The Florida Senate
BILL ANALYSIS AND FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
(This document is based on the provisions contained in the legislation as of the latest date listed below.)
Prepared By: The Professional Staff of the Committee on Fiscal Policy
BILL: SB 958
INTRODUCER: Senators Martin and Perry
SUBJECT: Local Government Employees
DATE: February 26, 2024 REVISED:
ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR REFERENCE ACTION
1. Hackett Ryon CA Favorable
2. Sneed McKnight AHS Favorable
3. Hackett Yeatman FP Favorable
I. Summary:
SB 958 raises the statutory base salary rates for tax collectors and district school superintendents
by $5,000. The bill also:
 Allows tax collector employees to be eligible for a lump-sum monetary benefit for adopting a
child from the child welfare system;
 Allows county tax collectors to budget for and pay a hiring or retention bonus to employees,
if such expenditure is approved by the Department of Revenue or board of county
commissioners; and
 Allows district school boards to contract with the county tax collector for a tax collector
employee to administer road tests for driver licensure on school grounds at schools within the
district.
The bill has a significant negative fiscal impact on state government and may have an
insignificant negative fiscal impact on local governments. See Section V., Fiscal Impact
Statement.
The bill takes effect July 1, 2024.
II. Present Situation:
Compensation of County Officials
Article II, s. 5(c), of the Florida Constitution, requires the powers, duties, compensation and
method of payment of state and county officers to be determined by general law.1 Chapter 145,
F.S., conveys legislative intent to provide uniform compensation of county officials that have
1
FLA. CONST. art. II, s. 5(c).
BILL: SB 958 Page 2
substantially equal duties and responsibilities across different counties.2 Chapter 145, F.S.,
outlines the salary schedules for specified county officials “based on a classification of counties
according to each county’s population.”3
The salary schedules for the following county officers are provided in ss. 145.031- 145.11, F.S.:
board of county commissioners, clerk of the circuit court, county comptroller, sheriff, supervisor
of elections, property appraiser, and tax collector (see below for Salary Schedules for County
Officials). Each county officer receives a salary of the amount indicated in the schedule, based
on the population of the officer’s respective county. Additional compensation is made “for
population increments over the minimum for each population group, which shall be determined
by multiplying the population in excess of the minimum for the group times the group rate.”4
The statutory salary provisions apply to all designated officers in all counties, except those
officials whose salaries are not subject to being set by the Legislature due to the provisions of a
county home rule charter or are officials of counties that have a chartered consolidated form of
government as provided in h. 67-1320, L.O.F., (i.e., Duval County).5 The adoption of a charter
provides the county’s electors with a mechanism to fundamentally alter the form of county
government and the status of constitutional officers.
Salary Computation Methodology and Formula
Computation of a county official’s salary begins by determining the following amounts provided
in the statutory salary schedules for county officials, outlined in ss.145.031-145.11, F.S.:
 The relevant population group number for the elected officer, based on the county’s
population range;
 The official’s relevant base salary and group rate according to his or her prescribed salary
schedule; and
 The difference between the county’s population estimate and the minimum group rate.6
After determining these figures, the following computation formula is then used to calculate the
county official’s salary:7
Salary = [Base Salary + (Population above Group Minimum x Group Rate)] x
Initial Factor x Certified Annual Factor x Certified Cumulative Annual Factor
Section 145.19(1), F.S., defines the terms “annual factor,” “cumulative annual factor,” and
“initial factor,” as follows:
2
Section 145.011(3), F.S.
3
Section 145.011(4), F.S.
4
Sections 145.031, 145.051, 145.071, 145.09, 145.10 and 145.11, F.S.
5
Section 145.011, F.S.
6
Office of Economic and Demographic Research, Salaries of Elected County Constitutional Officers and School District
Officials for Fiscal Year 2022-23, at 4. (Sept. 2022) available at http://edr.state.fl.us/Content/local-
government/reports/finsal22.pdf (last visited Jan. 14, 2024).
7
Id.
BILL: SB 958 Page 3
 Annual Factor means 1 plus the lesser of either: 1) the average percentage increase in the
salaries of state career service employees for the current fiscal year as determined by the
Department of Management Services or as provided in the General Appropriations Act; or 2)
7 percent.
 Cumulative Annual Factor means the product of all annual factors certified under this act
prior to the fiscal year for which salaries are being calculated.
