Florida Association of Special Districts

Legislative Priorities 

The following priorities and issues were developed by the FASD Legislative Committee and approved by the FASD Board of Directors at their meeting.

PRIORITIES

liability

SUPPORT efforts expanding the use of independent special district lands for outdoor recreationby limiting liability like water management districts and private property owners in Florida. The goal is to allow recreational use with reduced legal risks, while maintaining liability for gross negligence or intentional harm.

Fingerprinting

SUPPORT efforts authorizing independent special districts to conduct FBI/FDLE fingerprinting and background checks to comply with Federal Public Law 92-544. Separate authority is needed due to FBI guidance, and special districts lack the ability to adopt ordinances under relevant sections like counties or municipalities.

Piggybacking

SUPPORT expanding the authority of independent special districts to "piggyback" on contracts, including those from the State of Florida, other entities, and the federal government. This enhanced authority is anticipated to have positive fiscal impacts by lowering procurement costs, allowing districts to use contracts from larger entities for IT commodities and vehicles. It's important to note that this authority does not cover certain professional services (CCNA).

Annexation

SUPPORT efforts to amend the annexation statute to enable fire districts to continue providing services within annexed areas. The change is necessary to address increased annexations by municipalities, impacting fire districts' revenues. Fire districts, participating in closest unit response, provide services to annexed areas without corresponding revenues, leading to potential strains on their capacity to fund essential services for citizens.

OPPAGA/Performance Goals

SUPPORT the repeal or extension of current mandates of performance reviews every 5 years for independent fire districts, independent mosquito control districts, and soil and water conservation districts as the OPPAGA and performance reviews indicated deficiencies and general law changes we made to address those needs, as well as as repeals of certain districts(for soil and water PROPOSED changes in 2025)

Soil & Water Conservation Districts

SUPPORT addressing issues raised in the 2024 OPPAGA reports relating to Districts that do not provide effective government services for production agriculture, including the elimination of Districts that have shown repeated operational failures or failures to timely and accurately comply with statutory reporting and compliance requirements.

Legal Advertising

SUPPORT allowing special districts to notice their specially set public meetings or workshops on the special district's publicly operated website (and not just on a County publicly operated website).

POLICY POSITIONS

Fuel Tax Exemption

SUPPORT efforts to allow independent special districts to be exempt from fuel taxes they pay on gasoline and diesel used for official purposes, similar to cities, counties, and school districts. Currently, independent special districts must use taxpayer dollars to pay the fuel taxes on fuel used for official district purposes. These savings can be used to addressrising inflation or be passed back to district residents through lower taxes andassessments.

Marijuana Impacts on Safety Sensitive or Special Risk Positions

SUPPORT allowing for zero tolerance for the use of marijuana productsor products with THC for public employees, primarily any employee that is in a safety sensitive or special risk position.

SUPPORT the State developing a test for THC impairment.

Unfunded Mandates

OPPOSE unfunded mandates imposed on independent special districts by state and federal entities, leading to higher local taxes and assessments without benefiting local taxpayers. FASO aims to enhance the prohibition on such mandates and advocate for full funding of new state mandates to special districts.

Washington D.C.

Work to provide a federal definition of special districts for purposes of storm recovery, federal grants, programs related to health care testing, protection from PFAS liability, etc.