01/17/2007 (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

municipalities is handled if you are a Charter county; what the options are in the Charter; and, how to govern at the regional level from a Charter perspective. Ms. Delegal compared county and municipal governments noting that historically counties were simply just subdivisions of the State, serving at the pleasure of the State and providing administrative services in a convenient fashion. She disclosed there are sixty-seven (67) counties in Florida nineteen (19) of which are Charter counties and close to 80% of the State's population live in a Charter county. She also discussed Diversity of Charter Counties in Florida, and County Functions. She explained where a County's authority to act comes from, for example, the Florida Constitution, the Florida Statutes, Special Acts, County Ordinances, etcetera, and displayed a map of Florida showing the nineteen (19) Charter counties in Florida. Ms. Delegal discussed Home Rule Authority, which was a major reform that came out of a 1968 Constitutional Revision. She advised that prior to 1968, in order to have any authority as a city or county in the State of Florida, we needed Tallahassee to tell us how to do it. Today those are not the rules; we only look to Tallahassee to tell us what we cannot do. She contrasted Non -Charter Counties' Constitutional Authorities pointing out the differences. She also explained a county's Statutory Powers and "What is Home Rule to the Counties". She advised that a Charter County has the privilege or burden of choosing the form of government that it will operate under; they get to establish how they want to govern and what their procedures will be; they have the power to tax in the unincorporated areas; and depending on the language in the Charter, they have the power to alter functions of county officers; power to have the county ordinances prevail over municipal ordinances; and Special acts that limit a Charter county's power that must be approved by the electors to have a limiting effect. Public Workshop 01/17/07 3 Charter Government