2004-008 Urges FL Legislature to Support Certain Municipal IssuesRESOLUTION 08-2004
A RESOLUTION OF THE VILLAGE COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE OF NORTH PALM
BEACH, FLORIDA, URGING MEMBERS OF THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE TO
SUPPORT THE FOLLOWING MUNICIPAL ISSUES DURING THE 2004 LEGISLATIVE
SESSION; AND, PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, legislation passed (HB I I3A) during the 2003 Special Session "A" that is the
implementation of Article V, a 1998 constitutional amendment, that requires the state to fund the
county court system; and
WHEREAS, HB 113A prohibits state attorneys from appearing in county courts for the purpose
of prosecuting municipal ordinances; and
WHEREAS, the bill also prohibits a municipality from contracting with a state attorney for the
prosecution of municipal ordinances, and public defenders will not be allowed to represent
indigents charged with ordinance vio]ations; and
WHEREAS, HB 113A requires a filing fee of $200 for each code or ordinance violation; and
WHEREAS, several cities enforce code enforcement through a citation process, which is filed
through the county court system; and
WHEREAS, many of the fines for these citations are less than half of the proposed $200 filing
fee, which would make the citation process ineffective for code enforcement activities; and
WHEREAS, the intent of the Municipal Revenue Sharing hold harmless provision in HB 113A
was intended to not reduce any revenues currently shared with municipalities; and
WHEREAS, clean drinking water is a precious resource that must be adequately planned for to
meet the needs of future growth in Florida; and
WHEREAS, cities are implementing several innovative methods to assure an adequate supply of
drinking water is available for its citizens and
WHEREAS, efforts were made during the 2003 legislative session to mandate that cities
establish water conservation rate structures, impose drought rates, require submetering in
apartment buildings or condos, mandate statewide irrigation standards, implement "informative
billing," and meter reclaimed water; and
WHEREAS, municipalities would be negatively impacted by legislation mandating conservation
measures on a "one size fits all" approach, and many of the conservation measures being
considered had no demonstrable conservation benefit but will be very expensive to implement; and
WHEREAS, the geographic emphasis and restrictive nature of Florida's current annexation
policy have negatively impacted Florida's municipalities by inhibiting their economic vitality,
creating inefficient service delivery and subsidizing urban sprawl; and
WHEREAS, the current law has actually made it more difficult for municipalities to provide
municipal services in the urbanizing areas in comparison to counties and special districts; and
WHEREAS, Florida's tremendous population growth and inflexible annexation policies cause
disruption in historical service delivery responsibilities and result in a continuous conflict and
inefficiencies in the financing and delivery of many local public services.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE VILLAGE COUNCIL OF NORTH PALM BEACH, FLORIDA:
Section 1. That the Village Council of the Village of North Palm Beach, Florida. urges
Governor Jeb Bush and members of the Florida Legislature to support legislation that preserves
the authority of individual local governments to determine and implement the specific water
conservation measures required under a water use permit, and which preserves a local
government's control over reclaimed water that is created by the local government.
Section 2. That the Village Council of the Village of North Palm Beach Florida, urges
Governor .1eb Bush and members of the Florida Legislature to support legislation that allows
municipalities to contract for services of public defenders and state attorneys to enforce local
ordinances and eliminates the fee schedules for the enforcement of municipal code or ordinance
violations; and provides a modification of the distribution formula for revenues transferred from
..._ the Half-Cent Sales Tax Program to the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund for Municipalities, so that
no cities receive less than what they received prior to last year's legislation.
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Section 3. That the Village Council of the Village of North Palm Beach Florida, urges
Governor Jeb Bush and members of the Florida Legislature to support legislation that
strengthens the ability of municipalities to eliminate all enclaves regardless of size or use and
provides reasonable procedures to expeditiously annex areas that are contiguous to their
boundaries.
Section 4. That a copy of this resolution shall be provided to Governor Jeb Bush, Senate
President Jim King, House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation,
the Florida League of Cities, and such other persons and entities as the Mayor may direct.
Section 5. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption.
PASSED AND ADOPTED THIS 22nd DAY OF
(Village Seal)
ATTEST: ~t ~~~.?~~ -. ~9. ! _~• ,~'_ ~r~~ - ~~
VILLAGE CLERK ,~,~
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