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 Appropriations
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1456
INTRODUCER: Finance and Tax Committee; Community Affairs Committee; and Senator Rodriguez
SUBJECT: Counties Designated as Areas of Critical State Concern
DATE: February 26, 2024 REVISED:
ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR REFERENCE ACTION
1. Hunter Ryon CA Fav/CS
2. Byrd Khan FT Fav/CS
3. Byrd Sadberry AP Favorable
Please see Section IX. for Additional Information:
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE - Substantial Changes
I. Summary:
CS/CS/SB 1456 makes the following changes to current law, applying specifically to the Florida
Keys or the City of Key West Areas of Critical State Concern:
Revises hurricane evacuation clearance time criteria;
Authorizes land authorities to require compliance with income limitations on land conveyed
for affordable housing by memorializing the original land authority funding or contribution
in a recordable perpetual deed restriction;
Exempts a county or municipality whose land has been designated by the Legislature as an
area of critical state concern within the past five years, and for which the Legislature has
declared an intent to provide affordable housing, from a requirement to specified portions of
the local housing assistance trust fund to provide assistance to very-low-income and low-
income persons; and
Allows a county that has been designated as an area of critical state concern and that levies a
tourist development tax and a tourist impact tax to use the accumulated surplus from those
taxes incurred through September 30, 2024 for affordable housing. The expenditure of funds
cannot exceed $35 million and is subject to approval by a majority vote of the board of
county commissioners. Affordable housing must be available to employees of private sector
tourism-related businesses in the county. Any housing financed from the accumulated surplus
must be used to provide affordable housing for no less than 99 years.
The bill takes effect on July 1, 2024.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1456 Page 2
II. Present Situation:
Florida Keys Area of Critical State Concern
In 1975, the Florida Keys were designated as an area of critical state concern. The designation
includes the municipalities of Islamorada, Marathon, Layton and Key Colony Beach, and
unincorporated Monroe County.1 State, regional, and local governments in the Florida Keys Area
of Critical State Concern are required to coordinate development plans and conduct programs
and activities consistent with principles for guiding development. Principles include protecting
the environmental resources, historical heritage, and water quality of the Florida Keys.2
A land development regulation or element of a local comprehensive plan in the Florida Keys
Area may be enacted, amended, or rescinded by a local government, but such actions must be
approved by the Florida Department of Commerce (“Commerce”).3 Amendments to local
comprehensive plans must also be reviewed for compliance with several requirements:
construction schedules, financing plans and compliance with construction standards for
wastewater treatment and disposal facilities, and protection of public safety with maintenance of
hurricane evacuation clearance time with standards developed by a hurricane evacuation study
conducted under professionally accepted methodology.
Hurricane Evacuation Clearance Standards in the Florida Keys
The Florida Keys Area Protection Act4 provides, in part, that comprehensive plan amendments
within the covered area, which includes the majority of Monroe County, must comply with
“goals, objectives and policies to protect public safety and welfare in the event of a natural
disaster by maintaining a hurricane evacuation clearance time for permanent residents of no
more than 24 hours.” The hurricane evacuation clearance time must be determined by a hurricane
evacuation study conducted in accordance with a professionally accepted methodology and
approved by Commerce.5
In 2011, Commerce and the Division of Emergency Management entered into a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with Monroe County, the Village of Islamorada, and the cities of
Marathon, Key West, Key Colony Beach, and Layton regarding hurricane evacuation modeling.
As part of the MOU, Commerce facilitated a study in 2012 to model the 24-hour evacuation time
for hurricanes using the Transportation Interface for Modeling Evacuations (TIME) Model. The
2012 model uses a two-phase evacuation that encompasses the whole of the Florida Keys.
Phase 1 occurs 24-48 hours in advance of tropical storm force winds and includes the
evacuation of tourists, mobile homeowners, the dorms associated with the College of the
Florida Keys, and other non-permanent residents.
1
The City of Key West functions as a separate area of critical state concern, called the City of Key West Area of Critical
State Concern, with similar restrictions. Section 380.0552, F.S.; 2020 Florida Keys Area of Critical State Concern Annual
Report available at https://floridajobs.org/docs/default-source/2015-community-development/community-planning/2015-
cmty-plan-acsc/2020keysacscannualreport.pdf?sfvrsn=51c94eb0_2 (last visited Feb.16, 2024).
2
For a full list of required considerations, see s. 380.0552(7), F.S.
3
Section 380.0552(9)(a), F.S.
4
Section 380.0552, F.S.
