HB 1487 2024
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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
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to Pinellas Suncoast Transit 2
Authority, Pinellas County; amending chapter 2000 -424, 3
Laws of Florida, as amended; revising the definition 4
of the term "public transit"; revising membership of 5
the governing body of the authority; revising powers 6
of the authority; establishing requirements for 7
advertising placed on authority property; providing 8
for best budget practices; establishing procedures for 9
lane elimination; prohibiting certain offices, boards, 10
employees, or other actors whose purpose is to 11
eliminate or reallocate public lanes; requiring 12
semiannual reporting of certain provisions to the 13
Pinellas Board of County Commissioners; specifying 14
severability; providing an effective date. 15
16
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 17
18
Section 1. Subsection (6) of section 2, paragraph (a) of 19
subsection (2) of section 3, and section 4 of section 2 of 20
chapter 2000-424, Laws of Florida, a s amended by chapters 2002 -21
341 and 2006-327, Laws of Florida, are amended, and sections 14 22
through 18 are added to section 2 of that chapter, to read: 23
Section 2. Definitions. —As used in this act, unless the 24
content clearly indicates otherwise, the foll owing terms shall 25
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have the meanings set forth below: 26
(6) "Public transit" means transportation of passengers 27
for hire by means, without limitation, of a street railway, 28
elevated railway, subway, motor vehicle, bus, or other means of 29
conveyance operating as a common carrier within the public 30
transit area as provided, and charter service originating 31
therein. 32
Section 3. Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority; status and 33
governing body.— 34
(2)(a) The governing body of the authority shall consist 35
of 11 15 members, serving and selected as provided in this 36
paragraph. 37
1. Four members shall be appointed by the Pinellas County 38
Board of County Commissioners from their membership. This 39
appointee shall be an elected official. 40
2. One member shall be appointed by th e City Council of 41
the City of St. Petersburg from their membership. This appointee 42
shall be an elected official. 43
3. One member shall be appointed by the City Council of 44
the City of Clearwater from their membership. This appointee 45
shall be an elected offi cial. 46
4. One member shall be appointed by the combined municipal 47
governing bodies of Tarpon Springs, Safety Harbor, Oldsmar, 48
Dunedin, Belleair, Belleair Beach, and Belleair Bluffs. This 49
appointee shall be an elected official. The order of rotation 50
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shall be determined by population size in descending order. 51
5. One member shall be appointed by the combined municipal 52
governing bodies of Largo, Seminole, South Pasadena, Gulfport, 53
Kenneth City, and Pinellas Park. This appointee shall be an 54
elected official. The order of rotation shall be determined by 55
population size in descending order. 56
6. One member shall be appointed by the combined municipal 57
governing bodies of Belleair Shore, Indian Rocks Beach, Indian 58
Shores, North Redington Beach, Redington Beach, Re dington 59
Shores, Madeira Beach, Treasure Island, and St. Pete Beach. This 60
appointee shall be an elected official. The order of rotation 61
shall be determined by population size in descending order. 62
7. One member shall be appointed by the Senate President 63
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives from the 64
combined municipal governing bodies of Tarpon Springs, Safety 65
Harbor, Oldsmar, Dunedin, Belleair, Belleair Beach, and Belleair 66
Bluffs. This appointee shall be a citizen appointee. This 67
appointment shall rotate between municipalities. 68
8. One member shall be appointed by the Senate President 69
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives from the 70
combined municipal governing bodies of Largo, Seminole, South 71
Pasadena, Gulfport, Kenneth City, and Pinellas Park. This 72
appointee shall be a citizen appointee. This appointment shall 73
rotate between municipalities. 74
1. One member shall be appointed by the City Council of 75
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the City of Clearwater from its membership. 76
2. One member shall be appointed by th e City Commission of 77
the City of Dunedin from its membership. 78
3. One member shall be appointed by the City Commission of 79
the City of Largo from its membership. 80
4. One member shall be appointed by the City Council of 81
the City of Pinellas Park from its m embership. 82
5. Two members shall be appointed by the City Council of 83
the City of St. Petersburg from its membership. 84
6. One member shall be appointed by the combined municipal 85
governing bodies of the Cities of Oldsmar, Safety Harbor, and 86
Tarpon Springs from their membership. 87
7. One member shall be appointed by the combined municipal 88
governing bodies of the Cities of Belleair, Belleair Bluffs, 89
Gulfport, Kenneth City, Seminole, and South Pasadena from their 90
membership. 91
8. One member shall be appointed by the combined municipal 92
governing bodies of the Cities of Belleair Beach, Belleair 93
Shores, Indian Rocks Beach, Indian Shores, Madeira Beach, North 94
Redington Beach, Redington Beach, Redington Shores, St. Pete 95
Beach, and Treasure Island from their membersh ip. 96
9. Four members shall be appointed by the Pinellas County 97
Commission from its membership. 98
10. One member shall be appointed by the Pinellas County 99
Commission, and this member may not be an elected official. 100
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11. One member shall be appointed by th e City Council of 101
the City of St. Petersburg, and this member may not be an 102
elected official. 103
Section 4. Purposes and powers. — 104
(1) The authority created and established by the 105
provisions of this act is hereby granted and shall have the 106
right and power to purchase, own, and/or operate transit 107
facilities;, to contract for transit services ;, to exercise 108
power of eminent domain if approved by a two -thirds vote of the 109
Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority Board in a public meeting 110
with a 30-day public notice and shall be reported to the 111
