The purpose of this amendment is to establish in rule the most recent application forms and grant administrative criteria.

 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Division of Cultural Affairs

RULE NO: RULE TITLE
1T-1.001: Division of Cultural Affairs
PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The purpose of this amendment is to establish in rule the most recent application forms and grant administrative criteria.
SUMMARY: The proposed rule incorporates by reference the Division’s Regional Cultural Facilities Program application form and details grant administration criteria.
SUMMARY OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS: No Statement of Estimated Regulatory Cost was prepared.
Any person who wishes to provide information regarding a statement of estimated regulatory costs, or provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.
SPECIFIC AUTHORITY: 265.284(5)(d) FS. 265.286(1) FS. 265.2861(2)(b) FS. 265.702(8) FS.
LAW IMPLEMENTED: 215.97 FS. 265.284 FS. 265.286 FS. 265.2861 FS. 265.702 FS. 286.011 FS. 286.012 FS. 286.25 FS.
IF REQUESTED WITHIN 21 DAYS OF THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE, A HEARING WILL BE HELD AT THE TIME, DATE AND PLACE SHOWN BELOW:
TIME AND DATE: 9:00 a.m., May 1, 2006.
PLACE: Division of Cultural Affairs, Room 307, R. A. Gray Building, 3rd Floor, 500 South Bronough Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0250.
Should any person wish to appeal any decision made with respect to any matter considered at the above-required meeting, he/she may need to ensure verbatim recording of the proceeding in order to provide a record for judicial review. Pursuant to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, any person requiring special accommodations to participate in this workshop/meeting is asked to advise the agency at least 48 hours before the workshop/meeting by contacting: Morgan Barr, ADA Coordinator for the Division of Cultural Affairs at [phone], by Fax [phone], or by email at [e-mail]. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact the agency using the Florida Relay Service, 1(800)955-8771 (TDD) or 1(800)955-8770 (Voice).
THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Sandy Shaughnessy, R. A. Gray Building, 3rd Floor, 500 South Bronough Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0250.

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:

1T-1.001 Division of Cultural Affairs.

(1) through (19) No change.

(20) Regional Cultural Facilities Program. The purpose of this program is to accept and administer funds to provide grants for the renovation, construction, or acquisition of regional cultural facilities. It is not intended to fund project planning, such as feasibility studies and architectural drawings, or operational support.

(a) Administrative and Legal Eligibility. The applicant for a regional cultural facilities grant must:

1. Be a municipality, county, or qualified corporation as defined in Section 265.702(2), Florida Statutes.

2. Own an interest in the land upon which the regional cultural facility is to be built. Any entity that owns an interest in the land upon which the regional cultural facility is to be built must also meet the requirements in subsection 1.

3. Retain ownership of all improvements made under the grant.

4. Have satisfied the administrative requirements of previous grants received from the Division.

(b) Program Eligibility. All eligible applications shall consist of the following documents and information:

1. Until directed to submit electronically on the Division’s website, applicants must submit in hard copy, aA completed and signed Regional Cultural Facilities Program Application Form (#CA2E101, eff. 5/06 10/03), available from the Division and incorporated by reference, including the number of required application copies, submitted to the Division on or before the announced postmark deadline.

2. A description of the Project Scope of Work which shall include a project narrative.

3. Project Budgets including a summary and detail, a matching funds statement, and match summary chart.

4. A description of educational and cultural programs as required by Section 265.702(5)(a) and (5)(b), Florida Statutes.

5. Documentation of a 150-mile service area as described in Section 265.702(5)(c), Florida Statutes.

6. Documentation of a proposed acquisition, renovation, or construction cost of at least $50 million.

7. Documentation that the applicant owns an interest in the land upon which the regional cultural facility is to be built.

8. An independent certified audit of the applicant’s financial records. The publication date of the audit shall not be later than the date of the application for which the audit is submitted.

9. Cost Benefit Analysis/Feasibility Study.

10. An 8 1/2” x 11” reduction of current architectural plans.

11. Letters of Support: Submit letters or list of local officials lending support to this project.

(c) Funding

1. The annual amount of the grant shall not exceed the amount permitted in Section 265.702(7), Florida Statutes. There is no minimum amount.

2. An applicant from the same organization shall not submit 2 or more applications under a single application deadline for the same facility, project, site, or phase.

3. An organization shall not submit a funding request to both the Cultural Facilities Program and the Regional Cultural Facilities Program for the same project, facility, site, or phase in the same fiscal year.

