FL
Florida House Bill H1645

Florida 2023 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1645 Compare Versions

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1010 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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12- 1
12+A bill to be entitled 1
1313 An act relating to the City of Gainesville, Alachua 2
1414 County; amending chapter 12760, Laws of Florida 3
1515 (1927), as amended by chapter 90 -394, Laws of Florida, 4
1616 relating to the City's charter; repealing section 3.06 5
1717 of the charter, relating to the general manager for 6
1818 utilities of Gainesville Regional Utilities; creating 7
1919 the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority and 8
2020 establishing it as the governing board of Gain esville 9
2121 Regional Utilities; providing an effective date. 10
2222 11
2323 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 12
2424 13
2525 Section 1. Section 3.06 of Article III of section 1 of 14
2626 chapter 90-394, Laws of Florida, is repealed. 15
2727 Section 2. Article VII is added to chapter 12760, Laws of 16
2828 Florida (1927), as amended by chapter 90 -394, Laws of Florida, 17
2929 to read: 18
3030 ARTICLE VII 19
3131 GAINESVILLE REGIONAL UTILITIES AUTHORITY 20
3232 7.01 Establishment. — 21
3333 There is created a regional utilities authority to be known as 22
3434 the "Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority" ("Authority"). 23
3535 Gainesville Regional Utilities shall be governed by the 24
3636 Authority upon installation of the Authority's members pursuant 25
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4545 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
4646
4747 to this article. The Authority shall operate as a unit of city 26
4848 government and, except as otherwise provided in this article, 27
4949 shall be free from direction and control of the Gainesville City 28
5050 Commission. The Authority is created for the express purpose of 29
5151 managing, operating, controlling, and otherwise having broad 30
5252 authority with respect to t he utilities owned by the City of 31
5353 Gainesville. 32
5454 7.02 Definitions.— 33
5555 For the purposes of this article, unless otherwise designated, 34
5656 or the context otherwise requires, the following terms have the 35
5757 following meanings: 36
5858 (1) "Authority" means the Gainesville R egional Utilities 37
5959 Authority created in this article. 38
6060 (2) "City" means the City of Gainesville. 39
6161 (3) "City Commission" means the Gainesville City 40
6262 Commission. 41
6363 (4) "County" means Alachua County. 42
6464 (5) "Customer" means a person or an entity that makes 43
6565 application for and is supplied with service by GRU for its 44
6666 ultimate use. 45
6767 (6) "Flow of funds" means the sum of required debt 46
6868 service, necessary operations and management expenses, a 47
6969 reasonable contribution to a utility plan improvement fund, 48
7070 identified SLA-related losses, and any other lawful purpose as 49
7171 provided in bond covenants. 50
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8080 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
8181
8282 (7) "Government services contribution" or "GSC" means the 51
8383 portion of revenues generated from rates, fees, assessments, and 52
8484 charges for the provision of utility services by the utility 53
8585 system which is annually transferred by the Authority to the 54
8686 City for use in funding or financing its general government 55
8787 municipal functions. 56
8888 (8) "GRU" means Gainesville Regional Utilities. 57
8989 (9) "Member" means a member of the Authority. 58
9090 (10) "Net revenues" means the gross revenues less fuel 59
9191 revenues. 60
9292 (11) "Service-level agreement" or "SLA" means a contract 61
9393 entered into by the Authority that establishes a set of 62
9494 deliverables that one party has agreed to provide another. 63
9595 (12) "Utilities" mea ns the electric utility system, water 64
9696 utility system, wastewater utility system, reuse water utility 65
9797 system, natural gas utility system, communications utility 66
9898 system, and such other utility systems as may be acquired by GRU 67
9999 in the future. 68
100100 7.03 Powers and duties.- 69
101101 (1) The Authority shall have the following powers and 70
102102 duties, in addition to the powers and duties otherwise conferred 71
103103 by this article: 72
104104 (a) To manage, operate, and control the utilities, and to 73
105105 do all things necessary to effectuate an orderl y transition of 74
106106 the management, operation, and control of the utilities from the 75
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115115 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
116116
117117 City to the Authority, consistent with this article. 76
118118 (b) To establish and amend the rates, fees, assessments, 77
119119 charges, rules, regulations, and policies governing the sale an d 78
120120 use of services provided through the utilities. 79
121121 (c) To acquire real or personal property and to construct 80
122122 such projects as necessary to operate, maintain, enlarge, 81
123123 extend, preserve, and promote the utility systems in a manner 82
124124 that will ensure the econo mic, responsible, safe, and efficient 83
125125 provision of utility services, provided that title to all such 84
126126 property is vested in the City. 85
127127 (d) To exercise the power of eminent domain pursuant to 86
128128 chapter 166, Florida Statutes, and to use utility funds to 87
129129 appropriate or acquire property, excluding federal or state 88
130130 property, for the purpose of obtaining, constructing, and 89
131131 maintaining utility facilities, provided that title to all such 90
132132 property is vested in the City. 91
