Florida Statute 166.241 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title XII
MUNICIPALITIES

Chapter 166
MUNICIPALITIES

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166.241 Fiscal years, budgets, appeal of municipal law enforcement agency budget, and budget amendments.—

(1) Each municipality shall establish a fiscal year beginning October 1 of each year and ending September 30 of the following year.

(2) The governing body of each municipality shall adopt a budget each fiscal year. The budget must be adopted by ordinance or resolution unless otherwise specified in the respective municipality’s charter. The amount available from taxation and other sources, including balances brought forward from prior fiscal years, must equal the total appropriations for expenditures and reserves. At a minimum, the adopted budget must show for each fund, as required by law and sound financial practices, budgeted revenues and expenditures by organizational unit which are at least at the level of detail required for the annual financial report under s. 218.32(1). The adopted budget must regulate expenditures of the municipality, and an officer of a municipal government may not expend or contract for expenditures in any fiscal year except pursuant to the adopted budget.

(3) The tentative budget must be posted on the municipality’s official website at least 2 days before the budget hearing, held pursuant to s. 200.065 or other law, to consider such budget and must remain on the website for at least 45 days. The final adopted budget must be posted on the municipality’s official website within 30 days after adoption and must remain on the website for at least 2 years. If the municipality does not operate an official website, the municipality must, within a reasonable period of time as established by the county or counties in which the municipality is located, transmit the tentative budget and final budget to the manager or administrator of such county or counties who shall post the budgets on the county’s website.

(4)(a) If the tentative budget of a municipality contains a funding reduction to the operating budget of the municipal law enforcement agency of more than 5 percent compared to the current fiscal year’s approved operating budget, the state attorney for the judicial circuit in which the municipality is located or a member of the governing body may file a petition with the Division of Administrative Hearings pursuant to s. 120.569 requesting a hearing to challenge the reduction in the municipal law enforcement agency’s proposed operating budget. The petition must be filed with the division within 10 days after the day the tentative budget is posted to the official website of the municipality under subsection (3), and the petitioner must serve a copy of the petition on the affected municipality. The petition must set forth the tentative budget proposed by the municipality and the operating budget of the municipal law enforcement agency as approved by the municipality for the previous year and must state the reasons or grounds for the petition.

(b) The governing body of the municipality must file an answer with the division and must serve a copy of the answer on the petitioner within 5 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, after receipt of service of the petition.

(5)(a) Upon receipt of the petition, the division must assign an administrative law judge to conduct a hearing no later than 20 days after the petition is filed, at which the matters presented in the petition and the answer must be considered. Notwithstanding s. 120.57, all proceedings under this subsection must be conducted by an administrative law judge assigned by the division.

(b) At the hearing, the petitioner and the municipality may present all information relevant to the municipal law enforcement agency’s budgetary needs and requirements, including, but not limited to:

1. The proposed operating budget approved by the municipality;

2. The municipality’s grounds for proposing a reduction in funding to the current fiscal year’s law enforcement operating budget;

3. The petitioner’s grounds for challenging the proposed reduction in funding to the law enforcement operating budget;

4. The operating budgets of other public entities in the municipality;

5. The operating budgets of other law enforcement agencies in municipalities that are of comparable size;

6. The municipal law enforcement agency’s staffing needs and budgetary requirements from the current fiscal year and the 2 previous fiscal years;

7. The draft municipal law enforcement agency operating budget, budget amendments, and budget meeting minutes from the current fiscal year and the 2 previous fiscal years;

8. The revenue and projected revenue available to the municipality and any change in the amount of revenue collected over the previous 3 fiscal years; and

9. Any other information relevant to the municipal law enforcement agency’s operating budget.

(6)(a) Within 15 days after the hearing, the administrative law judge must issue a final order either approving or rejecting the proposed operating budget for the municipal law enforcement agency by determining whether the proposed reduction will impair the law enforcement agency’s overall ability to ensure public safety. In making the determination, the administrative law judge must make findings regarding whether the funding reduction in the proposed operating budget of the municipal law enforcement agency will result in:

1. A reduction of the number of law enforcement officers employed by the municipality;

2. A reduction or an elimination of public safety programs or initiatives provided by the agency; and

3. A lack of appropriate equipment necessary to ensure officer safety.

(b) The administrative law judge’s final order is appealable pursuant to s. 120.68, and any such judicial review must be sought in the First District Court of Appeal.

(7) By each October 15, the municipal budget officer shall electronically submit the following information regarding the final budget and the municipality’s economic status to the Office of Economic and Demographic Research in the format specified by the office:

(a) Government spending per resident, including, at a minimum, the spending per resident for the previous 5 fiscal years.

