Fla. Admin. Code Ann. R. 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
(850)245-2669. 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),
F.S., the county comprehensive plan shall be deemed controlling and must
achieve provision subsection (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, subsection (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 Register. 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
subsection.
(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 subsection (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.
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