133133 (e) To authorize the issuance of revenue bonds and other 92
134134 evidences of indebtedness of the City, secured by the revenues 93
135135 and other pledged funds and accounts of the utility system, 94
136136 pursuant to Florida law. Upon resolution of the Authority 95
137137 establishing the authorized form, terms, and purpose of such 96
138138 bonds, for the purpose of financing or refinancing utility 97
139139 system projects, and to exercise all powers in connection with 98
140140 the authorization of the issuance, and sale of such bonds by the 99
141141 City as conferred upon municipalities by part II of chapter 166, 100
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150150 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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152152 Florida Statutes, other applicable state laws, and section 103 101
153153 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Such bonds may be 102
154154 validated in accordance with chapter 75, Florida Statutes. The 103
155155 Authority may not authorize the issuance of general obligation 104
156156 bonds. Such bonds and other forms of indebtedness of the City 105
157157 shall be executed and attested by the officers, employees, or 106
158158 agents of the City, including the chief executive 107
159159 officer/general manager (CEO/GM) or chief financial officer of 108
160160 the utility system, the Authority has so designated as agents of 109
161161 the City. The Authority may enter into hedging agreements or 110
162162 options for the purpose of moderating interest rates on existing 111
163163 and proposed indebtedness or price fluctuations of fuel or other 112
164164 commodities, including agreements for the future delivery 113
165165 thereof, or any combinations thereof. 114
166166 (f) To dispose of utility system assets only to the extent 115
167167 and under the conditions that the City Commission may dispose of 116
168168 such assets pursuant to section 5.04 of Article V. 117
169169 (g) To prepare and submit to the City Commission, at least 118
170170 3 months before the start of the City's fiscal year, an annual 119
171171 budget for all Authority and GRU operations, including the 120
172172 amount of any transfer to the City. The term of the budget shall 121
173173 coincide with the City's fis cal year. The amount of any transfer 122
174174 is subject to the limitations specified in section 7.11. 123
175175 (h) To appoint and remove a CEO/GM as provided in this 124
176176 article. 125
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185185 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
186186
187187 (i) To recommend, by resolution to the City Commission, 126
188188 the acquisition and operation of a uti lity system not owned or 127
189189 operated by GRU as of the date of transfer of governing 128
190190 authority to the Authority. 129
191191 7.04 Authority members. — 130
192192 (1) There shall be five members of the Authority appointed 131
193193 by the Governor. Each member shall be a person of recognize d 132
194194 ability and good business judgment as identified by the Governor 133
195195 who is expected to perform his or her official duties in the 134
196196 best interests of GRU and its customers. Appointments shall be 135
197197 made as follows: 136
198198 (a) One member shall be a residential customer with 137
199199 substantial knowledge of GRU, its operations, and its history. 138
200200 (b) One member shall be a private, nongovernment customer 139
201201 consuming at least 10,000 kilowatt hours per month of electric 140
202202 usage during each of the previous 12 months. This member may be 141
203203 the owner or representative of the customer. 142
204204 (c) Three members shall be competent and knowledgeable in 143
205205 one or more specific fields substantially related to the duties 144
206206 and functions of the Authority, including, but not limited to, 145
207207 law, economics, accounti ng, engineering, finance, or energy. 146
208208 (2) All members of the Authority shall: 147
209209 (a) Maintain primary residence within the electric service 148
210210 territory of GRU's electric utility system. 149
211211 (b) Receive GRU electric utility system service at all 150
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220220 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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222222 times during the term of appointment. 151
223223 (c) Not have been convicted of a felony as defined by 152
224224 general law. 153
225225 (d) Be a qualified elector of the City, except that a 154
226226 minimum of one member must be a resident of the unincorporated 155
227227 area of the county or a municipality in the county other than 156
228228 the City of Gainesville. 157
229229 (3) The composition of the Authority shall be adjusted 158
230230 upon expiration of any member's term, or upon any Authority 159
231231 vacancy, to reflect the ratio of total electric meters serving 160
232232 GRU electric customers outside the City's jurisdictional 161
233233 boundaries to total electric meters serving all GRU electric 162
234234 customers. For example, upon expiration of a member's term or 163
235235 upon an Authority vacancy, if the ratio of total electric meters 164
236236 serving customers outside the City boundar ies to total electric 165
237237 meters serving all electric customers reaches 40 percent, the 166
238238 Governor must appoint a second member from outside the City 167
239239 boundaries to serve the next term that would otherwise be served 168
240240 by a qualified elector of the City. Conversely, upon expiration 169
241241 of any member's term or upon any Authority vacancy, if the ratio 170
242242 subsequently falls below 40 percent, the Governor must appoint a 171
243243 qualified elector of the City to serve the next term that 172
