Can a Florida county lease or convey county-owned land to a developer for a project that includes market-rate housing as an economic-development activity?
Plain-English summary
State Senator Oscar Braynon II asked the AG whether § 125.045, Florida Statutes ("County economic development powers"), placed any state-prescribed prohibitions on a county leasing or conveying county-owned land to a private enterprise for a development project that included market-rate residential housing.
The AG's response is a structural one rather than a yes/no. Section 125.045(3) lists activities that comprise "economic development activities" for which county public funds may be expended. The list reads "developing or improving local infrastructure, issuing bonds to finance or refinance the cost of capital projects for industrial or manufacturing plants, leasing or conveying real property, and making grants to private enterprises for the expansion of businesses existing in the community or the attraction of new businesses to the community." The AG read that as a non-exclusive set of examples, not a bright-line definition of what qualifies.
The threshold the statute really sets is in § 125.045(1): the activities must further "attracting and retaining manufacturing development, business enterprise management, and other activities conducive to economic promotion." That requires legislative findings by the county's governing body, not a statewide rule the AG can declare. The opinion declines to interpret the statute as applied to a specific transaction without a request from the county itself, citing § 16.01(3) (which channels AG opinions through requests from public officials about their own duties).
The practical takeaway: market-rate housing as an element of a development project is not categorically excluded from the § 125.045 framework, but the county must make findings that connect the proposed lease or conveyance to the legislative goals in § 125.045(1) before it acts.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 2017. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.
Common questions
Q: Could a county lease its land to a developer doing market-rate housing under § 125.045?
A: The opinion did not say yes or no. It said the activities listed in § 125.045(3) were illustrative, not exclusive, and the question turned on whether the county made findings tying the project to the legislative goals in (1).
Q: Did the AG say market-rate housing was per se outside "economic development"?
A: No. Florida courts have held that incidental private benefit does not defeat a public purpose if the public interest is "present and sufficiently strong." Market-rate housing tied to attracting and retaining business activity could meet that test.
Q: Why did the AG decline to give a direct answer?
A: Section 16.01(3), Florida Statutes, gives the AG advisory authority on questions about a public officer's own official duties. The senator's question was about how the statute applies to a hypothetical or in-progress transaction, not about a duty the senator was about to perform.
Q: What kinds of findings would a county need to make?
A: The opinion did not list specific factors. It pointed to § 125.045(1)'s legislative goals and § 125.045(3)'s public-purpose declaration as the framework. In practice, counties usually adopt a resolution finding that a particular project advances those goals.
Q: Did the constitution add any constraints?
A: The opinion did not address Article VII, section 10 (the public-purpose / no-pledge-of-credit clause). That separate constitutional layer can apply to public-fund expenditures supporting private parties.
Background and statutory framework
Section 125.045 dates back to a legislative push to enable counties to engage in economic-development activity. Subsection (1) declares that "it is the policy of the state to facilitate the orderly economic development of counties for the general welfare of the citizens by attracting and retaining manufacturing development, business enterprise management, and other activities conducive to economic promotion[.]" Subsection (2) declares such activities a public purpose. Subsection (3) lists illustrative activities.
The opinion's read of (3) as non-exclusive is doctrinally significant. It opens the door to creative project structures (mixed-use development, public-private partnerships, conveyance plus economic-development incentives) so long as the county can show the connection to the (1) goals. It also means the county's documented findings carry the weight, since a court reviewing a challenge would look to those findings.
The AG-opinion-process limit (request must come from the public officer with the duty at issue) is a recurring procedural backbone for AG opinions. It explains why so many AG opinions on county-level questions are responses to county attorneys or county commissions rather than to outside parties.
Citations and references
Statutes:
- § 125.045, Fla. Stat. (County economic development powers)
- § 16.01, Fla. Stat. (Attorney General; duties)
Source
- Landing page: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/ag-opinions/county-economic-development
- Original PDF: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/print/pdf/node/8039
Original opinion text
June 1, 2017
Senator Oscar Braynon II
606 Northwest 103rd Street
Miami Gardens, Florida 33169
Dear Senator Braynon:
You have asked whether, under section 125.045, Florida Statutes ("County economic development powers"), there are "any State-prescribed prohibitions or restrictions" which would preclude the governing body of a county from leasing or conveying county-owned real property to a private enterprise to facilitate its development of a project which would include market-rate residential housing. You have not provided any other facts regarding the proposed project or the terms of the proposed lease or conveyance of county-owned real property. However, in posing the question, you note that section 125.045 "provides that '...it constitutes a public purpose to expend public funds for economic development activities, including, but not limited to…leasing or conveying real property....'"
In an effort to assist in your analysis of this question, it appears that the list contained in section 125.045(3) does not provide examples of "economic development activities" for which expenditure of local government funds constitutes a "public purpose." Instead, the activities set forth in section 125.045(3) ("developing or improving local infrastructure, issuing bonds to finance or refinance the cost of capital projects for industrial or manufacturing plants, leasing or conveying real property, and making grants to private enterprises for the expansion of businesses existing in the community or the attraction of new businesses to the community") appear to comprise a non-exclusive list of ways in which the "governing body of a county may expend public funds"--either directly or indirectly--in furtherance of the stated legislative goals of "attracting and retaining manufacturing development, business enterprise management, and other activities conducive to economic promotion[.]" § 125.045(1), Fla. Stat. (2017).
Therefore, a careful analysis of the proposed project, and consideration of whether it furthers the express statutory goals of "attracting and retaining manufacturing development, business enterprise management, and other activities conducive to economic promotion" would have to be undertaken by the governing board of the local body to determine whether the proposed project, which includes market-rate residential housing, would comprise valid "economic development" activities for which, under section 125.045, Florida Statutes, public funds may be (directly or indirectly) expended.
I hope these comments will be helpful to you, and trust you will understand that we cannot undertake an analysis of the statute's application to a proposed lease or conveyance of county property to a private enterprise to facilitate development of a proposed project without a request from the governing board of the local government outlining the particulars of the proposed transactions. See § 16.01(3), Fla. Stat. (2017).
Sincerely,
Teresa L. Mussetto
Senior Assistant Attorney General
TLM/tsh