62-815.0031. General Requirements and Eligibility Standards

The following constitutes the general procedures for the Preservation 2000 Program of the Florida Communities Trust.

(1) Meetings of the Trust. The fiscal year of the Trust is July 1-June 30. The Trust governing body will hold public meetings at least quarterly during each fiscal year. All meetings of the Trust shall be conducted consistent with Section 380.504 and .505, F.S.

(2) Local Comprehensive Plans. All awards of Preservation 2000 funds shall be for the purpose of assisting a local government to implement or bring into compliance its local comprehensive plan by furthering the conservation, recreation and open space, or coastal management elements of local comprehensive plans through land acquisition for natural resource conservation and outdoor recreation.

(3) Application Form. Application Form FCT/P2000-4 (eff. 2-9-98) is prescribed for use with these rules and is incorporated by reference. Applications for funding must be submitted on Application Form FCT/P2000-4 (eff. 2-9-98). Whenever possible, the Trust will also provide the application form in an electronic format. A copy or instructions for receiving the Application Form in an electronic format may be obtained by writing to the Program Manager, Florida Communities Trust, 3900 Commonwealth Boulevard, Tallahassee, FL 32399-3000, or by calling [phone]. As a part of the application process the Trust will request supplementary information from applicants to be used in identifying future needs and collecting information about applicants.

(4) Distribution of Awards. Preservation 2000 funds are distributed as awards for the benefit of applicants after a competitive evaluation of timely submitted complete applications. Preservation 2000 funds shall be limited to use for the land acquisition project costs set forth in complete applications submitted for awards.

(5) Eligible Applicants. All local governments are eligible to submit applications for funding by the Trust. Prior to receiving project plan approval, as described in subsection 62-815.011(2), F.A.C., the local comprehensive plan of an applicant, and the applicant’s partner(s) if any, must either be:

(a) Found in compliance as defined in subsection 62-815.002(18), F.A.C.,

(b) The local government(s) must have executed a compliance agreement(s) with the Department to resolve all of the issues raised by the Department in a statement of intent to find a plan not in compliance issued pursuant to Section 163.3184(8), F.S., or

(c) In the case of a newly established municipality pursuant to Section 163.3167(4), Florida Statutes, the county comprehensive plan shall be deemed controlling and must achieve provision (a) or (b) above, or the municipality must have adopted a comprehensive plan pursuant to Section 163.3167(4), F.S., and be in compliance with either the above (a) or (b).

(6) Program Amount Allocation.

(a) Section 259.101(3)(c), F.S., requires that at least one half of the Preservation 2000 funds available to the Department for use by the Trust shall be matched by local governments on a dollar-for-dollar basis. All applicants shall provide some level of local match toward the project costs, except small local governments that are further described in paragraph 62-815.0031(6)(b), F.A.C.

(b) The Trust shall award a portion of the Preservation 2000 funds for awards, for which no local match is required, for the benefit of small local governments, as follows; county governments with populations of 75,000 or fewer and municipal governments with a population of 10,000 or fewer.

(7) Notice of Application Period. The Trust shall announce the amount of Preservation 2000 bond funds available for awards, the limitation on award amounts, and applicable deadlines in the Notice of Application Period published in the Florida Administrative Weekly. The amounts published shall be subject to the amount of funds on deposit in the Trust Preservation 2000 Trust Fund on the date of preparation of the Notice of Application Period.

(8) Limitation of Awards. The amount of any award or combination of awards to an applicant for a project or projects given conceptual approval by the Trust governing body shall not exceed ten percent of the total Preservation 2000 funds as advertised available for awards in the Notice of Application Period announcing the cycle, except awards to partnership applicants. Awards for partnership applications, pursuant to subsection (12) below, shall not exceed twenty percent of the total Preservation 2000 funds as advertised available for awards in the Notice of Application Period announcing the cycle, provided that the partners in the application individually do not exceed the ten percent limit described in this paragraph.

(9) Eligible Sources of Local Match. For any part or all of any local match, applicants may use funds generated by a local government, state or federal grants or loans, private cash donations, the commitment in advance of negotiations of the value of a bargain sale or donation of all or part of the purchase price of the Project Site by the landowner, or a loan from the Trust. Applicants may not use funds from the Preservation 2000 Trust Fund pursuant to Section 259.101(3), F.S., for any part of any local match for an award except a loan from the Trust as described in (10). Real property owned by the applicant or donated by a party other than the applicant may be an eligible source for a local match, provided that any real property owned by the applicant has been acquired, by the applicant through a voluntarily-negotiated transaction, within one year prior to the application deadline or within 180 days after the application deadline for which the application is made. Further, any real property utilized by a local government as a local match must be included in the application, will be considered part of the Project Site and therefore will be subject to the same grant conditions that will be placed on the remainder of the project site.

(10) Loans.

(a) The Trust shall consider the award of loans to applicants with a demonstrated ability to repay a loan in a timely manner upon the applicant’s request in an application for funding submitted pursuant to the requirements of this rule chapter. The Trust shall establish repayment terms within a loan agreement that are in conformance with the bond resolution from which the funds derive.

(b) Funds received by the Trust as repayment of loans shall be deposited into the Trust’s Preservation 2000 trust fund of the bond issue out of which those funds were originally awarded and shall be available for awards during the next funding period.

(c) The Trust shall require repayment of loans, with a rate of interest not to exceed 1.5 percent over the bond yield of the Preservation 2000 bond issue that is the source of the loan.

(d) A loan to a local government for land acquisition described in this section shall not be included in the limitation of awards to that local government described in subsection 62-815.0031(8), F.A.C.

(11) Ancillary Improvements Projects. In cases where an applicant specifically proposes an acquisition of a project site that is necessary to provide enhanced public access to or use of property already owned by the applicant, the evaluation of the application shall recognize the outdoor recreational opportunities that shall be made available at the existing property by the acquisition of the ancillary project site. The outdoor recreational criterion applicable to the existing site shall be included in the evaluation of the proposed project site.

(12) Partnership Applications Involving One or More Local Governments.

(a) To be considered for a partnership application, the following information must be submitted as part of the application in addition to those items identified in subsection 62-815.004(5), F.A.C.:

1. A statement from the applicant describing the division of responsibilities among the partners, including fiscal and management commitments and purposes and objectives of the proposed joint project;

2. Any interlocal agreements relative to the proposed joint project;

3. Relevant sections of the applicant’s and the partner’s local comprehensive plan discussing intergovernmental coordination efforts furthered by the proposed joint project.

(b) The local comprehensive plan of the jurisdiction(s) within which the proposed joint project is located will be evaluated pursuant to subsection 62-815.008(1), F.A.C.

(c) Any awards for partnership applications shall, for purposes of calculation of award limitations, be divided equally among all the partners in the partnership and shall be counted towards the limitation of awards to individual partners pursuant to subsection 62-815.0031(8), F.A.C.

Rulemaking Authority 380.507(11) FS. Law Implemented 120.55(1)(a)4., 259.101, 259.101(3)(c), 375.045, 380.505, 380.508, 380.510 FS. History– New 11-1-92, Amended 9-19-94, 2-9-98, Formerly 9K-4.0031.