Resolution 1996-134
RESOLUTION NO. 96-134
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
ADOPTING A COLLIER COUNTY CITIZEN PETITION PROCESS
POLICY
HAR 1 2 !l9II
WHEREAS, the Board of County commissioners of Collier
County, Florida (the "Board"), is interested in hearing from the
citizens
Collier
of
County
wishes
and
to
provide
pOlicy/document of centralized information to assist the citizen.
and facilitate the process by which a number of citizen. can
bring a matter of substantial County interest to the Board'.
attention for further consideration or action; and
WHEREAS, the Board has developed, considered and approved a
Collier County citizens Petition Process Policy on March 12,
1996, attached hereto and made a part hereof 8S Exhibit "A" And
approved this Resolution to adopt said policy.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS OF COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA, that the Collier County
Citizen Petition Process Policy attached hereto and made a part
hereof as Exhibit "A" is hereby approved, adopted and in eftect
immediately.
This Resolution adopted this 12th day of March, 1996 after
motion,. second and majority vote favoring same.
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BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA
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~avid C. Weige
County Attorney
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COLLIER COUNTY CITIZEN PETITION PROCESS POLICY
The Board of County Commissioners (hereinafter, "Board") is under
no statutory obligation to provide a method for citizens to cir-
culate petitions on which they would like the Board to consiser
action. The Board is interested in hearing from its citizens and
has, therefore, created this policy and adopted same pursuant to
Resolution No. 96-134 to facilitate the process by which citizens
can bring a matter of substantial county interest to the Board's
attention for further consideration or action. Nothing in this
policy shall be construed as an abrogation of the Board's
authority or responsibility.
A. Designation of County Manager as Filing Office. The County
Manager (County Administrator), 3301 Tamiami Trail East,
Naples, FL 33962, Administrative Building (8 floors), 2nd
Floor, is hereby designated on behalf of the Board of
Collier County Commissioners as the official address and
location for Collier County residents to initiate petitions
to come before the Board of County Commissioners. All
materials required to be filed with a citizen petition shall
be filed with the County Manager until such time as the
Board of County commissioners determines to place the sub-
ject on the ballot. Upon establishment of an election date
by the Board of County Commissioners, persons seeking to
make expenditures both for or against the citizen petition
shall form a political action committee with the Supervisor
of Elections in accordance with the provisions of Chapter
106, Florida Statutes.
B. Collier County citizen Petition Subjects. citizens of
Collier County may petition their Board of County Commis-
sioners on a variety of subjects. Petition requirements
vary and are dependent upon the type of petition to be cir-
culated. This policy pertains to the following subjects:
1. Petitions for creating Road Improvement Districts.
2. Petitions for creating Drainage Improvement Districts.
3. Petitions for creating Street Lighting Improvement Dis-
tricts.
4. Petitions for creating Beautification Improvement Dis-
tricts.
5. Petitions for creating Municipal Services Taxing Units
6. Petitions for creating Municipal service Benefit units
7. Petitions seeking to place a binding referendum on the
ballot.
8. Petitions seeking to place issues on the ballot for a
straw vote.
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However, no petition circulated with respect to any subject
for which 'the Board has no statutory authority to act, or,
on county budgets, commission district lines, or any other
subject for which the Board is mandated to act pursuant to
state or federal law shall be accepted by the Board for its
consideration.
C. Collier County citizen Petition Process. No special elec-
tion shall be called solely for the purpose of voting on a
citizen petition. Items placed on the ballot as a result of
Collier county's citiz~n petition process shall be placed on
the ballot concurrent with another state or county election
except that no citizen petition shall be placed on the
Second Primary ballot. other than providing the citizen
sponsor with a copy of this policy, county staff shall not
participate in the drafting of a citizen petition or prepa-
ration of any maps used in conjunction with a citizen peti-
tion.
1. Any proposed citizen petition, the purpose of which is
to convince the Collier county Commissioners to create
a municipal services taxing and/or benefit unit, a road
improvement district, or to place a measure on the bal-
lot, shall first be submitted to the County Manager for
approval as to format prior to circulation of the pro-
posed citizen petition. Such citizen sponsor's submis-
sion shall be in writing, shall be dated, shall clearly
state the citizen sponsor's name, and shall include a
copy or a facsimile of the form proposed for circula-
tion. The County Manager shall only review the peti-
tion for sufficiency of format. The County Manager
shall not review the form for legal sUfficiency.
2. Any proposed citizen petition shall be limited to a
single subject. This requirement exists in the event
the Board subsequently decides to place the matter on
the ballot. Ballot questions must be clear and unambi-
guous so electors can readily respond "yes" or "no" to
the question on the ballot. A "yes" vote will indicate
approval of the proposal and a "no" vote will indicate
rejection.
