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