 Initial Factor means a factor of 1.292, which is the product, rounded to the nearest
thousandth, of an earlier cost-of-living increase factor authorized by Chapter 73-173, Laws of
Florida, and intended by the Legislature to be preserved in adjustments to salaries made prior
to the enactment of Chapter 76-80, Laws of Florida, multiplied by the annual increase factor
authorized by Chapter 79-327, Laws of Florida.
In 2022, the Office of Economic and Demographic Research provided the following sample
computation for the Alachua County Clerk of Circuit Court, Property Appraiser, Supervisor of
Elections, and Tax Collector:
Sample Computation of Salary8
Officer: Alachua County Clerk of Court, Property Appraiser, Supervisor
of Elections, and Tax Collector
2021 Population Estimate: 284,607
Group Number Minimum (IV): 200,000
Corresponding Base Salary (Group IV): $30,175
Corresponding Group Rate (Group IV): $0.01575
Initial Factor: 1.292
Certified Annual Factor: 1.0700
Certified Cumulative Annual Factor: 3.6524
Salary = [$30,175 + [(284,607-200,000) x 0.01575]] x 1.292 x 1.0700 x 3.6524 = $159,089
Salary Schedules for County Officials:9
Elected County Population Group County Population Range Base Group
Constitutional Officers Numbers Minimum Maximum Salary Rate
Clerk of Circuit Court I -0- 49,999 $21,250 $0.07875
Supervisor of Elections II 50,000 99,999 $24,400 $0.06300
County Comptroller III 100,000 199,999 $27,550 $0.02625
Property Appraiser IV 200,000 399,999 $30,175 $0.01575
Tax Collector V 400,000 999,999 $33,325 $0.00525
(ss. 145.051, 145.09,
145.10, and 145.11, F.S.) VI 1,000,000 $36,475 $0.00400
Sheriff 10 I -0- 49,999 $28,350 $0.07875
(s.145.071, F.S II 50,000 99,999 $31,500 $0.06300
8
Office of Economic and Demographic Research, Salaries of Elected County Constitutional Officers and School District
Officials for Fiscal Year 2022-23, at 4. (Sept. 2022) available at http://edr.state.fl.us/Content/local-
government/reports/finsal22.pdf (last visited Jan. 14, 2024).
9
Sections 145.031(1), 145.051(1), 145.071(1), 145.09(1), 145.10(1) and 145.11(1), F.S.
10
Sheriff salary base rates were raised by $5,000 by the Legislature in 2022. See ch. 2022-23, Laws of Fla.
BILL: SB 958 Page 4
III 100,000 199,999 $34,650 $0.02625
IV 200,000 399,999 $37,275 $0.01575
V 400,000 999,999 $40,425 $0.00525
VI 1,000,000 $43,575 $0.00400
Compensation of Elected District School Superintendents
District school superintendents may be either an elected position or one employed by the district
school board.11 Elected district school superintendents are compensated as provided by s.
1004.47, F.S., which mirrors the compensation methodology and base salary rates for county
Constitutional officers other than the Sheriff.
Bonuses and Severance Pay Prohibited
Section 215.425, F.S., prohibits state employers from paying extra compensation after a service
has been rendered or a contract made unless such compensation is allowed by a law enacted by
two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the Legislature.
Florida Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Payment Program
In 2022, the Legislature established the Law Enforcement Recruitment Bonus Payment Program,
which administers one-time bonus payments of up to $5,000 to newly employed officers in
Florida, subject to legislative appropriation.12 This program expires on July 1, 2025.
Adoption Benefits
Section 409.1664, F.S., provides a lump-sum monetary benefit to a qualifying adoptive
employee,13 veteran, or servicemember who adopts a child within Florida’s child welfare
system14 of $10,000 for adopting a child who meets the definition of difficult-to-place15 or
$5,000 for adopting a child who does not meet the difficult-to-place definition. A Florida law
enforcement officer is eligible for a lump-sum monetary benefit of $25,000 for adopting from the
child welfare system a difficult-to-place child or $10,000 if the child is not considered difficult-
to-place.
Adoption benefits are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis and subject to appropriation.16
To obtain the adoption benefit, a qualifying adoptive employee must apply to his or her agency
head or to his or her school director. A veteran or servicemember must apply directly to the
11
FLA. CONST., art. IX, s. 5.
12
Section 445.08, F.S.
