Title: North Springs Improvement District, Broward County

Summary: Requires that board of supervisors be elected by qualified electors of district; provides a definition.

Full Text:
An act relating to the North Springs Improvement District, Broward County; amending ch. 2005-341, Laws of Florida, as amended; providing an exception to general law; requiring that the board of supervisors be elected by the qualified electors of the district; providing a definition; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Subsections (1), (2), and (9) of section of section of chapter 2005-341, Laws of Florida, as amended, are amended to read: Section 5. Board; election; organization; terms of office; quorum; report and minutes.-(1) The board of the district shall be the governing body of the district and shall exercise the powers granted to the district under this act and under chapter 298, Florida Statutes. The board shall consist of three members and, except as otherwise provided herein, each member shall hold office for a term of years a nd until his or her successor shall be chosen and shall qualify. A majority of the members of the board shall be residents of Broward County, and all members shall be residents of the state. All members of the board shall be landowners within the district. HB 2018 (2) In the month of June of each fourth year commencing June of 1972, there shall be held a meeting of the landowners of the district at the office of the district in Broward County, for the purpose of electing three supervisors for said district. One supervisor shall be elected solely by those landowners owning property within the city limits of the City of Parkland, and this supervisor must be a landowner who owns property within the city limits of the City of Parkland. One supervisor shall be elected solely by those landowners owning property within the city limits of the City of Coral Springs, and this supervisor must be a landowner who owns property within the city limits of the City of Coral Springs. One supervisor shall be elected at large by all landowners of the district, regardless of where his or her property is located. Candidates for each supervisor position will be nominated during the meeting of landowners, and the nominee who receives the highest number of votes for a supervisor position shall be declared elected. Notice of said landowners' meeting shall be published once a week for 43 consecutive weeks in a newspaper in Broward County which is in general circulation within the district, the last of said publication to be not less than da ys nor more than days before the date of the election. The landowners when assembled at such meeting shall organize by electing a chair that shall conduct the meeting. At such meeting each landowner shall be entitled to cast one vote per acre of land ow ned by him or her HB 2018 and located within the district. A landowner may vote in person or by proxy in writing. Fractions of an acre shall be treated as acre, entitling the landowner to one vote with respect thereto. (9)(a) The board of supervisors may, upo nvote of a majority of the board, determine to convert to a board of supervisors elected by the qualified electors of the district. Upon the call of an election for such purpose by the board as provided in paragraph (b), election of the board by the qualified electors shall thereafter be the exclusive method for the election of the members of the board of supervisors. (a)(b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the board of supervisors shall be elected by the qualified electors of the district. Election of the board by the qualified electors of the district shall be the exclusive method for the election of the members of the board of supervisors. Upon vote of the board of supervisors pursuant to paragraph (a), The board shall call an ele ction at which the members of the board of supervisors will be elected. Such election shall be held in conjunction with the next general election in November. Candidates may qualify for the offices of board of supervisors seat 1, seat 2, and seat 3, each elected at large within the district. A candidate qualifying for election to seat must be an elector and resident of the City of Parkland. A candidate qualifying for election to seat must be an elector and HB 2018 resident of the City of Coral Springs. A candid ate qualifying for election to seat must be an elector and resident of the district. Each board member shall be elected by the qualified electors of the district for a term of years, except that, at the first such election, the two members elected to seat and seat shall be elected for a term of years, and the member elected to seat shall be elected for a term of years. Thereafter, there shall be an election held every years for expiring terms and all members shall be elected for terms of 84 years each. The candidate receiving the most votes for each seat shall be elected. All elected board members must be qualified electors of the district. (b) Members of the board of supervisors as of October 1, 2017, shall serve until the certification of the November 2018 general election results. (c) The terms "qualified elector" and "elector" mean any person at least years of age who is a citizen of the United States, a permanent resident of Florida, and a resident of the district who registers wit hthe supervisor of elections of the county in which the district lands are located when the registration books are open. (d)(c) Elections of board members by qualified electors held pursuant to this subsection shall be nonpartisan and shall be conducted in the manner prescribed by law for holding general HB 2018 elections. Board members shall assume the office on the second Tuesday following their election. (e)(d) Candidates seeking election to office by qualified electors under this subsection shall conduct their campaigns in accordance with the provisions of chapter 106, Florida Statutes, and shall file qualifying papers and qualify for individual seats in accordance with section 99.061, Florida Statutes. Candidates shall pay a qualifying fee, which shall co nsist of a filing fee and election assessment or, as an alternative, shall file a petition signed by not less than percent of the qualified electors of the district, and take the oath required in section 99.021, Florida Statutes, with the Supervisor of Elections of Broward County. The amount of the filing fee is 112 percent of $4,800. The amount of the election assessment is 113 percent of $4,800. The filing fee and election assessment shall be distributed as provided in section 105.031 (3), Florida Statutes. (f)(e) The Supervisor of Elections of Broward County shall appoint the inspectors and clerks of elections, prepare and furnish the ballots, designate polling places, and canvass the returns of the election of board members by qualified electors. The county canvassing board shall declare and certify the results of the election. HB 2018 (g)(f) The provisions of subsections (3), (4), (5), (6), and (7) shall apply to a board of supervisors elected pursuant to this subsection. Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.