Pinellas Board of County Commissioners semiannually in public 112
meetings with a 30-day public notice;, to conduct studies;, and 113
to contract with other governmental agencies, private companies, 114
and individuals. 115
(2) The authority is hereby granted, and shall have and 116
may exercise all powers necessary, appurtenant, convenient, or 117
incidental to the carrying out of the aforesaid purposes, 118
including, but not limited to, the following rights and powers: 119
(a) To sue and be sued, imple ad and be impleaded, and 120
complain and defend in all courts. 121
(b) To adopt, use, and alter at will a corporate seal. 122
(c) To acquire, purchase, hold, lease as a lessee, and use 123
any franchise, property, real, personal, or mixed, tangible or 124
intangible, or any interest therein, necessary or desirable for 125
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carrying out the purposes of the authority, and to sell, lease 126
as lessor, transfer, and dispose of any property or interest 127
therein at any time acquired by it. Any sale, lease, or transfer 128
of any property or interest shall be upon competitive bid except 129
that the authority may sell, lease, or transfer any real 130
property or interest therein to another governmental entity 131
without competitive bid and may sell, lease, or transfer surplus 132
personal property, tangible or intangible, in accordance with 133
chapter 274, Florida Statutes. 134
(d) To fix, alter, charge, and establish rates, fares, and 135
other charges for the services and facilities of the Pinellas 136
Suncoast Transit System, which rates, fees, and charges shall be 137
equitable and just and sufficient to meet the operating 138
requirements of the system along with other revenue that may be 139
available. 140
(e) To regulate other operators of public transit in the 141
Pinellas Suncoast Transit Area as to franchises, permits, fares, 142
and other charges to establish rules and regulations pertaining 143
to these matters for distribution to the operators and public 144
transit facilities in said area. 145
(e)(f) To make contracts of every name and nature and to 146
execute all instruments necessary or con venient for the carrying 147
on of its business. 148
(f)(g) To enter into management contracts with any person 149
or persons for the management of a transit system owned or 150
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controlled by the authority for such period or periods of time, 151
and under such compensation and other terms and conditions as 152
shall be deemed advisable by the authority. 153
(g)(h) Without limitation, to borrow money and accept 154
gifts or grants or loans of money or other property and to enter 155
into contracts, leases, or other transactions with any fe deral 156
agency, the state, any agency of the state, the County of 157
Pinellas, or with any other public body of the state. 158
(h)(i) To do all acts and things necessary or convenient 159
for the conduct of its business and the general welfare of the 160
authority in order to carry out the powers granted to it by this 161
part or any other law. 162
(i)(j) To prescribe and promulgate rules and regulations 163
as it deems necessary for the purposes of this act. 164
Section 14. Window coverings and advertisements. — 165
(1) Any new window covering or advertisement must adhere 166
to requirements provided in section 316.2954, Florida Statutes. 167
(2) The authority shall not engage in any non -paid 168
advertising, promotion, or messaging on their assets; however, 169
this subsection does not apply to any acknowledgement of 170
veterans as defined in section 1.01, Florida Statutes, or any 171
acknowledgement of a holiday listed in section 110.117, Florida 172
Statutes. 173
Section 15. Best budget practices. —The authority must 174
abide by the best budgetary guidelin es as outlined by, but not 175
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limited to, the Florida Government Finance Officers Association 176
and the Government Finance Officers Association. 177
Section 16. Lane elimination, lane repurposing, lane diet, 178
or bus lane allocation requests, recommendations, or 179
applications.— 180
(1) Any lane elimination, lane repurposing, lane diet, or 181
bus lane allocation request, recommendation, or application 182
relating to a public transit project must be approved by a two -183
thirds vote of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority Boa rd in 184
a public meeting with a 30 -day public notice and then presented 185
to the Pinellas Board of County Commissioners prior to a final 186
two-thirds vote of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority. 187
(2) The authority shall not have a lane elimination, lane 188
repurposing, lane diet, or bus lane allocation office, board, 189
employee, or any other actor whose purpose is to eliminate, 190
reallocate, or repurpose public lanes for the usage of the 191
authority. 192
(3) This section does not apply to any local or 193
municipally owned roadway. 194
(4) This section shall include any new service of any 195
design or name that would include plans for lane elimination, 196
lane repurposing, lane diet, or bus lane allocation calling for 197
the loss of an existing lane of a vehicular roadway to bus only 198
use or Business Access and Transit (BAT) lanes. 199
Section 17. Semiannual reporting. — 200
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(1) The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority shall 201
semiannually report the following to the Pinellas Board of 202
County Commissioners: 203
(a) Any gifts accepted in exchange for contracts. 204
(b) Any contract over $500,000. 205
(c) Any sale, lease, or transfer of any property or 206
interest over $500,000. 207
(d) Ridership performance and metrics. 208
(2) The Pinellas Board of County Commissioners may call 209
for in-person presentations o f these reports at a minimum of 210
once a year. 211
Section 18. Severability clause. — 212
(1) This act is not intended, nor may it be construed, to 213
conflict with existing, relevant state or federal law. 214
(2) If any provision of this act or its application to a ny 215
person or circumstances is held invalid, the invalidity does not 216
affect other provisions or applications of this act which can be 217
given effect without the invalid provision or application, and 218
to this end the provisions of this act are severable. 219
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 220