Week 9: Sine Die

March 8, 2024

Join us on March 19 at 2:00 p.m. ET for our annual Post-Legislative Session webinar to learn what major legislation with municipal impact passed and failed during the 2024 Legislative Session. Register Now

As the 2024 Legislative Session comes to a close, the Florida League of Cities legislative team would like to say a big THANKS to each of you for your efforts during this session. You all went above and beyond in your efforts to protect local decision-making, and as a result, we had a very successful session.

Below is a brief summary of some of the key bills impacting cities. A final report and bill summaries on all bills affecting municipalities will be prepared and released in the coming weeks.

Stay Informed: A Recap of This Week's Top Stories:

FLC Priority: Alternative Mobility Funding Systems – Passed

CS/HB 479 (Robinson, W.) aims to streamline current mobility plans and fee laws. The bill specifies when both a city and county charge a fee for the transportation impacts of new development, only the local government issuing the building permit may charge for the transportation impacts. (Cruz)

Enterprise Fund Transfers – Failed

SB 1510 (Brodeur) and CS/HB 1277 (Busatta Cabrera) would have restricted a municipality from transferring utility revenues generated from serving extraterritorial customers to the municipality’s general fund. The bills would have also eliminated statutorily authorized surcharges on extraterritorial water and sewer customers. (O’Hara)

Increase to Homestead Tax Exemptions – Failed

HJR 7015 (Buchanan) was a proposed constitutional amendment that would have increased the homestead exemption from $50,000 to $75,000, reducing homestead property tax assessments. This bill would have negatively impacted homestead property tax revenues for cities. Thank you for all your advocacy efforts on this issue. The bill died in committee. (Chapman)

Local Business Tax – Failed

CS/CS/HB 609 (Botana) would have frozen the revenue and rates for Local Business Taxes (LBT) at the FY23-24 level. The Senate companion, SB 1144 (DiCeglie), would have fully repealed local governments' ability to levy a local business tax. (Chapman)

Municipal Water and Sewer Rates – Failed

CS/HB 777 (Brackett) and SB 1088 (Martin) would have prohibited local governments from charging extraterritorial surcharges for water and sewer services outside of their municipal boundaries. (O’Hara)

FLC Priority: Ratification of the Statewide Stormwater Rule – Passed

CS/SB 7040 (Environment and Natural Resources) ratifies the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) proposed rule to update Florida’s 40-year-old stormwater regulations. (O’Hara)

Land Use and Development Regulations – Failed

CS/CS/HB 1221 (McClain) and SB 1184 (Ingoglia) were comprehensive bills relating to land use and development regulations. The bills would have amended various regulations relating to comprehensive plans. The bills would have amended definitions of intensity, density, urban service area and urban sprawl to promote the construction of additional single-family, two-family and fee simple townhomes. (Cruz)

CPI Increase Homestead Tax Exemption – Passed

CS/HJR 7017 (Buchanan) applies an annual increase in exemption values by the Consumer Price Index percentages. CS/HJR 7017 is constitutional amendment and must be approved by at least 60% of electors at the November 2024 general election.



CS/HB 7019 (Buchanan) is the implementing bill for CS/HJR 7017. The implementing bill requires that the Legislature appropriate funds to offset reductions in ad valorem tax revenue experienced by fiscally constrained counties but does not extend to the municipalities within those counties. (Chapman)

Short-Term Rentals – Passed

CS/SB 280 (DiCeglie), relating to short-term rentals, limits what local governments can require as part of a local registration program and attempts to provide new enforcement measures to suspend or revoke licenses for noncompliance. The bill contains additional accountability measures for advertising platforms and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The bill maintains the grandfather for local government ordinances adopted prior to June 1, 2011. Lastly, the bill adds an additional grandfather clause for any county ordinance that was adopted on or before 2016 and amended prior to 2024. (Wagoner)

Local Government Actions – Passed

CS/CS/SB 1628 (Collins) requires cities to prepare a business impact estimate for any city-initiated comprehensive plan amendment or land development regulation. The bill specifies that local government bond issues exceeding $500 million can only undergo referendum approval during a general election. (O’Hara)

Sovereign Immunity – Failed

CS/CS/CS/SB 472 (Brodeur) and CS/CS/HB 569 (McFarland) aimed to revise liability limits for tort claims against government entities. CS/CS/HB 569 would have increased the sovereign immunity caps to $400,000 per person and $600,000 per incident. CS/CS/CS/SB 472 would have increased the sovereign immunity caps to $300,000 per person and $500,000 per incident. (Cruz)

FLC Policy Position: Improvements to Real Property (PACE) – Passed

CS/CS/SB 770 (Martin) revises requirements for the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program to expand the types of projects that qualify for PACE and to provide increased consumer protections. The bill addresses problems created by the Florida PACE Funding Agency by requiring that PACE administrators obtain the consent of the local government prior to engaging in business. (O’Hara)

First Responder Treatment by a Medical Specialist – Passed

CS/CS/SB 808 (DiCeglie) authorizes first responders to receive medical treatment for a compensable presumptive condition by his or her selected medical specialist. Local governments employing first responders would be responsible for paying the first responders’ selected medical specialists to treat conditions related to tuberculosis, heart disease or hypertension at a cost of 200% of the Medicare rate. (Cruz)