244244 otherwise would have been served by a resident from outside the 173
245245 City boundaries. 174
246246 7.05 Member nominations and terms. — 175
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255255 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
256256
257257 (1) The Governor shall issue a public notice soliciting 176
258258 citizen nominations for Authority members within 120 days after 177
259259 the effective date of this article. The nomination solicitation 178
260260 period shall remain open for at least 30 days after the date of 179
261261 the public notice. 180
262262 (2) The Governor shall appoint initial members to the 181
263263 Authority from among the nominees within 60 days after the close 182
264264 of the nomination solicitation period. The initial ter ms of 183
265265 office for the five members shall commence at 12 a.m. on October 184
266266 1, 2023. The terms of the initial appointments shall be as 185
267267 follows: one member shall be designated to serve until 12 a.m. 186
268268 on October 1, 2024; one member shall be designated to serve 187
269269 until 12 a.m. on October 1, 2025; one member shall be designated 188
270270 to serve until 12 a.m. on October 1, 2026; and two members shall 189
271271 be designated to serve until 12 a.m. on October 1, 2027. 190
272272 (3) The Governor shall have a citizen nomination 191
273273 solicitation period f or at least 30 days and appoint members for 192
274274 subsequent terms from among the nominees. Members appointed for 193
275275 subsequent terms shall be appointed for 4 -year terms commencing 194
276276 at 12 a.m. on October 1 of the year in which they are appointed. 195
277277 If a member is appointed to complete an unexpired term, the 196
278278 member's term shall commence at the time of appointment and 197
279279 shall continue through the remainder of the unexpired term. 198
280280 (4) The Governor shall fill any vacancy for the unexpired 199
281281 portion of a term within 60 days af ter the vacancy occurs if the 200
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290290 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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292292 remainder of the term exceeds 90 days. 201
293293 7.06 Member compensation. —Beginning October 1, 2023, 202
294294 necessary expenses of members incurred in carrying out and 203
295295 conducting the business of the Authority shall be paid in 204
296296 accordance with Authority policy and procedures, subject to the 205
297297 approval of a majority of the members of the Authority. No 206
298298 supplemental benefits shall be provided for a member position. 207
299299 7.07 Authority; oath; organization; and meeting. — 208
300300 (1) The Authority shall initial ly meet at the chambers of 209
301301 the City Commission at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, October 4, 2023. 210
302302 (2) Before taking office for any term, each member shall 211
303303 be given an oath or affirmation by the Mayor or his or her 212
304304 designee similar to the oath or affirmation requir ed of a member 213
305305 of the City Commission. 214
306306 (3) The first official action of the Authority shall be 215
307307 election of a chairperson and a vice chairperson from among its 216
308308 membership. 217
309309 (4) The Authority shall meet at least once each month, 218
310310 except in case of unforese en circumstances. All meetings of the 219
311311 Authority shall be noticed and open to the public, and minutes 220
312312 shall be kept as required by law, except that meetings related 221
313313 to settlement of then existing litigation may be held as allowed 222
314314 by law. 223
315315 (5) The GRU general manager or his or her designee shall 224
316316 be responsible for making arrangements for and providing 225
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325325 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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327327 adequate notice for the initial meeting of the Authority. 226
328328 7.08 Removal and suspension of members. — 227
329329 (1) A member may be removed or suspended from office by 228
330330 the Governor in accordance with s. 112.501, Florida Statutes. In 229
331331 addition to the grounds for removal set forth therein, a member 230
332332 may be removed by the Governor for failure to maintain the 231
333333 qualifications specified in section 7.04. 232
334334 (2) The Authority may re commend to the Governor that a 233
335335 member be removed or suspended from office if it finds, by vote 234
336336 of at least three members, a reasonable basis for removal or 235
337337 suspension on one or more of the grounds set forth in s. 236
338338 112.501, Florida Statutes, or for failure t o maintain the 237
339339 qualifications specified in section 7.04. The Authority shall 238
340340 give reasonable notice of any proceeding in which such action is 239
341341 proposed and must provide the member against whom such action is 240
342342 proposed a written statement of the basis for the proposed 241
343343 action and an opportunity to be heard. The member against whom 242
344344 such action is proposed may not participate in the Authority's 243
345345 debate or vote on the matter. 244
346346 7.09 Management and personnel. — 245
347347 (1) A chief executive officer/general manager (CEO/GM) 246
348348 shall direct and administer all utility functions, subject to 247
349349 the rules and resolutions of the Authority. The CEO/GM shall 248
350350 serve at the pleasure of the Authority. Appointment or removal 249
351351 of the CEO/GM shall be by majority vote of the Authority. Until 250
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360360 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
361361