3. The County Manager shall assign a sequential number to
each citizen petition once the submitted format has
been deemed sufficient. The sequential number shall be
preceded with the last two digits of the calendar year
in which the petition was initiated. All copies of the
citizen petitions circulated shall contain the sequen-
tial number issued by the County Manager as an integral
part of the petition. If the petition involves an area
which is less than countywide, the petition shall con-
tain the legal description and a map of the affected
area as an integral part of the petition to be circu-
lated.
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4. Barrfng unforeseen events such as hurricanes or other
emergency situations, the County Manager has 21 days to
determine the number of valid petition signatures
required for the petition. The county Manager shall,
by certified mail, notify the citizen sponsor of the
petition number and, depending upon the type of action
sought, the number of valid signatures required for
Board consideration. If the purpose of the citizen
petition is ballot placement, the citizen sponsor shall
be required to form a political action committee with
the Supervisor of Ele~tions in conformity with require-
ments of Chapter 106, Florida Statutes.
5. Proposed citizen petitions to be circulated for signa-
tures will be accepted by the Board only if the format
of the petition has been deemed sufficient by the
County Manager applying the requirements of this pol-
icy.
6. Any change in a previously approved petition form, or
additional types of petition forms to be circulated by
a previously approved circulator, shall be submitted in
accordance with the provisions of this pOlicy. A
change to a petition form or an additional type of
petition form means: any change in the wording of the
text of the proposed amendment, the ballot title, or
ballot summary, including changes in punctuation or
spelling.
7. Once a citizen petition has been issued its petition
number, the sponsor's group has 12 months from the date
of the Manager's certif ied letter of suff iciency, to
complete the petition process before the citizen peti-
tion becomes invalid for lack of citizen interest.
8. An approved citizen petition shall be invalidated by
anyone of the following:
a. the failure to acquire sufficient signatures for
further action within 12 months;
b. the Board's adoption of a preemptive ordinance
which negates further action by the citizen spon-
sor;
c. the enactment of preemptive state or federal leg-
islation;
d. the enactment of state or federal legislation
which removes any authority the Board may have
over the subject;
e. the enactment of state or federal legislation
which mandates upon the county an action which
would make the petition subject illegal;
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a determination by the county Attorney that the
petition seeks an action for which the Board has
no statutory authority;
a determination by the County Attorney that the
petition addresses a subject prohibited by statute
or ordinance (functions which the Board can't
delegate); or
a determination by the County Attorney that the
petition is legally deficient.
Signatures collected on a defective petition are imme-
diately invalidated and cannot be transferred to subse-
quent corrected petitions.
g.
h.
9.
No changes shall be made to any
issued a sequential petition
Manager.
petition which has been
number by the County
10. If a petition I s defect may be cured with redrafting,
the citizen sponsor must begin the petition process
anew both in terms of the petition submittal,
approval as to format, assignment of sequential number-
ing and the signature gathering process. Signatures
collected on the defective petition cannot be trans-
ferred to the corrected petition.
11. If the citizen sponsor decides to redraft a petition
for any reason, the sponsor shall notify the County
Manager in writing and begin the process anew. The
notice to the County Manager shall indicate that all
copies of the petition being canceled or recalled have
been destroyed by the sponsor. The County Manager
shall close out the previously assigned petition num-
ber. The redrafted petition shall be issued a new
sequential number and shall contain a "Rev. (date)" on
the bottom of the form. The revision date is the date
on which the County Manager sent the certified letter
of sufficiency to the sponsor. If during the process
of verifying signatures for the revised petition it is
determined that copies of the original or earlier peti-
tion were, in fact, circulated by the sponsor and were
not destroyed as previously indicated, the entire peti-
tion will be invalidated. No new petition may be sub-
mitted to the County Manager by the petition's sponsor
or a petition submitted on the invalidated petition's
subject for a period of 24 months.
12. It is the Collier County citizen petition sponsor's
responsibility to:
a. Determine the legal requirements for the petition;
including conforming to the requirements of this
policy;
b. Develop the format for the petition;
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c. Mass produce the petition;
d. circulate the petition for signatures;
e. Present signed petitions to the County Manager for
further action in a timely manner;
f. Pay the fee required for verification of petition
signatures. The fee shall be no more than author-
ized by Florida statutes. The fee is based upon
the total number of petitions sUbmitted, not ~he
number of valid petitions submitted.
If the signatures requiring verification are of
purportedly locally registered voters, the rules for
verification for both constitutional initiative and
candidate petitions shall apply.
14. All signed petition forms pertaining to a citizen peti-
tion shall be submitted in the aggregate to the County
Manager as one document package. No submission of
additional petitions shall be made even if the petition
is found to be deficient in the number of valid signa-
tures or property owners required.
13.
15. The Board shall require petitions containing valid sig-
natures from ten percent (10%) of the potentially
affected citizens before directing staff to:
a. begin a preliminary investigation of the issue;
b. conduct any cost/benefit analysis on the issue; or
c. have the County Attorney determine the legal suf-
ficiency of the petition before further petition
circulation occurs.
The type of petition determines whether or not the sig-
nature requirement is for locally registered voters or
property owners and what the total number of valid
petition signature requirements shall be.
