At its meeting of December 12, 2017, the Board directed that an item be brought to the Board to discuss County Commission membership on the MPO, including the historical background for the composition of the 19 member MPO.
The 19 member MPO was originally created on August 31, 1999, pursuant to an Interlocal Agreement for Creation of the Broward County Metropolitan Planning Organization ("1999 ILA"). The 1999 ILA was executed by 18 of the 19 municipal members of the MPO, Broward County, the Florida Department of Transportation ("FDOT"), the Tri-County Commuter Rail Authority (now South Florida Regional Transportation Authority or "SFRTA"), the Broward County School Board ("School Board"), and the Broward League of Cities. On September 13, 2005, an Addendum to the 1999 ILA was recorded in the public records of Broward County, adding 11 municipalities as parties to the 1999 ILA, including the Village of Lazy Lake and the Town of Pembroke Park, removing the League of Cities as a voting member of the MPO, and replacing the League of Cities member with an additional municipal representative.
There were two amendments to the 1999 ILA between 1999 and 2016 that amended the municipal apportionment on the MPO. On February 10, 2016, a Third Amendment to the 1999 ILA was recorded in the public records of Broward County ("Third Amendment"). The Third Amendment was executed by 29 of the 31 municipal members of the MPO, FDOT, and the School Board. Broward County, the SFRTA, the Village of Lazy Lake, and the Town of Pembroke Park did not execute the Third Amendment. The Third Amendment purports to expand and reapportion the voting membership of the MPO from 19 to 25 members, with four County Commissioners and one SFRTA member who is also a County Commissioner as voting members.
The attempted expansion and reapportionment of the voting membership of the MPO is inconsistent with statutory requirements and with the express requirements of the 1999 ILA for amendment of its terms. Specifically, Section 339.175(3), Florida Statutes, "Voting Membership," requires County Commissioners to comprise one-third (1/3) of the voting membership of the MPO governing board, unless an official of an agency that operates or administers a major mode of transportation has been appointed to the MPO. In such cases, County Commissioners are required to comprise no less than 20% of the MPO voting membership.
The 1999 ILA added an SFRTA voting member to the MPO and provided for three County Commissioners and one member of the SFRTA, who is also a County Commissioner, as voting members of the 19 member MPO. Presumably because the SFRTA member was not counted as a County Commissioner voting member for purposes of calculating the required minimum membership requirements, the parties to the 1999 ILA availed themselves of 1999 statutory amendments to Section 339.175(3), Florida Statutes, to vary from the statutory requirement that a minimum of 20% of the voting membership of the MPO consist of County Commissioners. The 1999 statutory amendments provide for chartered counties with over one million in population to vary from the 20% requirement upon certain conditions being met, including findings by the charter county within which the MPO exists that the reapportionment plan is needed to fulfill specific goals and policies applicable to the metropolitan planning area and that the reapportionment plan otherwise complies with all federal requirements pertaining to MPO membership. These findings were not made by the Board for the Third Amendment as is statutorily required to have fewer than five County Commissioners, independent of the SFRTA member, as voting members of the MPO.
Additionally, Section 7.02 of the 1999 ILA requires that all amendments to the 1999 ILA be made "by written agreement signed by all parties" to the 1999 ILA, with the same formalities as the 1999 ILA. Broward County, the SFRTA, the Village of Lazy Lake, and the Town of Pembroke Park, all parties to the 1999 ILA and its Addendum, did not execute the Third Amendment.
More detailed historical information regarding the composition of the MPO, including the MPO composition prior to 1999, the parties to the amendments to the 1999 ILA, the proportionate representation of the County Commission following each reapportionment, and an opinion regarding the legal requirements for expanding the MPO's membership from 19 to 25 voting members, is contained in an August 17, 2017, memorandum to the Board attached hereto as Exhibit 1.
|