(d) Time Limits and Funding Cap. The total amount of grants awarded shall not exceed the amount permitted in Section 265.702(7), Florida Statutes. “Awarded” means July 1 of the fiscal year in which grant funds were appropriated by the Florida Legislature.

(e) Matching Funds.

1. Eligible matching funds provided by the grantee or third parties shall be on at least a two-to-one match of the amount requested, except for eligible Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) applicants.

2. Eligible matching funds provided by eligible REDI applicants shall be at least a one-to-one match of the amount requested.

3. At least 50% of the required match must be in cash. For the purposes of this program, cash shall include cash-on-hand, and cash expenditures made on the project during the three years immediately preceding the award of the grant.

4. At least 50% of the cash match must be cash-on-hand and dedicated to the project.

5. In-kind contributions of goods and services shall be subject to the restrictions of Section 265.702(6), Florida Statutes.

6. Municipalities and counties must submit a copy of the approved resolution or minutes from the commission meeting, with the original application, which includes the dollar amount dedicated and available to the project if the grant is awarded and the date the funds will be available. Resolutions that have not been approved by the application deadline cannot be used as match documentation. Local funding, as indicated by the resolution, must be made available within 90 days of state award notification.

(f) Application Review Committee.

1. The application review committee shall review each eligible application based on the following criteria: Scope of Work, up to 20 points; Project Budget and Matching Funds, up to 25 points; Educational and Cultural Programs, up to 30 points; and Service Area, up to 25 points.

2. All applications that receive an average score of at least 75 out of 100 possible points will be recommended for funding.

3. The committee shall develop a priority list based on the average score for each application.

4. The committee shall submit the priority list to the Florida Arts Council for review and recommendation.

5. The Florida Arts Council shall review the recommendations and submit a priority list of all projects that are recommended for funding to the Secretary of State.

(g) The Secretary of State shall review the recommendations of the Council and provide the Legislature with an approved priority list with funding recommendations.

(h) Retaining Projects on the next grant cycle priority list.

1. Projects that are approved and recommended by the Secretary but are not funded by the Legislature shall be retained on the priority list for the next grant cycle only.

2. All projects that are retained shall be required by the Division to submit the information in subparagraphs (b)1.-3. above in order to reflect the most current status of the project.

3. The deadline for the receipt of updated information shall be the rollover deadline as published in the Florida Administrative Weekly.

4. Rollover updates will not be re-scored, but rather merged with the new applications using the original scores and recommended funding.

5. Rollover updates that are determined by the Division to be incomplete or ineligible, changed in scope or venue, or increased the funding request shall be removed from the priority list.

(i) No changes in project scope or venue will be permitted.

(j) Grant Award Agreement. The Grant Award Agreement (CA2E102, eff. 5/06) 10/03 incorporated by reference and available from the Division is the document by which the organization enters into a contract with the State of Florida for the management of grant funds which shall include:

1. An update of the application project narrative and budget.

2. A completed Assurance of Compliance and Signature Authorization Form (Form CA2E059, eff. 6/00) incorporated by reference in subparagraph 1T-1.001(17)(k)2., Florida Administrative Code, and available from the Division.

3. Other provisions that shall be agreed to by both the grantee and the state.

(k) The Division will further extend the provisions in subsection (10) of the Agreement in the event the grantee can clearly demonstrate extenuating circumstances. Extenuating circumstances encompass situations beyond the control of the grantee that prevent the timely completion of the project. Such circumstances include natural disaster, death or serious illness of the individual responsible for the completion of the project, litigation, failure of the contractor or architect to provide the services for which they were hired. Extenuating circumstances do not include failure to read or understand grant administrative requirements or failure to raise sufficient matching funds.

(m) Reporting Requirements.

1. Interim Reports shall be submitted at six-month intervals until the project is complete. For the purpose of this program, a project is considered complete when all grant and match funds have been expended. The first Interim Report is due on January 31 of the fiscal year in which the grant was awarded.

2. Final Report. A Final Report shall be submitted 45 days after the completion of the project.

3. All reports shall include the following information:

a. A description of the work completed.

b. A financial statement showing the expenditure of grant and match.

c. A state grant expenditure log that includes check number, amount of

check, date of check, name of payee, and a description of the expenditure.

