Resolution No. 04-03RESOLUTION NO: 04-03
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF ATLANTIC BEACH, FLORIDA,
URGING MEMBERS OF THE FLORIDA LEGISLATIVE TO
SUPPORT THE FOLLOWING MUNICIPAL ISSUES DURING
THE 2004 LEGISLATIVE SESSION
WHEREAS, legislation passed (HB 113A) 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 violations; 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
are 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 has 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
causes disruption in historical service delivery responsibilities and results in a continuous
conflict and inefficiencies iri the financing and delivery of many local public services.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, by the City of Atlantic Beach:
Section 1. That the City of Atlantic Beach 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 City of Atlantic Beach urges Governor Jeb Bush and members of the
Florida Legislature to support legislation that:
Allows municipalities to contract for the 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.
Provides a modification of the distribution formula for revenues
transferred from the Half-Cent Sales Tax Program to the
the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund for Municipalities.
Section 3. That the City of Atlantic Beach 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 copy of this resolution shall be provided to Governor Jeb Bush, Senate
President Jim King, House Speaker Johnnie Byrd and members of the Florida
Legislature.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City of Atlantic Beach, this ~,~D day of ~~-y
2004. a
as to form art$ correctness:
ity Attorney
ATTEST:
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MAUREEN KING, C
City Clerk _