13
“Qualifying adoptive employee” means a full-time or part-time employee of a state agency, a charter school, or the Florida
Virtual School, who is not an independent contractor and who adopts a child within the child welfare system pursuant to
ch 63, F.S. Section 409.1664(1)(b), F.S.
14
“Child within the child welfare system” means a difficult-to-place child and any other child who was removed from the
child's caregiver due to abuse or neglect and whose permanent custody has been awarded to the department or to a licensed
child-placing agency. Section 409.166(2)(c), F.S.
15
For purposes of the adoption benefit program, a child who has special needs is a child whose permanent custody has been
awarded to the Department of Children and Families or to a licensed child-placing agency and who has established
significant emotional ties with his or her foster parents or is not likely to be adopted. Section 409.166(2), F.S.
16
Section 409.1664(2)(c) and (3), F.S.
BILL: SB 958 Page 5
Department of Children and Families (DCF) to receive the benefit, while a law enforcement
officer must apply to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.17
Child Welfare System Adoption Benefits (Fiscal Years 2019-2020 through 2022-2023):
Child Awards as a
Fiscal Welfare Number of Percent of Child
Year Adoptions Awards Welfare Adoptions Appropriations Expenditures
2019-20 4,548 275 6% $2,750,000 $2,732,000
2020-21 3,904 263 7% $2,750,000 $2,674,370
2021-22 3,888 323 8% $3,233,700 $3,225,000
2022-23 3,602 412 11% $8,377,470 $4,345,000
The DCF holds an annual open enrollment period to receive applications for the adoption
monetary benefit between the first business day in January and the last business day of March.
For multiple adoptions, the applicant must submit a separate application for each child. The DCF
must review all timely applications and determine who is eligible to receive the benefit.
Applications18 are processed in the order they were received during the open enrollment period. 19
Applicants must include in their application packets a certified copy of the final order of
adoption naming the applicant as the adoptive parent. While the Chief Financial Officer of the
DCF transfers the funds to award recipients, not every applicant can apply for the adoption
monetary benefit directly to the DCF. Current law requires veterans and servicemembers to
apply directly to the DCF to receive the benefit; however, state employees must apply to their
own agency head, employees at a charter school20 or the Florida Virtual School21 must apply to
their respective school director, and a law enforcement officer must apply to the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement.22
When the demand for the adoption benefit exceeds the supply of appropriated funds, denied
applicants do not have to submit a new application during the next open enrollment period.
Instead, the DCF will automatically consider this pool of eligible applicants for future
appropriations.23
Instruction in Motor Vehicle Operation
Each school district is responsible for providing a course of study and instruction in the safe and
lawful operation of a motor vehicle that is available to students in secondary schools.24 The
17
Section 409.1664(3), F.S.
18 Florida Department of Children and Families, CF-FSP 5327 Adoption Benefits For State Employees And Other Eligible Applicants, (Oct.
21, 2022) https://www.flrules.org/Gateway/reference.asp?No=Ref-14887 (last visited Feb. 7, 2024).
19 R. 65C-16.021; see s. 409.1664(6), F.S.
20 All charter schools in Florida are public schools and part of the state’s program of public education. s. 1002.33(1), F.S.
21 The Florida Virtual School provides online and distance learning education. The school is governed by a board of trustees appointed by
the Governor, and the board of trustees is a public agency. Current law advises that all employees except temporary, seasonal, and student
employees may be classified as state employees for purposes of Florida Retirement System benefits. S. 1002.37, F.S.
22 Ss. 409.1664(3), (7), F.S.
23 R. 65C-16.021; see s. 409.1664(6), F.S.
24 S. 1003.48(1), F.S.
BILL: SB 958 Page 6
course may use instructional personnel employed by the school district or contract with a
commercial driving school or instructor certified under ch. 488, F.S.25 The courses are financed
by a $0.50 annual fee charged to each driver as part of the driver license fee.26
III. Effect of Proposed Changes:
Section 1 amends s. 145.11, F.S., to raise the salary base rates for tax collectors by $5,000.
Section 4 amends s. 1001.47, F.S., to raise the salary base rates for district school
superintendents by $5,000.
The table below reflects salary adjustments made by the bill:
Population County Population Range Current Law Base Salary
Elected County Officials Group # Minimum Maximum Base Salary Under Bill
Tax Collectors and I -0- 49,999 $21,250 $26,250
District School II 50,000 99,999 $24,400 $29,400
Supe