125.355 Proposed purchase of real property by county; confidentiality of records; procedure.—
(1)(a) In any case in which a county, pursuant to the provisions of this section, seeks to acquire by purchase any real property for a public purpose, every appraisal, offer, or counteroffer must be in writing. Such appraisals, offers, and counteroffers shall not be available for public disclosure or inspection and are exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) until an option contract is executed or, if no option contract is executed, until 30 days before a contract or agreement for purchase is considered for approval by the board of county commissioners. If a contract or agreement for purchase is not submitted to the board of county commissioners for approval, the exemption from s. 119.07(1) will expire 30 days after the termination of negotiations. The county shall maintain complete and accurate records of every such appraisal, offer, and counteroffer. For the purposes of this section, the term “option contract” means a proposed agreement by the county to purchase a piece of property, subject to the approval of the local governing body at a public meeting after 30 days’ public notice. The county will not be under any obligation to exercise the option unless the option contract is approved by the governing body at the public hearing specified in this section.
(b) If the exemptions provided in this section are utilized, the governing body shall obtain at least one appraisal by an appraiser approved pursuant to s. 253.025 for each purchase in an amount of not more than $500,000. For each purchase in an amount in excess of $500,000, the governing body shall obtain at least two appraisals by appraisers approved pursuant to s. 253.025. If the agreed purchase price exceeds the average appraised price of the two appraisals, the governing body is required to approve the purchase by an extraordinary vote. The governing body may, by ordinary vote, exempt a purchase in an amount of $100,000 or less from the requirement for an appraisal.
(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, any county that does not choose with respect to any specific purchase to utilize the exemptions from s. 119.07(1) provided in this section may follow any procedure not in conflict with the provisions of chapter 119 for the purchase of real property which is authorized in its charter or established by ordinance.
(2) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as providing an exemption from, or an exception to, s. 286.011.
History.—s. 1, ch. 84-298; s. 1, ch. 87-60; s. 1, ch. 88-315; s. 32, ch. 90-360; s. 8, ch. 94-240; s. 44, ch. 96-406; s. 29, ch. 2016-233.
