Senate Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #1200 Regional Planning Councils/Funding Increase
Requester:	Ronald Book		Organization:		Florida Regional Councils Association
Project Title:	Regional Planning Councils/Funding Increase		Date Submitted:		01/31/2000 11:06:41 AM
District Member:	James Horne		Service Area:		Statewide
Counties Affected:	{Statewide}
Recipient:	Regional Planning Councils		Contact:		Ronald Book
	9143 Phillips Highway, Suite 350		Contact Phone:		(305) 935-1866
	Jacksonville 32256
Project Description:
Increase funding for Florida's eleven (11) Regional Planning Councils from $2.23 million to $2.7 million. Regional Planning Councils have received funds from the Legislature since the early 1970's. From the early 1980's through FY 1997-98, the Regional Planning Council appropriation came from non-recurring GR. In FY 1998-99, Regional Planning Councils were given a recurring line of funding by the Legislature for their annual appropriation. 70 percent of the annual appropriation is split based on each Region's proportionate share of the state's population. The RPC's remain supportive of this traditional funding split. The funding level for RPC's has on average remained constant at $2.3 million statewide since 1985. Local governments subsidize the annual state appropriation. 1999, this subsidy totalled $3,772,079 (62.8%) of the actual cost of implementing RPC's mandated responsibilities, including growth management initiatives and related planning and technical assistance. This subsidy allows the necessary planning functions related to growth management to be carried out, many regional programs and initiatives go unfunded or inadequately funded because local reserves are no longer available.
Services Provided/Benefit to State:
Florida's local governments are the primary beneficiary of this proposal. An increase in funding would allow RPC's to better fulfill their statutory obligations without subsidizing those activities with local reserves, which would otherwise compromise the RPCs' ability to meet many of the necessary economic, transportation, affordable housing and emergency preparedness needs of the local governments within their region. Furthermore, as Florida's only multi-purpose regional entity, RPCs' mission is crucial to the ability of the Executive Office of the Governor, Department of Community Affairs, and other state agencies to successfully implement their statutory obligations related to growth management as well as implementation of RPCs' Strategic Regional Policy Plans and the State Comprehensive Plan.
Measurable Outcome Anticipated:
Funding this project would result in increased services to Florida's local governments, particulary with respect to planning and technical assistance needs, enhanced performance of RPC's, and heightened compliance with Chapter 186, F.S., and other statutory obligations. The Legislature's annual appropriation to the RPC's is passed through the Department of Community Affairs. The Department annually enters into contracts with each of the RPC's as a vehicle for the RPC's to carry out their statutorily mandated obligations. Pursuant to these contracts, RPC's are required to submit quarterly reports outlining their activities for the quarter, demonstrating compliance with the contract. Measurable outcomes are provided in these quarterly reports.
Amount requested from the State for this project this year:				$500,000
Total cost of the project:		$500,000

Request has been made to fund:			Operations
Is there Local Government or Private match for this request?				Yes
	Cash Amount:	$3,772,079
Was this project previously funded by the State?				No
Is future-year funding likely to be requested?				Unknown
Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request?				No
Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget?				No
Is there a documented need for this project?				Yes
	Documentation:	Regional Planning Council funding has not been consistently increased since 1985.
Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)?				Yes
	Hearing Body:	Regional Planning Council Board Meetings
	Meeting Date:	01/06/2000