This policy advises that certain actions that may be
requested of the Board, such as the creation or modifi-
cation of municipal service taxing units or municipal
service benefit units or other requested exercise of
the Board's powers, duties and authority may be subject
to the prerequisites of Section 125.01, Florida
statutes, or other Florida laws and/or Collier County
ordinances affecting the numbers and type(s) of indi-
vidual petitioners required under this policy. Florida
laws and County ordinances may be created, amended,
superseded or repealed from time-to-time. The fees for
verification of registered voter signatures by the
Supervisor of Elections shall conform with section
99.097, Florida Statutes. The fees for verification of
property owner signatures by the Property Appraiser
shall conform with applicable Florida laws and the
Property Appraiser's fee policy.
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16. The County Manager shall forward the submitted peti-
tions to the appropriate office for verification -- the
supervisor of Elections for registered voters or the
Property Appraiser for property ownership.
17. Upon receipt of the verification fee and the petition,
the verifying agency shall have 45 days in which .to
complete the work. No verification shall occur until
payment has been received from the petition sponsor.
18. citizen petitions which are countywide in scope shall
be submitted to the Manager no less than 180 days prior
to the election date on which such petition's ballot
question is to appear, except as otherwise required by
law.
19 . citizen petitions which are less than countywide in
scope shall be submitted to the County Manager no less
than 210 days prior to the election date on which such
petition's ballot question is to appear, except as
otherwise required by law.
20. Upon receipt of the petition's signature certification
by the appropriate verifying agency, the County Manager
shall schedule said petition on the next regularly
available Board public meeting agenda.
21. Ordinances and/or resolutions originating from citizen
petitions and containing ballot questions for a county-
wide vote shall be adopted by the Board no less than 90
days before the election date except as otherwise
required by law.
22. Ordinances and/or resolutions originating from citizen
petitions and containing ballot questions for a vote
which is less than countywide shall be adopted by the
Board no less that 120 days before the election date
except as otherwise required by law.
23. The Supervisor of Elections shall assign the ballot
position number for all ballot questions placed on the
ballot by the Board of County Commissioners.
24. A citizen petition which has been defeated at the polls
shall not be the sUbject of another petition effort for
36 months except as otherwise required by law.
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D.
Collier county Citizen Petition Form. Each petition submit-
ted by a' citizen sponsor must conform to the fOllowing
requirements before the County Manager may issue a notice of
sUfficiency:
1. Proposed citizen petitions must be printed on cards or
sheets of paper and may be signed by only one person.
.
2. Proposed citizen petitions to be circulated for signa-
tures must be printed on separate cards or individual
sheets of paper. The minimum size shall be 3 inches by
5 inches and the maximum size shall be 8.5 inches by 14
inches.
3.
Once the petition has been approved for circulation,
the sponsor may reproduce petition forms in newspapers,
magazines, and other forms of printed mass media pro-
vided the forms are reproduced in the same format
authorized by this policy and approved by the County
Manager.
For any citizen petition which must have signatures
verified by the Supervisor of Elections, deemed a
political advertisement as defined in 5106.011(17),"
Florida Statutes, must contain the political disclaimer
required by 5106.143, Florida statutes.
4.
5.
The petition must contain adequate space for the
signee's signature, printed name, residence street
address, city, state, zip code, precinct number if
known by signee, date signed, and signee's date of
birth or voter registration number.
6. The top of the petition form shall be clearly and con-
spicuously entitled: "Collier County citizen Petition
No. 11
7. Line 2 of the petition title shall clearly and con-
spicuously note: "County Manager's determination of
sufficiency on (date)."
8. Each petition form shall contain the following state-
ment at the top of the form underneath the petition
title:
To the extent that 5104.185, Florida
statutes, applies to this petition, , It is
unlawful for any person to knowingly sign a
petition or petitions for a particular issue
more than one time. Any person violating the
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provisions of this section shall, upon con-
viction, be guilty of a misdemeanor of the
first degree, punishable as provided in
5775.082, 5775.083, or 5775.084. I (5104.185,
F.S.)
9. Each petition form seeking to place an issue on the
ballot shall contain the following statement: .
To the extent that 5104.24, Florida statutes,
applies to this petition, 'No registered
elector shall, in connection with any part of
the election process, fraudulently call
himself or herself, or fraudulently pass by,
any other name than the name by which the
elector is registered nor fraudulently use
the name of another in voting. Any person
who violates this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable
as provided in 5775.082 or 5775.083.'
(5104.24, F.S.)
10. The petition's title, as it would appear on the ballot,
shall be stated in bold print and shall not exceed fif-
teen (15) words in length.
11. Next, the substance of the ballot question shall be an
explanatory statement and shall be stated in clear and
concise language to elicit a yes or no vote and shall
not exceed seventy-five (75) words in length.
12. Should the text be required to be printed on both sides
of the petition, it shall be clearly indicated that the
text is continued on the back side or begins on the
other side.
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