(b) Government debt per resident, including, at a minimum, the debt per resident for the previous 5 fiscal years.

(d) Median income within the municipality.

(e) Number of special taxing districts wholly or partially within the municipality.

(f) Percent of budget spent on salaries and benefits for municipal employees.

(g) Annual municipal expenditures providing for the financing, acquisition, construction, reconstruction, or rehabilitation of housing that is affordable, as that term is defined in s. 420.0004. The reported expenditures must indicate the source of such funds as “federal,” “state,” “local,” or “other,” as applicable. This information must be included in the submission due by October 15, 2020, and each annual submission thereafter.

(8) The governing body of each municipality at any time within a fiscal year or within 60 days following the end of the fiscal year may amend a budget for that year as follows:

(a) Appropriations for expenditures within a fund may be decreased or increased by motion recorded in the minutes if the total appropriations of the fund is not changed.

(b) The governing body may establish procedures by which the designated budget officer may authorize budget amendments if the total appropriations of the fund is not changed.

(c) If a budget amendment is required for a purpose not specifically authorized in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b), the budget amendment must be adopted in the same manner as the original budget unless otherwise specified in the municipality’s charter.

(9) If the governing body of a municipality amends the budget pursuant to paragraph (8)(c), the adopted amendment must be posted on the official website of the municipality within 5 days after adoption and must remain on the website for at least 2 years. If the municipality does not operate an official website, the municipality must, within a reasonable period of time as established by the county or counties in which the municipality is located, transmit the adopted amendment to the manager or administrator of such county or counties who shall post the adopted amendment on the county’s website.

History.—s. 1, ch. 73-129; s. 4, ch. 83-106; s. 6, ch. 96-324; s. 14, ch. 2004-305; s. 11, ch. 2011-144; s. 8, ch. 2019-15; s. 2, ch. 2019-56; s. 7, ch. 2020-27; s. 1, ch. 2021-6; s. 3, ch. 2023-156.

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Amendments to 166.241

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 166.241

Total Results: 11 | Sort by: Relevance | Newest First

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Town of Gulf Stream v. Palm Beach Cnty., 206 So. 3d 721 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016).

Cited 8 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 2016 Fla. App. LEXIS 18772

...Contrary to the trial court’s ruling that “the citizens of a municipality may enter into a contract ... by exercising their referendum power,” the referendum here did not form a contract between the municipalities and the County for OIG funding. Under section 166.241(2), Florida Statutes (2010), it is the governing body of a municipality—not the electorate—that has the power to adopt a budget....

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Waite Dev. Inc. v. City of Milton, 866 So. 2d 153 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004).

Cited 2 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2004 WL 305663

...and expenditure of funds for a private purpose, in violation of Article VII, section 10 of the Florida Constitution. The City also argued the alleged contract was ultra vires, *155 unlawful, void, and unenforceable in that it would be a violation of section 166.241, Florida Statutes, and section 45 of the Charter of the City....

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Ago (Fla. Att'y Gen. 2001).

Published | Florida Attorney General Reports

...No comment is expressed herein on previous expenditures of contraband forfeiture funds by the city or its officers. It is axiomatic that the expenditure of public funds must primarily serve a public purpose. 1 Thus, any expenditure of municipal funds must serve a municipal purpose, rather than a private purpose. 2 Section 166.241 , Florida Statutes, makes general provision for budgeting by municipalities. The statute requires that municipalities report their finances annually and prescribes a municipal fiscal year. 3 Section 166.241 (3), Florida Statutes, provides: "The governing body of each municipality shall adopt a budget each fiscal year....

...Fla. 98-81 (1998) (city may expend public funds for maintenance of permanent easement through private property if easement grants public the right to travel on property and city commission determines that expenditure serves a municipal purpose). 3 Section 166.241 (1) and (2), Fla....

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Ago (Fla. Att'y Gen. 2004).

Published | Florida Attorney General Reports

...ntract to finance or refinance a capital project authorized by law that involves payments for a term in excess of twelve months, with such payments to be funded from ad valorem taxes, referendum approval is necessary. 5 You also express concern that section 166.241 (2), Florida Statutes, would preclude the city from entering into multi-year contracts. Section 166.241 , Florida Statutes, requires municipalities to establish a fiscal year running from October 1 of each year through September 30 of the following year. The provision with which you are particularly concerned, section 166.241 (2), states: "The governing body of each municipality shall adopt a budget each fiscal year....

