TITLE
RESOLUTION URGING THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE AND TAXATION & BUDGET REFORM COMMISSION TO PLACE ON THE STATEWIDE BALLOT A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT STRENGTHENING THE PROVISION OF THE FLORIDA CONSTITUTION PROHIBITING UNFUNDED MANDATES

BODY

WHEREAS, unfunded mandates arise when the Legislature passes legislation that imposes requirements or obligations on local governments without providing commensurate funding or a means by which local governments can raise funds necessary to pay for the requirements or obligations; and
WHEREAS, in 1990, Florida voters approved the unfunded mandates provision of the Florida Constitution, Article VII, Section 18; and
WHEREAS, the unfunded mandates provision provides that no county or city is bound to follow any law passed by the Legislature that requires the county or city to spend funds or to take an action requiring the expenditure of funds; and,
WHEREAS, the Legislature can override the unfunded mandates provision with a two-thirds vote and a finding that the legislation fulfills an important state interest; and
WHEREAS, there is also a long list of exceptions to which the unfunded mandates provision does not apply, including:
* Criminal laws;
* Election laws;
* The state�s general appropriations act;
* Special state appropriations acts;
* Laws reauthorizing but not expanding existing statutory authority;
* Laws having insignificant fiscal impact;
* Laws creating, modifying or repealing noncriminal infractions;
* Laws to require funding of pension benefits existing on February 1, 1989; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature in recent years has on a number of occasions overridden the unfunded mandates provision and/or passed unfunded mandates that are exceptions to the unfunded mandates provision, including:
* Requiring counties to pay the cost of predisposition juvenile detention costs, at a cost of approximately $11�million annually to Miami-Dade County taxpayers;

* Requiring counties to pay part of the cost of new voting equipment, which is estimated at approximately $6.5 million annually to Miami-Dade County taxpayers;

* Requiring counties to pay for the cost of the 11th through 45th days for Medicaid inpatient hospital patients, and $55 per person per month for Medicaid nursing home patients, at a cost of approximately $9.4 million annually to Miami-Dade County taxpayers;

* Requiring cities and counties to provide financial support for fiscally-constrained counties through satellite TV revenues diverted from cities and counties statewide to fiscally-constrained counties, at a cost of approximately $1.9 million annually to Miami-Dade County taxpayers;

* Requiring counties to pay for the cost of office space, security and computers and other office equipment for the Regional Conflict Counsel Offices for criminal defense conflict and appointed civil cases, at a cost of approximately $1.1 million annually to Miami-Dade County taxpayers; and


WHEREAS, when the Legislature passes legislation imposing unfunded mandates on local governments, the funding obligations imposed on taxpayers don�t disappear, they instead shift from sales taxes to increased property taxes; and
WHEREAS, strengthening the Unfunded Mandates Amendment in the Florida Constitution may provide further protection from increases in property taxes by providing additional barriers to the Legislature shifting the funding of government programs to local governments and in turn property taxes; and
WHEREAS, unfunded mandates are appealing to the Legislature because unfunded mandates allow the Legislature to balance the state�s budget and pass legislation creating new programs and benefits without the state incurring the cost of such legislation; and
WHEREAS, the allure of unfunded mandates to the Legislature increases when the state faces difficult budget challenges; and
WHEREAS, current fiscal projections estimate that the Legislature will have to reduce the state budget by as much as $2 billion for fiscal year 2008-09 compared with fiscal year 200910; and
WHEREAS, this reduction comes after cuts that have already been made to the state budget of approximately $2 billion over the last year; and
WHEREAS, a proposal has been filed for consideration by the Taxation & Budget Reform Commission that would place a question on the statewide ballot that would strengthen the unfunded mandates provision of the Florida Constitution, which is Constitutional Proposal 46 by Commissioner Mike Hogan, who is the Tax Collector for Jacksonville/Duval County,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board:
Section 1. Urges the Florida Legislature and Taxation & Budget Reform Commission to place on the statewide ballot a constitutional amendment strengthening the provision of the Florida Constitution prohibiting unfunded mandates.
Section 2. Directs the Clerk of the Board to transmit certified copies of the resolution to the Governor, Senate President, House Speaker, Chair and Members of the Miami-Dade State Legislative Delegation, and Chair and Members of the Taxation & Budget Reform Commission.
Section 3. Directs the County's state lobbyists to advocate for the issue identified in Section 1 above, and directs the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs to include this item in the 2008 state legislative package.