Ditchmen • NUCA of Florida Ditchmen - April 2020 | Page 12

Tallahassee, Florida 32301
850-566-7824
March 23, 2020
The Honorable Ron DeSantis
Governor of Florida
Plaza Level 05, The Capitol
400 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0001
Dear Governor DeSantis:
On behalf of the more than 350 member companies of the National Utility Contractors
Association of Florida (NUCA FL), I am writing to ask for your approval of CS/CS/HB 279
relating to Local Government Public Construction Works by Representative David Smith.
The enrolled bill is the result of compromise between the Florida League of Cities, the
Florida Association of Counties, and the National Utility Contractors Association of
Florida. The purpose of the bill is to foster greater local government transparency and
even the playing field between private contractors and local governments in the
performance of public works construction projects by:
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Clarifying current law for determining if it is in the public’s best interest for a local
government to self-perform public works projects by reiterating that estimated
costs include employee compensation and benefits, equipment costs and
maintenance, insurance costs, the costs of materials, and a portion of
management fees. This is also applied to the estimated costs of construction and
reconstruction projects performed utilizing proceeds from the constitutional gas
tax, for which a county may use its own forces if the estimated cost is less than the
thresholds described in law for different types of projects. These prescribed
components for estimated costs are the same ones used by private contractors to
determine their costs when bidding on public works projects.
DITCHMEN • APRIL 2020