All Roll Calls
Yes: 152 • No: 0
FloridaHB 40792026HouseWALLET
Marion County
Sponsored By: J.J. Grow (Republican)
Signed by Governor
AppropriationIntergovernmental Affairs SubcommitteeWays & Means CommitteeState Affairs CommitteeRules
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Personalize government policy and PRIA will tell you what this bill means for your household, plus every other piece of legislation we track. PRIA reads each provision against your financial profile to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
31 provisions identified: 15 benefits, 7 costs, 9 mixed.
District can take private land
The district can use county eminent-domain powers to take private property within its boundaries. A taking outside the district requires prior approval by resolution from the county or city where the property lies. The district cannot take municipal, county, state, or federal property. The law identifies no specific taking or compensation amount.
Unpaid district liens can trigger foreclosure
The district can pay delinquent taxes or buy or redeem tax-sale certificates for land wholly or partly within its boundaries. Payments, penalties, collection costs, and reasonable attorney fees become liens with the same priority as state and county tax liens. The district can seek court foreclosure one year after a tax or installment becomes delinquent. It cannot foreclose these liens against a state agency or political subdivision.
District buyers get added cost disclosures
Initial sale contracts for district parcels or homes after district creation must include a bold notice immediately before the buyer’s signature. The notice must warn that district taxes or assessments are added to other taxes and assessments. The district must explain improvement financing and maintenance to residents and prospective buyers, and record disclosures in county property records. It must give these disclosures to residential developers, who must include them in legally required public offering statements. The district must have an official website by the end of its first full fiscal year.
District employees gain retirement coverage option
The district can apply for Florida Retirement System coverage for its employees as though they were state employees. The law authorizes an application; it does not establish that employees are already covered.
District can build roads and transit
The district can provide roads, street lights, walking and biking paths, parking, bridges, and crossings. It can also provide buses, trolleys, rail access, ridesharing, and related transit facilities. Roads must meet or exceed county standards, and projects still need required government permits. The law does not require a particular project or set household charges.
District can fund cleanup and conservation
The district can fund pollution investigation and cleanup under government supervision, plus wetlands, habitat, and environmental mitigation. Cleanup money cannot benefit a district landowner who caused or contributed to the contamination. It can control mosquitoes and other pests that threaten public health. It can support renewable energy, lower energy demand, recycling, carbon measures, and low-impact development. It cannot sell electricity directly to retail customers or impair utility franchise agreements; no project funding or household savings are specified.
District can provide parks and facilities
The district can provide parks, trails, recreation, cultural and educational spaces, libraries, town centers, and district operating facilities. Trails connected to the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway must follow state policy encouraging public access on state-owned uplands. The district can also provide waste services and coordinate health-care facilities and higher-education institutions through agreements. Projects outside its boundaries require an agreement with Marion County or another applicable entity and cannot conflict with effective local plans. The law sets no construction funding or service levels.
District can provide water and sewer
The district can provide water supply, sewer, wastewater, reclaimed-water, irrigation, and water-control systems within its boundaries. It can make service agreements with public or private providers. Water-management work funded by benefit assessments requires legally adopted plans and assessments. The law does not promise service to a household, set rates, or establish a construction schedule.
Residents can review district spending decisions
District meetings must be public, and district records must be open for inspection under state law. The manager must prepare the next year's budget by July 15; adoption requires a public hearing before October 1. Marion County receives the proposal at least 60 days before adoption for information and may submit written comments. The district must file annual public-facilities reports and required financial reports, and an independent accountant must audit its finances. Payments require board approval and signatures from the Florida-resident treasurer and another authorized person; the board may require a treasurer's bond.
District can provide local school buildings
The district can provide school buildings and related facilities for educational use. With school board approval, it can lease, sell, or donate them to the Marion County school district. The law does not require a particular school to be built.
District can build broadband infrastructure
The district can build and operate broadband and other communications systems and related infrastructure. It can contract with communications providers for resale. It cannot provide communications services directly to retail customers or impair existing provider franchise agreements. The law sets no coverage target, construction funding, or household price.
District contracts must follow bidding rules
The district can hire planners, engineers, lawyers, and other professionals under applicable bidding or competitive-negotiation rules. Goods, supplies, and materials contracts above Florida's category-four threshold require advertised bids. Maintenance-service contracts above that threshold also require competitive bidding. Construction and covered professional services must follow applicable state procurement laws. Other service contracts require competitive bidding only if the district adopts a rule, policy, or procedure requiring it.
Safeguards limit district spending and bailouts
The district cannot use bond proceeds to pay ongoing operating costs. Supervisor pay cannot exceed the state-law limit, and travel and daily expense payments follow state rules. District defaults do not become debts of Florida or general-purpose local governments. After district default or dissolution, local governments need not take its property or debts, finish projects, or provide services.