(n) Definitions. For the purposes of paragraphs (n), (o) and (p) of section (20) of this rule, a “grantee” is an applicant that has received a Regional Cultural Facilities Program Grant Award. “Property owner” refers to the owner of land, building(s), or both situated upon the property. section 265.702(8), Florida Statutes, requires that the grantee and the property owner either record a restrictive covenant or purchase a bond to ensure that the facility is used as a regional cultural facility for (10) years following the execution date of the grant award agreement. A “regional cultural facility” means an existing or proposed fixed facility that is primarily engaged in the disciplines of dance, music, theater, visuals arts, literature, media arts, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary, programs of museums, and able to satisfy the requirements of Section 265.702(5), Florida Statutes.

(o) If the recordation of a restrictive covenant is chosen by the grantee and the property owner(s), a completed and executed Restrictive Covenant Form must be filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the property is located, prior to release of the grant funds.

1. The grantee’s legal interest in the land and/or building(s) determines which of the four restrictive covenant forms described below must be used.

a. A grantee that owns the land and the building(s) upon the property where the regional cultural facility is or will be located must complete Form CA2E113, eff. 5/06, incorporated by reference and available from the Division.

b. A grantee that owns the building(s) upon the property where the regional cultural facility is or will be located, but leases the underlying land, must complete Form CA2E114, eff. 5/06, incorporated by reference and available from the Division.

c. A grantee that leases the land and the building(s) upon the property where the regional cultural facility is or will be located must complete Form CA2E115, eff. 5/06, incorporated by reference and available from the Division.

d. A grantee that owns the land where the regional cultural facility is or will be located, but leases the building(s) upon the property where the regional cultural facility is or will be located must complete Form CA2E0116, eff 5/06, incorporated by reference and available from the Division.

(p)1. If a bond is chosen in lieu of recording a restrictive covenant, the grantee must:

a. Purchase a bond prior to the release of grant funds from an insurer authorized to do business in Florida as a surety;

b. Include Form CA2E117, eff. 5/06, incorporated by reference and available from the Division, as an addendum to the grant award agreement;

c. Include in the bond that the facility described in the grant award agreement be used as a regional cultural facility for (10) ten years following the execution date of the grant award agreement, and that failure to do so shall constitute a violation of the bond;

d. Include in the bond that in the event of violation, the surety shall reimburse the Division pursuant to the amortization schedule set forth below.

2. A certified copy of the bond must be provided to the Division prior to the release of grant award funds.

3. If the bond is violated, the surety shall reimburse the Division pursuant to the following amortization schedule:

a. If a violation occurs within three (3) years following the execution of the grant award agreement, 100% of the grant amount;

b. If a violation occurs more than three (3) but less than four (4) years following the execution of the grant award agreement, 80% of the grant amount;

c. If a violation occurs more that four (4) but less that five (5) years following the execution of the grant award agreement, 70% of the grant amount;

d. If a violation occurs more that five (5) but less than six (6) years following the execution of the grant award agreement, 60% of the grant amount;

e. If a violation occurs more than six (6) but less than seven (7) years following the execution of the grant award agreement, 50% of the grant amount;

f. If a violation occurs more than seven (7) but less than eight (8) years following the execution of the grant award agreement, 40% of the grant amount.

g. If a violation occurs more than eight (8) but less than nine (9) years following the execution of the grant award agreement, 30% of the grant amount; and

h. If a violation occurs more than nine (9) but less than ten (10) years following the execution of the grant award, 20% of the grant amount.

Specific Authority 255.043(4) FS., 265.284(5)(d) FS., 265.285(1)(c) FS., 265.286(1), (4), (6) FS., 265.2861(2)(b) FS., 265.2865(6) FS., 265.605(1) FS., 265.608(1) FS., 265.609(1), (4) FS., 265.701(4) FS., 265.702(8) FS. Law Implemented 215.97 FS., 255.043 FS., 265.284 FS., 265.285 FS., 265.286 FS., 265.2861 FS., 265.2865 FS., 265.601-.603 FS., 265.605-.607 FS., 265.608 FS., 265.609 FS., 265.701 FS., 265.702 FS., 286.011 FS., 286.012 FS., 286.25 FS. History–New 11-23-82, Formerly 1T-1.01, Amended 10-1-96, 10-31-96, 2-2-97, 6-2-97, 7-17-97, 9-10-97, 1-4-98, 7-26-98, 8-2-98, 10-5-98, 10-25-98, 8-17-99, 8-1-02, 12-29-02, 10-14-03(17), 10-14-03(20), 11-16-03, 2-2-05, 5-16-05,________.

NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Donald R. Blancett.
NAME OF SUPERVISOR OR PERSON WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Sandy Shaughnessy.
DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: March 29, 2006.
DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAW: March 10, 2006.