5
Section 380.0552(9)(a)2.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1456 Page 3
Phase 2 occurs 0-24 hours in advance of tropical force winds and includes the evacuation of
all permanent residents.6
In 2022, the third district court of appeals held that the City of Key West Area of Critical State
Concern, which covers Key West, is not subject to the 24-hour evacuation requirement.
Additionally, the third district court of appeals also held that mobile home units must be
categorized as permanent residents under the statutory evacuation mandate. This means that
mobile home residents should evacuate in phase 2.7 In 2023, Commerce facilitated the update of
the TIME Model to account for these changes and incorporate recent data. The 2023 model also
includes 1,300 workforce-affordable early-evacuation units in phase 1.8
Land Authorities
Current law authorizes each county in which one or more designated areas of critical state
concern are located to create a land authority by ordinance.9 The Legislature authorized the
creation of land authorities to equitably address the challenges of implementing comprehensive
land use plans developed pursuant to the area of critical state concern program, which can be
complicated by the environmental sensitivity of such areas.10 Monroe County is the only county
in the state that has established a land authority pursuant to this statutory authority.11
Land authorities are intended to provide stable funding, be flexible enough to address plan
implementation innovatively, and to act as intermediaries between individual landowners and the
governmental entities regulating land use.12 The governing body of the land authority is the
governing board of the county.13
Land authorities’ powers are statutorily enumerated and include, among other powers, the
powers to sue and be sued; to make and execute contracts and other instruments; to commission
studies and analyses of county land planning needs within areas of critical state concern; to
acquire and dispose of real and personal property under specified conditions; to contribute tourist
impact tax revenues to certain authorized government and state agency recipients for specified
purposes under certain conditions; to borrow money through the issuance of bonds and to buy,
hold, cancel, or resell such bonds; and to do any and all things otherwise necessary or convenient
to carry out the purposes of the land authority.14
6
Dept. of Commerce, Florida Keys Hurricane Evacuation Modeling Report, December 2023, available at
http://www.floridajobs.org/community-planning-and-development/programs/community-planning-table-of-contents/areas-of-
critical-state-concern/city-of-key-west-and-the-florida-keys/florida-keys-hurricane-evacuation (last visited Feb. 16, 2024).
7
Mattino v. City of Marathon, 345 So. 3d 939 (Fla. 3d DCA 2022).
8
Id.
9
Section 380.0663(1), F.S.
10
Section 380.0661(1), F.S.
11
See Monroe County, Monroe County Land Authority, available at: https://www.monroecounty-fl.gov/272/Land-Authority
(last visited Feb.16, 2024).
12
Section 380.0661(2), F.S.
13
Section 380.0663(1), F.S.
14
Section 380.0666, F.S.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1456 Page 4
Monroe County Land Authority
The Monroe County Comprehensive Plan Land Authority, known as the Monroe County Land
Authority (Authority), has a core mission of acquiring property for conservation use.15 The
Authority also provides funding for affordable housing projects, prevention or satisfaction of
private property acquisition, and maintains the conservation land stewardship program in
Monroe County within the Florida Keys and the City of Key West Areas of Critical State
Concern.16
The Authority was established to assist in the implementation of land use plans and to serve as
an intermediary between landowners and government agencies that regulate land use. The
Authority is a component of Monroe County government created in 1986 and governed by the
Monroe County Board of County Commissioners.17
Affordable Housing
Affordable housing is defined in terms of household income. Resident eligibility for Florida’s
state and federally-funded housing programs is governed by area median income (AMI) or
statewide median family income,18 published annually by the United States Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD).19 The following are standard household income level
definitions and their relationship to the 2023 Monroe County, Florida AMI of $97,100 for a
family of four (as family size changes, the income range also varies):20
Extremely low income – earning up to 30 percent AMI (at or below $32,550);21
Very low income – earning from 30.01 to 50 percent AMI ($32,551 to $54,250);22
Low income – earning from 50.01 to 80 percent AMI ($54,251 to $86,800). 23
Moderate income – earning from 80.01 to 120 percent of AMI ($86,801 to $130,200).24, 25
State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program
The SHIP program was created in 199226 to provide funds to local governments as an incentive
to create partnerships that produce and preserve affordable homeownership and multifamily
15
Monroe County, Monroe County Land Authority, available at: https://www.monroecounty-fl.gov/272/Land-Authority (last
visited Feb. 16, 2024).
16
Id.
17
Id.
18
The 2023 Florida SMI for a family of four was $85,500. U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, Income Limits,
Access Individual Income Limits Areas, available at https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il.html#2022 (last visited Feb.