District bond investors get legal protections
District bonds are legal investments for listed financial institutions, public entities, and people managing funds for others. They can also secure specified public-fund and insurance-company deposits. Good-faith buyers or holders who paid value are protected from challenges based on issuance or sale defects. The law does not promise an investment return.
Developers gain district fee credit options
The district can make impact-fee, mobility-fee, or similar credit agreements with Marion County, other governments, or landowner-developers. It can sell or transfer resulting credits on terms it chooses. The law sets no credit amount and does not require savings to reach households.
Government land ownership avoids district liens
District property taxes or assessments on government land under qualifying ground leases do not create liens on the government’s underlying ownership. This protection applies unless another law provides otherwise. It protects the government owner’s interest rather than creating a household tax break.
District investors gain bond tax protections
General law permitting, district bonds, their interest, and authorized project fees and revenues are exempt from Florida state and local taxes. Chapter 220 taxes still apply to bond interest, income, or profits, and the district is not exempt from Chapter 212. Florida pledges not to impair bondholder rights or the district's authority to collect authorized revenues and fulfill bond agreements. Each bond issue requires a trust agreement or resolution with a trust company or bank holding trust powers. District default does not require state or local governments to assume its debt.
Unpaid district bills risk service shutoffs
Under reasonable board rules, the district can shut off services when charges are unpaid when due. Service can remain off until balances, interest, penalties, and shutoff and restoration charges are fully paid. After charges are in default for at least 60 days, the district can sue for payment, interest, reasonable attorney fees, and costs. District taxes and assessments are enforceable property liens; foreclosure may begin one year after delinquency. The law does not set the charge amounts or interest rate.
District landowners face added property charges
The district can assess land for district purposes and county assessments, and charge maintenance taxes when general law allows. It must levy yearly improvement assessments for bond costs, divided among benefited parcels by the benefits received. Installments become property liens and can appear on county tax bills. Payment plans can last up to 40 years, and the board can allow early payment. For collection with county taxes, the board must certify installments to the property appraiser by August 31.
District landowners face taxes and assessments
After an engineer certifies partial or full infrastructure completion, the board may levy annual parcel maintenance taxes based on construction benefits. It may also charge benefited landowners maintenance assessments based on an engineer's report and each property's benefits. Special assessments can fund district powers, but must be fairly divided and cannot exceed the property's special benefits. The assessment process requires an engineer's cost report, proposed property list, and noticed meeting; an initial assessment resolution also requires written owner notice and a chance to speak. Taxes and assessments become property liens and can be collected with county taxes; assessment installments may run up to 40 years. Maintenance taxes receive county-tax collection treatment, discounts, and delinquency penalties; the law sets no household charge amount.
District property taxes require resident approval
The district's property-value tax authority takes effect only after every supervisor is a qualified district voter elected by district voters. A majority of qualified district voters voting in a general-election referendum must also approve the authority. The law states a 3-mill cap, equal to $3 per $1,000 of taxable value, beyond other local property taxes. It does not itself set an actual levy or household tax bill.
Creditors cannot seize district property
Creditors cannot seize or sell district property to collect a court judgment against the district. Judgments do not become liens or charges on district property or income. Bondholders keep their rights to enforce liens or pledges tied to district bonds or obligations.
District security powers include towing vehicles
The district can provide security when the proper government agencies authorize it and contract with local governments for added services. It can arrange towing of vehicles or boats from district property only under state authorization, notice, and procedural rules. A towing operator on the local government's approved list does not require public bidding. Vehicle and boat owners may face towing costs; the law sets no amount.
District users face regulated service fees
The district must require people and property inside its boundaries to use district facilities as far as law allows. The board can approve service fees, connection charges, rentals, and reasonable late penalties; the law sets no amounts. Setting charges requires a public hearing with published notice at least 10 days ahead; this process excludes district leases. Charges must be fair and uniform within user groups and, with other funds, cover operations, maintenance, debt payments, and required reserves. The district can regulate and charge for infrastructure it owns or funds through its federally tax-exempt bonds, but cannot deny reasonable access.
District property taxes require voter approval
The law allows added district property taxes for improvements and general obligation bond payments. This authority starts only after every supervisor is a district voter elected by district voters. A levy also requires voter approval at a general election. Operating taxes are capped at 3 mills, excluding bond debt payments. District taxes are in addition to county and other local property taxes.
