9K-7.003. General Requirements and Eligibility Standards (Transferred)

The following constitutes the general procedures for the Florida Forever Program of the Florida Communities Trust (FCT).

(1) Application Form. Application Form FCT-5 (eff. 2-8-10), incorporated herein by reference, is prescribed for use with these rules. Applications for funding must be submitted on Application Form FCT-5. Applicants may only submit one Application Form per Project Site. A copy, or instructions for receiving the Application Form in an electronic format, may be obtained by writing to the Florida Communities Trust, 2555 Shumard Oak Boulevard, Tallahassee, FL 32399-2100, or by calling [phone].

(2) Notice of Application Period. The Trust shall announce the limitation on Award amounts and applicable deadlines in the Notice of Application Period published in the Florida Administrative Weekly.

(3) All Project Sites shall be open to the public.

(4) Eligible Applicants:

(a) Local Governments; and

(b) Nonprofit Environmental Organizations.

(5) Current Applications: If any Applicant has three or more active Grant Contracts at the time of the project selection meeting, the Applicant shall not be funded for additional grant Applications until the Applicant has closed out one or more of the active Grant Contracts so that there are no more than two active Grant Contracts.

(6) Overdue Stewardship Reports: The Governing Board will not consider any Applications submitted by an Applicant with an overdue stewardship report. A stewardship report is considered overdue when it has not been received or approved by the Trust within the one year period immediately preceding the grant application deadline. Applicants may cure the overdue status if the overdue stewardship report is received and approved by the Trust at least 21 days prior to the scheduled Trust Governing Board project selection meeting.

(7) Limitation of Awards. The total amount of any Award or combination of Awards applied for by any Local Government(s) or Nonprofit Environmental Organization(s) under any Application(s) or Partnership Application(s) for any project(s) shall not exceed five million dollars ($5,000,000.00) during any one cycle. All award(s) for Partnership Applications shall, for purposes of calculation of award limitations, be divided equally among the Local Government(s) or Nonprofit Environmental Organization(s).

(8) Match Requirement. All Local Governments shall provide a minimum of 25 percent match toward the Project Costs, including:

(a) Partnership Applications between Local Governments (other than a small Local Government as defined in subparagraph 9K-7.003(7)(c)1., F.A.C., below) and Nonprofit Environmental Organizations shall be required to provide a Match.

(b) Partnership Applications between two or more Local Governments shall be required to provide a Match unless all of the Local Governments are small Local Governments as defined in subparagraph 9K-7.003(7)(c)1., F.A.C., below.

(c) A minimum Match shall not be required under the following circumstances:

1. The Trust shall award a portion of the Florida Forever funds for Awards, for which no 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 populations of 10,000 or fewer.

2. The Trust shall award a portion of the Florida Forever funds for Awards, for which no Match is required, for the benefit of Nonprofit Environmental Organizations that have provided the Trust with Reasonable Assurance that they can develop and manage the Project Site in a qualified, competent and professional manner.

(9) Eligible Sources of Match. The Applicant’s eligible sources of Match may include, but are not limited to, the following sources: Local Government funds; Nonprofit Environmental Organization funds; state or federal grants or loans; private cash donations; real property owned by the Applicant or donated to the Applicant by a party other than the Applicant; or, in advance of negotiations, an owner’s commitment to the value of a bargain sale or donation of all or part of the purchase price of the Project Site. Any real property owned by the Applicant must be acquired through a Voluntarily-Negotiated Transaction within 24 months prior to, or 24 months after, the Application deadline. Additionally, any real property utilized as a Match shall be included in the Application, shall be considered part of the Project Site and shall be subject to all restrictions placed on the Project Site. Applicants may not use funds from the Florida Forever Trust Fund for any part of the Match.

(10) Site Acquisition. The Acquisition of a Project Site shall take place under one of the following procedures:

(a) For a Project Site that consists of ten or fewer ownerships to be jointly acquired with the Trust, the Recipient may request that the Trust or the Recipient act as the party responsible for the Acquisition activities.

(b) For a Project Site that consists of eleven or more ownerships to be jointly acquired with the Trust, the Recipient shall be required to act as the party responsible for the Acquisition activities.

(c) If the Trust determines that the Recipient does not have the necessary expertise or qualifications to be able to timely negotiate the acquisition of the project site, the Trust shall act as the party responsible for the Acquisition activities.

(11) Site Management. Each Applicant is required to provide a Management Plan as outlined in this rule chapter. To ensure that future management funds will be available for the management of the site in perpetuity pursuant to Section 259.105, F.S., and Chapter 380, Part III, F.S., the Applicant shall be required to provide the Trust with Reasonable Assurance that they have the financial resources, background, qualifications and competence to manage the Project Site in perpetuity in a reasonable and professional manner that is consistent with the approved Management Plan. Where the Application or Partnership Application does not include at least one Local Government, the Trust shall: require the Recipient to establish an endowment or other fund in an amount equal to ten percent of the project cost to insure that the Project Site shall be reasonably and professionally managed in perpetuity; require a guaranty or pledge by a Local Government, the Water Management District, the Florida Division of Forestry, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, or the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) which shall require the Local Government, the Water Management District or the State agency to take over the responsibility for management of the Project Site in the event the Nonprofit Environmental Organization is unable to; and require such other assurances as the governing board may deem necessary to adequately protect the public interest.

Rulemaking Authority 380.507(11) FS. Law Implemented 259.105, 380.505-.515 FS. History–New 5-27-01, Amended 5-20-02, 2-7-05, 2-19-07, 2-8-10, 4-6-11.