362362 such time as the Authority appoints a CEO/GM, the sitting 251
363363 general manager of GRU shall serve as the CEO/GM. A sitting 252
364364 member of the Authority may not be selected as the CEO/GM. 253
365365 (2) All officers and employees of the City who serve under 254
366366 the supervision and dir ection of the sitting general manager of 255
367367 GRU shall serve under the CEO/GM. The CEO/GM shall have the 256
368368 exclusive authority to hire, transfer, promote, discipline, or 257
369369 terminate employees under his or her supervision and direction. 258
370370 (3) The Authority shall fi x the salary of the CEO/GM, and 259
371371 the CEO/GM shall fix the salaries of all other employees who 260
372372 serve under his or her direction consistent with the annual 261
373373 budget approved by the Authority. The sitting general manager of 262
374374 GRU, as well as all officers and emplo yees of the City who, by 263
375375 virtue of this article, become subject to the supervision and 264
376376 direction of the CEO/GM, shall continue without any loss of 265
377377 rights or benefits as employees under the pension plans and 266
378378 civil service merit system of the City existing a s of the 267
379379 creation of the Authority. 268
380380 7.10 General provisions. — 269
381381 (1) The City and the Authority shall perform all acts 270
382382 necessary and proper to effectuate an orderly transition of the 271
383383 governance, operation, management, and control of all utility 272
384384 systems, properties, and assets held in the possession of GRU as 273
385385 of January 1, 2023, to the Authority, including, but not limited 274
386386 to, the creation of such instruments as are necessary for the 275
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395395 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
396396
397397 Authority to function in accordance with this article. 276
398398 Notwithstanding the reorganization of the governance structure 277
399399 of the management of the utility system as provided in this 278
400400 section, the utility system shall continue to be operated as a 279
401401 single enterprise and there shall be no change to the ownership 280
402402 of the utility system. 281
403403 (2) All City ordinances, policies, rates, fees, 282
404404 assessments, charges, rules, regulations, and budgets related to 283
405405 operation of the utilities shall remain in effect until such 284
406406 time as the Authority, pursuant to the powers granted in this 285
407407 article, modifies an y such item. In the event that any City 286
408408 charter provision, ordinance, resolution, decree, or any part 287
409409 thereof conflicts with the provisions of this article, the 288
410410 provisions of this article shall govern. This subsection is not 289
411411 intended to and shall not inter fere with existing contractual 290
412412 arrangements between the City and county, regardless of whether 291
413413 such arrangements are reflected in charter provisions, 292
414414 ordinances, resolutions, decrees, or any part thereof. 293
415415 (3) All rights, responsibilities, claims, and act ions 294
416416 involving GRU as of the transfer to the Authority shall 295
417417 continue, except as may be modified by the Authority under the 296
418418 powers granted by this article and consistent with law. 297
419419 (4) No franchise, right -of-way, license, permit or usage 298
420420 fee or tax may be levied by the City upon the Authority or the 299
421421 utilities unless allowed by general law. 300
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430430 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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432432 (5) Any utility advisory board created by the City 301
433433 Commission shall have no role with respect to the Authority. 302
434434 (6) No member of the Authority shall be individually 303
435435 responsible for Authority debts or liabilities. 304
436436 (7) The Authority shall develop an ethics policy and a 305
437437 code of business conduct that shall be reviewed at least 306
438438 biennially. 307
439439 (8) In order to provide for the transitional 308
440440 administrative needs and orderly compliance with the provisions 309
441441 of this act, the chairperson of the Authority or his or her 310
442442 designee is authorized to execute documents required for the 311
443443 transition. 312
444444 7.11 Limitation on government services contribution. — 313
445445 (1) MAXIMUM CAP ON GSC. —For any fiscal year, the GSC may 314
446446 not exceed aggregate utility system net revenues less flow of 315
447447 funds. 316
448448 (2) DEBT SERVICE AND AVOIDANCE. —Any remaining funds, after 317
449449 deductions for flow of funds and GSC, shall be dedicated to 318
450450 additional debt service or utilized as equi ty in future capital 319
451451 projects. 320
452452 7.12 Limitation on utility directives. -The Authority and 321
453453 the CEO/GM, in making all policy and operational decisions over 322
454454 the affairs of the utility system as contemplated under the 323
455455 provisions of this act, shall consider onl y pecuniary factors 324
456456 and utility industry best practices standards, which do not 325
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465465 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
466466
467467 include consideration of the furtherance of social, political, 326
468468 or ideological interests. Appropriate pecuniary factors and 327
469469 utility industry best practices are those which solel y further 328
470470 the fiscal and financial benefit of the utility system and 329
471471 customers. This provision does not prohibit the establishment 330
472472 and application of rate structures based on utility usage. 331
473473 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 332