A process to consider alternative means to govern how annexation occurs in Pinellas County has been initiated. The process is provided for under Chapter 171, Part II, of the Florida Statutes (F.S.), and is titled the Interlocal Service Boundary Agreement Act.
The process being embarked upon is an outgrowth of the Joint PPC/CPA Annexation Subcommittee. The six-member subcommittee, made up of elected officials serving on the Pinellas Planning Council and Board of County Commissioners in its capacity as the Countywide Planning Authority, met between January and June 2008. After considering alternative means to address annexation, the subcommittee recommended the procedure now being pursued.
Under this process, the Board of County Commissioners issued an “Initiating Resolution” inviting all twenty-four municipal jurisdictions and independent districts to participate in the process. Those jurisdictions choosing to participate have now transmitted “Responding Resolutions,” which outline the issues proposed to be ad dressed by the responding parties, and include:
• The process, definitions, and criteria for voluntary and referendum annexation.
• The establishment of municipal and unincorporated service areas, with the starting point for these discussions utilizing the planning areas previously delineated under Ordinance 00-63, as recommended to be modified by the Joint PPC/CPA Annexation Subcommittee in 2005-06.
• Incorporation of related measures, including the Charter Settlement Agreement, joint planning provisions under Section 163.3171, F.S., and the “ability to serve” requirements of the PPC Special Act.
Within sixty days of transmittal of the Responding Resolutions, initial negotiations will begin. This phase is currently targeted to begin in mid-November. The process must continue in good faith for six months, and may be extended by mutual agreement.
The objective is to formulate interlocal agreements that will establish more complete, rational, and predictable procedures and standards for the annexation process in Pinellas County, and contribute to improved interlocal government cooperation and efficiency.
For more information about annexation reform efforts in Pinellas County, including the proposed Interlocal Service Boundary Agreement process, please contact:
Pinellas Planning Council
600 Cleveland Street, Suite 850
Clearwater, Florida 33755-4160
(727) 464-8250
