. 156
242	242	Except as otherwise authorized under this subsection, any such 157
243	243	option contract shall state that the final purchase price shall 158
244	244	be the fair market value as determined by the highest appraisal 159
245	245	and is subject to approval by the board of trustees or, if 160
246	246	applicable, the Secretary of Environmental Protection, and that 161
247	247	the final purchase price may not exceed the maximum offer 162
248	248	allowed by law. Any such option cont ract presented to the board 163
249	249	of trustees for final purchase price approval shall explicitly 164
250	250	state that payment of the final purchase price is subject to an 165
251	251	appropriation from the Legislature. The consideration for such 166
252	252	an option may not exceed $1,000 or 0.0 1 percent of the estimate 167
253	253	by the department of the value of the parcel, whichever amount 168
254	254	is greater. 169
255	255	Section 2. Paragraph (d) of subsection (1) and subsection 170
256	256	(5) of section 570.715, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 171
257	257	570.715 Conservation easemen t acquisition procedures. — 172
258	258	(1) For less than fee simple acquisitions pursuant to s. 173
259	259	570.71, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services 174
260	260	shall comply with the following acquisition procedures: 175
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273	273	(d) On behalf of the board of trustees and before th e 176
274	274	appraisal of parcels approved for purchase under ss. 177
275	275	259.105(3)(i) and 570.71, the department may enter into option 178
276	276	contracts to buy less than fee simple interest in such parcels. 179
277	277	Any such option contract shall state that the final purchase 180
278	278	price is subject to approval by the board of trustees and that 181
279	279	the final purchase price shall be the fair market value as 182
280	280	determined by the highest approved appraisal and may not exceed 183
281	281	the maximum offer authorized by law. Any such option contract 184
282	282	presented to the boar d of trustees for final purchase price 185
283	283	approval shall explicitly state that payment of the final 186
284	284	purchase price is subject to an appropriation by the 187
285	285	Legislature. The consideration for any such option contract may 188
286	286	not exceed $1,000 or 0.01 percent of the e stimate by the 189
287	287	department of the value of the parcel, whichever amount is 190
288	288	greater. 191
289	289	(5) Appraisal reports are confidential and exempt from s. 192
290	290	119.07(1), for use by the department and the board of trustees , 193
291	291	until an option contract is executed or, if an op tion contract 194
292	292	is not executed, until 2 weeks before a contract or agreement 195
293	293	for purchase is considered for approval by the board of 196
294	294	trustees. However, The department shall has the authority, at 197
295	295	its discretion, to disclose appraisal reports to private 198
296	296	landowners or their representatives during negotiations for 199
297	297	acquisitions. However, the private landowner or their 200
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306	306	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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310	310	representative must agree to maintain the confidentiality of the 201
311	311	reports or information using alternatives to fee simple 202
312	312	techniques, if the departm ent determines that disclosure of such 203
313	313	reports will bring the proposed acquisition to closure . The 204
314	314	department may also disclose appraisal information to public 205
315	315	agencies or nonprofit organizations that agree to maintain the 206
316	316	confidentiality of the reports or information when joint 207
317	317	acquisition of property is contemplated, or when a public agency 208
318	318	or nonprofit organization enters into a written multiparty 209
319	319	agreement with the department. For purposes of this subsection, 210
320	320	the term "nonprofit organization" means an o rganization whose 211
321	321	purposes include the preservation of natural resources, and 212
322	322	which is exempt from federal income tax under s. 501(c)(3) of 213
323	323	the Internal Revenue Code. The department may release an 214
324	324	appraisal report when the passage of time has rendered the 215
325	325	conclusions of value in the report invalid or when the 216
326	326	department has terminated negotiations. 217
327	327	Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 218