Landowners lead before residents elect supervisors
The five-member board serves four-year terms, and members must be Florida residents and U.S. citizens. Landowners initially vote by acreage; the first election is required within 90 days after the act takes effect. The next landowner election is in November 2028. District voters elect one seat at 10,000 qualified voters, two at 16,000, three at 21,000, four at 23,000, and five at 25,000. Seats shift after the next general election, but incumbents need not face an election before their terms end. Supervisors must take an oath and follow state ethics laws, but landowner ownership or employment alone does not violate the cited conflict rules. The board must hire and pay a manager, who may hire or fire staff when needed and board-authorized. Remaining supervisors fill vacancies; the Governor may remove elected supervisors for misconduct, dishonesty, incompetence, or failure to perform required duties and fills those vacancies.
New public district in Marion County
The law creates the Uplands Stewardship District on 5,161.21 acres in Marion County, with listed property exclusions. The act takes effect upon becoming law; no later referendum is needed to create the district. It supports local infrastructure and services but does not replace county planning, zoning, or permitting authority. Initial parcel sales and first residential-unit sales must disclose possible district taxes and assessments beyond other local taxes.
County oversight limits district development powers
The law creates the Uplands Stewardship District across 5,161.21 acres in Marion County. County planning, zoning, and development rules still apply; the district cannot act as a general-purpose government or adopt a comprehensive plan. Outside its boundaries but within Marion County, district action requires an interlocal agreement, development order, or county development rules. The district also receives powers granted by changes to state community development district law after January 1, 2025. Those added powers cannot conflict with this act.
District mergers must address existing debts
Uplands can merge with community development districts wholly inside its boundaries and remains the surviving district. Each merging district must submit a written request to Uplands and a copy to Marion County. The agreement must address debt allocation and repayment, board transition, financial obligations, and operating and maintenance duties. Each district must hold a hearing within 45 days after all parties initially consider and approve the agreement, with notice at least 14 days ahead. Each must approve by resolution and file the resolutions and signed agreement with Marion County, which must then dissolve the merging districts by non-emergency ordinance.
District bonds fund projects with limits
A majority of all sitting supervisors can approve general obligation, assessment, or revenue bonds lasting up to 40 years. Bond proceeds cannot pay ongoing district operations, and issuance and sale must follow general law. Revenue bonds have no amount cap and can use project income, user charges, assessments, or other pledged security. Voters must approve revenue bonds additionally backed by the district's full faith, credit, and taxing power, and capital-project general obligation bonds. Outstanding general obligation principal is capped at 35% of assessed taxable property value when authorized, excluding bonds sufficiently backed by specified assessments or water or sewer revenues. General obligation bonds can be repaid with property taxes, subject to the law's separate tax-authority conditions.
District can borrow and refinance debt
The district can contract, acquire or dispose of property, sue or be sued, and accept gifts, grants, and loans. It must follow funding agreements and state administrative rules when adopting rules and orders. Notes issued before bonds are sold require prior bond authorization, cannot exceed the authorized amount, and must mature within 5 years. Other debt cannot sell below 95% of face value; interest must stay within general-law limits, and constitutionally required voter approval applies. The board can refinance when advantageous if debt is due, callable within 10 years, or available at an acceptable surrender price. Refinancing still needs voter approval when the Florida Constitution requires it; no savings are guaranteed.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
J.J. Grow
Republican • House
Cosponsors
Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee
Affiliation unavailable
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 3/11/2026
Senate Floor Vote
Yes: 36 • No: 0
House vote • 2/25/2026
House Floor Vote
Yes: 116 • No: 0
Actions Timeline
Chapter No. 2026-217
7/1/2026Approved by Governor
6/25/2026Signed by Officers and presented to Governor
6/15/2026Ordered enrolled
3/11/2026HouseIn Messages
3/11/2026HouseCS passed; YEAS 36 NAYS 0 -SJ 793
3/11/2026SenateRead 3rd time -SJ 793
3/11/2026SenateRead 2nd time -SJ 793
3/11/2026SenatePlaced on Calendar, on 2nd reading
3/11/2026SenateWithdrawn from Rules -SJ 785
3/11/2026SenatePlaced on Local Calendar, 03/11/26
3/9/2026SenateReceived
2/26/2026SenateReferred to Rules
2/25/2026SenateIn Messages
2/25/2026SenateCS passed; YEAS 116, NAYS 0
2/25/2026HouseRead 3rd time
2/25/2026HouseAdded to Third Reading Calendar
2/25/2026HouseRead 2nd time
2/25/2026HouseBill added to Special Order Calendar (2/25/2026)
2/19/2026HouseAdded to Second Reading Calendar
2/10/2026HouseBill released to House Calendar
2/10/2026HouseReported out of State Affairs Committee
2/10/2026HouseFavorable by State Affairs Committee
2/10/2026HouseAdded to State Affairs Committee agenda
2/6/2026HouseNow in State Affairs Committee
2/2/2026House
Bill Text
er
7/1/2026
c1
1/28/2026
Filed
1/7/2026