16, 2024).
19
HUD User, Office of Policy Development and Research, “Income Limits,” available at
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il.html#2022 (last visited Feb. 16, 2024) (SMI and AMI available under the "Access
Individual Income Limits Area” dataset).
20
U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, Income Limits, Access Individual Income Limits Areas, available at
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il.html#2023 (last visited Feb. 16, 2024).
21
Section 420.0004(9), F.S.
22
Section 420.0004(17), F.S.
23
Section 420.0004(11), F.S.
24
Section 420.0004(12), F.S.
25
University of Florida Shimberg Center for Housing Studies, Florida Housing Income Limits, 2023, available at:
http://flhousingdata.shimberg.ufl.edu/income-and-rent-limits/results?nid=1 (last visited Feb. 20, 2024).
26
Chapter 92-317, Laws of Fla.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1456 Page 5
housing. The SHIP program provides funds to all 67 counties and 55 Community Development
Block Grant27 entitlement cities on a population-based formula to finance and preserve
affordable housing based on locally adopted housing plans.28, 29
SHIP program funds may be used to fund emergency repairs, rehabilitation, down payment and
closing cost assistance, impact fees, construction and gap financing, mortgage buydowns,
acquisition of property for affordable housing, matching dollars for federal housing grants and
programs, and homeownership counseling.30
Certain statutory requirements restrict a local government’s use of funds made available under
the SHIP program (excluding amounts set aside for administrative costs). Requirements include
that a minimum of 65 percent of funds must be spent on eligible homeownership activities.31 At
least 30 percent of funds deposited into the local housing assistance trust fund must be used for
awards to very-low-income persons or eligible sponsors serving very-low-income persons, and
another 30 percent must be used for awards for low-income-persons or eligible sponsors serving
low-income persons.32
Tourist Development Taxes
The Local Option Tourist Development Act33 authorizes counties to levy five separate taxes on
transient rental34 transactions (tourist development taxes or TDTs). Depending on a county’s
eligibility to levy such taxes, the maximum potential tax rate varies:
The original TDT may be levied at the rate of 1 or 2 percent.35
An additional 1 percent tax may be levied by counties who have previously levied the
original TDT at the 1 or 2 percent rate for at least three years.36
A high tourism impact tax may be levied at an additional 1 percent.37
A professional sports franchise facility tax may be levied up to an additional 1 percent.38
27
The CDBG program is a federal program created in 1974 that provides funding for housing and community development
activities.
28
Florida Housing Finance Corporation, Annual Report 2022, available at: https://www.floridahousing.org/data-docs-
reports/annual-reports (last visited Feb. 16, 2024).
29
See ss. 420.907-420.9089, F.S.
30
See ss. 420.907-420.9089, F.S. and Florida Housing Finance Corporation, State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP),
available at: https://www.floridahousing.org/programs/special-programs/ship---state-housing-initiatives-partnership-program
(last visited Feb. 16, 2024).
31
Section 420.9075(5)(a), F.S. “Eligible person” or “eligible household” means one or more natural persons or a family
determined by the county or eligible municipality to be of very low income, low income, or moderate income based upon the
annual gross income of the household.
32
Section 420.9075(5), F.S.
33
Section 125.0104, F.S.
34
Section 125.0104(3)(a)(1), F.S. considers “transient rental” to be the rental or lease of any accommodation for a term of six
months or less.
35
Section 125.0104(3)(c), F.S.
36
Section 125.0104(3)(d), F.S.
37
Section 125.0104(3)(m), F.S.
38
Section 125.0104(3)(l), F.S. Revenue can be used to pay debt service on bonds for the construction or renovation of
professional sports franchise facilities, spring training franchise facilities, and convention centers and to promote and
advertise tourism.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1456 Page 6
An additional professional sports franchise facility tax no greater than 1 percent may be
imposed by a county that has already levied the professional sports franchise facility tax.39
Counties levying TDT are authorized to use the revenues for a variety of uses, such as promoting
and advertising tourism, constructing publicly owned and operated convention centers, beach
restoration and maintenance projects, and professional sports franchise facilities. The types of
allowed uses are specific to the TDT levied.
Tourist Impact Tax
In addition to tourist development tax, any county that has created a land authority may levy a
tourist impact tax of 1 percent on all transient rental facilities40 within the county located in areas
designated as an area of critical state concern. If more than 50 percent of the land area of the
county is located in an area of critical state concern, the tax may be levied countywide. 41
Cu