(1) Definitions
(a) Act means the bill enacting section
288.066 of the Florida Statutes.
(b) Applicant means a county or municipality
located in an area designated in the Federal Emergency Management Agency
disaster declarations for Hurricane Ian or Hurricane Nicole. A county may also
apply on behalf of a county school district.
(c) Governmental Operations means costs
associated with continuing, expanding, or modifying local governmental
operations to meet disaster-related needs, and includes costs such as, but not
necessarily limited to, staff salaries and payroll. This term does not include
capital and equipment costs associated with the construction, repair, or
renovation of damaged public facilities or infrastructure.
(d) Maturity means when the principal balance
of the loan becomes due.
(2) Applicants must submit the required
documentation to the Department at localgovernmentbridge@deo.myflorida.com. The
Department will accept applications until the Department reasonably believes it
has received enough eligible applications sufficient to award all funds. The
Department may re-open the application window if the Department either receives
additional funds to make new loans or if the Department did not ultimately
receive enough applications sufficient to award all funds. At any time, the
Department may request that an Applicant amend or supplement its application
with additional documentation or information.
(3) Application Contents
Applicants must submit the following documentation and
information to apply for a Local Government Emergency Bridge Loan:
(a) The name of the hurricane(s) that
impacted the local government;
(b)
The total amount of funding requested for governmental operations;
(c) Its most recently completed operational
audit, if any;
(d) Its two most
recent years of audited financial statements;
(e) Reductions in tax revenues, both in the
form of dollars and a percentage of revenues, since the time the storm made
landfall;
(f) Estimates regarding
reductions in future tax revenues, both in the form of dollars and a percentage
of revenues, over the next 24 months, not to exceed 10 pages;
(g) A certification signed by the mayor,
board chair or chief executive officer (e.g., county manager, city manager) of
the county or municipality that loan funds will only be used to continue
Governmental Operations or to expand or modify such operations to meet
disaster-related needs; and
(h) Any
additional or supporting documentation the Applicant believes may support
funding its application.
(4) Application Review and Scoring
Applications received within the same period of time will be
reviewed and scored. Incomplete applications are not received by the
department, will be returned promptly to the Applicant, and will not be scored
by the department, until the Applicant has transmitted all the documentation
and information set forth above. In the event of a tie and if sufficient
funding is not available, then the department may select the application that,
based on the documentation provided, demonstrates a greater need for funding.
Finally, the Department has the discretion to fund applications at a lower
amount than requested, based on the documentation provided, and in relation to
demonstrated need from other eligible applicants.
(5) Terms and Interest
(a) The term of any loan shall not exceed 18
months. This period includes any extensions that may be provided by the
Department pursuant to the Act.
(b)
Interest will not accrue during the term of the loan. At maturity, simple
interest will accrue on any unpaid principal balance at a rate of 10
percent.
(c) If an Applicant uses
loan funds for a purpose other than Governmental Operations, then the maturity
of the loan will automatically accelerate and interest will begin to accrue in
accordance with paragraph (b), above.
(6) The Applicant must enter into an
agreement with the Department prior to the receipt of funds. The agreement
shall be on terms acceptable to the Department in its sole
discretion.
(7) The Department may
decline to fund a requested loan if the Department believes in its reasonable
discretion that:
(a) The Applicant represents
a significant risk of nonpayment, or
(b) The receipt of a loan by the Applicant
would affect that Applicant's ability to receive reimbursement under federal
programs for disaster-related expenses.