Millage Rates – Failed

CS/CS/HB 1195 (Garrison) and CS/SB 1322 (Ingoglia) would have required cities to have super-majority approval of the governing body to increase the millage rate. (Chapman)

Live Local Act Part II – Passed

Priority of legislative leadership, CS/CS/SB 328 (Calatayud) is a comprehensive bill that makes several revisions to the Live Local Act from the 2023 Session. The bill amends sections of the Live Local Act that deal with zoning, height and density. The bill also appropriates $100 million to the Florida Hometown Heroes Housing Program. (Branch)

Cybersecurity Incident Liability – Passed

CS/CS/HB 473 (Giallombardo) exempts local governments from liability in connection with a cybersecurity event if the local entity is in substantial compliance with the currently required training and standards. (Wagoner)

Advanced Community Permitting – Passed

CS/CS/CS/SB 812 (Ingoglia) is a comprehensive bill dealing with the expedited approval of residential building permits. The bill only applies to municipalities with a population of 10,000 or more with 25 acres or more of contiguous land for residential or agricultural purposes. The bill includes a few protections for cities, including an indemnification clause and a requirement for applicants to have a performance bond of up to 130%. (Chapman)

Education – Passed

CS/HB 1285 (Canady) makes several changes to Florida’s K-12 public schools and postsecondary institutions. Of concern to cities, the bill enables private schools to establish new campuses in existing facilities such as churches or theaters, bypassing local zoning regulations and traffic management requirements. The bill would prevent cities and counties from holding public meetings to discuss rezoning these facilities for educational use and from requiring private schools to mitigate traffic impacts. (Branch)

Government Accountability – Failed

CS/CS/HB 735 (Andrade) and CS/CS/SB 734 (Ingoglia) would have required all persons lobbying before cities and counties to register with the Florida Commission on Ethics. It also would have prohibited a city manager or city attorney contract from being executed or renewed in the 8 months preceding the election of any member of the governing body. (O’Hara)

Complaints Against Law Enforcement Officers – Passed

HB 601 (Duggan) preempts local governments from adopting regulations relating to the receipt, processing or investigation of complaints of misconduct by law enforcement and correctional officers. Lastly, the bill provides that local sheriffs can establish civilian review boards to review their internal policies and procedures. (Wagoner)

Tangible Personal Property Tax Exemption – Failed

HJR 7075 (Alvarez) was a proposed constitutional amendment to increase the exemption on tangible personal property taxes from the current $25,000 rate to $50,000. The bill was projected to have a fiscal impact of -$100 million. 



HB 7077 (Alvarez) was the implementing bill for HJR 7075. The implementing bill did include a fiscal offset for Financially Constrained Counties. (Chapman)

Residential Building Permits – Passed

CS/CS/CS/HB 267 (Esposito) is a comprehensive building permit bill. The bill drastically changes the process that local governments have to go through before a building permit is approved, including significantly reducing the timeframes for approval of permits. (Branch)

Public Records Exemption for City and County Managers – Failed

CS/SB 862 (Jones) and HB 811 (Gottlieb) would have created a public records exemption for the personal identifying and location information of current county administrators and city managers. (Wagoner)

Public Records Exemption for Municipal Attorneys – Passed

CS/HB 103 (Arrington) creates a public records exemption for personal identifying information of current county and city attorneys. (Wagoner)

BUDGET ITEMS OF IMPORTANCE TO CITIES

Budget Passes

The Legislature approved the General Appropriations Act, HB 5001, on Friday once the 72-hour cooling-off period ended. HB 5001 appropriates $117.46 billion for state fiscal year 2024-25. The budget represents approximately $49.4 billion from general revenue and $68.1 billion from trust funds.

Affordable Housing

• State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program: $174 million
• State Apartment Incentive Loan (SAIL) program: $234 million
• Florida Hometown Hero Housing Program: $100 million

Broadband Funding

• Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Funding and Broadband - Digital Capacity Grant Program: $100 million

Cybersecurity Funding

• Local Government Cybersecurity Grants: $40 million

Economic Development Funding

• Job Growth Grant Fund: $75 million
• VISIT Florida: $80 million

Environmental Funding

• Florida Forever Programs: $100 million
• Florida Communities Trust: $15 million (funds urban parks)
• Flood and Sea Level Rise Program: $125 million
• Beach Management Funding Assistance: $50 million
• Springs Restoration: $55 million
• Water Projects: $410.4 million
• Wastewater Grant Program: $135 million
• Resilient Florida Grant Program: $150 million
• Local Parks: $17.9 million

Law Enforcement & Fire Funding

• Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Program: $17 million
• Local Government Fire and Firefighter Services: $85.5 million
• Purchase of Body Armor for Local Law Enforcement: $2 million

Natural Emergencies Funding

• Department of Commerce - Emergency Revolving Bridge Loan Program: $20 million

Transportation Funding

• Small County Resurface Assistance Program (SCRAP): $26.5 million
• Small County Outreach Program (SCOP): $88.6 million
• Transportation Work Program: $13.98 billion

View All Legislative Bill Summaries