...rnment to expend or contract for expenditures in any fiscal year except in pursuance of budgeted appropriations." (e.s.) The statute goes on to authorize budget amendments for particular purposes and establish a procedure for making such amendments. Section 166.241 (2), Florida Statutes, prohibits a municipal officer from contracting during the course of the fiscal year for expenditures that have not been the subject of an appropriation for that year....

...166.021 (4), F.S., securing broad municipal home rule powers to cities."); Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 84-100 (1984). 4 And see Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 84-100 (1984). 5 See Ops. Att'y Gen. Fla. 89-58 (1989) and 90-54 (1990). 6 See Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 74-285 (1974) (the plain meaning of section 166.241 is that before a municipal officer can make an expenditure of municipal funds, an appropriation must have been made therefore)....

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Malone v. City of Satellite Beach, 653 So. 2d 437 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1995).

Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1995 Fla. App. LEXIS 3079, 1995 WL 124681

...serving as a city councilman. We affirm. The salient facts of this case are undisputed. Malone was a city councilman when he filed a complaint against the City seeking to enjoin it from adopting the 1993-94 proposed budget which he believed violated section 166.241(3), Florida Statutes (1993) and the City’s charter....

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City of Sweetwater v. Lopez, 245 So. 3d 863 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018).

Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal

...evenues will be in excess of those estimated or insufficient to meet the amount appropriated. As provided in the Charter, the budget must also comply with state law, specifically, Chapter 166, Florida Statutes, which governs municipalities. Section 166.241(2) provides in relevant part: The amount available from taxation and other sources, including balances brought forward from prior fiscal years, must equal the total appropriations for expenditures and reserves....

...Mayor Lopez supported this contention with an affidavit from Richie C. Tandoc, a certified public accountant, who opined, inter alia, that the Final Budget adopted by the Commission was not a balanced budget and was not prepared in compliance with section 166.241(2) or in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.3 2 Mayor Lopez contended that this projected revenue was not “available” within the meaning of section 166.241(2), because this public land: 1) had not been appraised; 2) was not under contract for sale; 3) could not be sold unless such action was approved by a referendum, as required by the Charter; and 4) had not been the subject of a required referendum....

...Weithorn averred that, in addition to her thirty-year career as a CPA, she led the City of Miami Beach’s budget formulation during most of her eight-year tenure as a Miami Beach City Commissioner. Ms. Weithorn opined, inter alia, that the Final Budget was balanced and complied with the requirements of section 166.241(2). The competing affidavits submitted in support of the parties’ respective positions created a genuine issue of material fact, and therefore the trial court erred in entering judgment in favor of Mayor Lopez on this claim....

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Brockway v. Town of Golfview, 675 So. 2d 699 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1996).

Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1996 Fla. App. LEXIS 6682, 1996 WL 346922

...Appellant’s suit for declaratory relief challenged the validity of the contract and the Town’s actions and alleged, among other things, that: (1) the contract was not accompanied by a budgetary appropriation (or designated source of payment) as required by section 166.241(3), Florida Statutes; (2) the contract, which was open-ended in nature, would be in excess of the revenues received by the Town in fiscal year 1992/1993 in violation of section 166.241, Florida Statutes; and (3) the contract met the definition of a bond and would subject the citizens of Golfview to improper ad valorem taxation....

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Ago (Fla. Att'y Gen. 2010).

Published | Florida Attorney General Reports

extensive as those governing county budgets. Section 166.241, Florida Statutes, merely requires a municipality

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Ago (Fla. Att'y Gen. 2007).

Published | Florida Attorney General Reports

minimum millage rate. As you note, however, section 166.241(2), Florida Statutes, requires the governing

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Ago (Fla. Att'y Gen. 1974).

Published | Florida Attorney General Reports

...As such, they are subject to annual postaudit of municipal financial accounts, pursuant to s. 1, Ch. 73-129, Laws of Florida. Section 1, Ch. 73-129, Laws of Florida, repeals Ch. 166 , F.S. 1971, and adopts in lieu thereof a new Municipal Home Rule Powers Act. Section 166.241 (4) of this new act provides that: "Each municipality shall make provision for annual postaudit of its financial accounts in accordance with the rules of the auditor general....

...Against this statutory and regulatory background, you inquire as to whether the financial accounts of firemen's and policemen's pension trust funds established pursuant to Chs. 175 and 185, F. S. 1971, respectively, are municipal financial accounts within the purview of s. 166.241 (4), supra....

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Ago (Fla. Att'y Gen. 2009).

Published | Florida Attorney General Reports

provided in Chapter 129, Florida Statutes. Section 166.241, Florida Statutes, merely provides that the

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