Can a Florida soil and water conservation district sponsor a nonprofit corporation that buys and runs a private water and wastewater utility on its behalf?

Plain-English summary

The Polk County Soil and Water Conservation District was approached about acquiring a privately owned water and sewer system. The proposed deal used an IRS Revenue Ruling 63-20 nonprofit-conduit structure: a nonprofit corporation, formed under Florida law, would issue tax-exempt bonds, buy the utility, and operate it. The district would provide oversight and collect a fee. After the bonds were paid off, the property would belong to the district, which could then sell it and apply the proceeds to district purposes.

The AG concluded the district could not do this. The reasoning is the foundational rule for Florida special districts: "Special districts have only those powers expressly enumerated by statute, or necessarily implied to carry out a power conferred by the Legislature." The doctrine traces to Forbes Pioneer Boat Line v. Board of Commissioners of Evergreen Drainage District (Fla. 1919) and was confirmed more recently in Bd. of Commissioners of Jupiter Inlet Dist. v. Thibadeau (Fla. 4th DCA 2007).

Soil and water conservation district powers are set out in § 582.20. The statute lets the district acquire and administer property, accept income, and sell property. It does not include "sponsor and provide oversight to a water and wastewater system." That gap is dispositive.

A second statutory layer hardens the answer. Chapter 153 governs water and sewer systems in Florida. Part I gives counties the power. Part II authorizes counties to create water and sewer districts. Part III authorizes wastewater facility privatization contracts. Section 153.91(3) defines the "public entity" that can use Part III, and the definition reaches a special district only "when it is authorized to provide wastewater service." Chapter 582 contains no such authorization. So even the privatization route under Part III is unavailable to a soil and water conservation district.

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: Can a soil and water conservation district acquire any property at all?
A: Yes. § 582.20 includes general property-acquisition and disposition powers. The opinion does not narrow that. The problem was the operational layer (sponsoring and overseeing a utility), which goes beyond passive ownership.

Q: What about the 63-20 nonprofit conduit structure?
A: The 63-20 structure can be a legitimate financing tool when the underlying public entity has authority for the project. It does not confer that authority. If the district lacks Chapter 153 authorization, the financing structure does not cure the gap.

Q: Could the county or a different special district do this?
A: Counties have explicit Chapter 153 Part I authority. Counties can also create dedicated water and sewer districts under Part II. Those are the statutory pathways the Legislature laid down.

Q: Why does Florida treat special districts so restrictively?
A: The "expressly enumerated, or necessarily implied" rule from Forbes Pioneer (1919) is the long-standing default. It limits special-purpose entities to the mission the Legislature gave them. The doctrine prevents a special district from drifting into governance areas the Legislature reserved for general-purpose local governments or for a different special-district class.

Q: What if the county passes a resolution authorizing the soil and water district to do this?
A: A county cannot expand a special district's statutory powers by local action. The grant must come from the Legislature. The AG's opinion would not change because the county adopted a resolution.

Background and statutory framework

Florida's soil and water conservation districts are governed by Chapter 582. The statute frames the districts' mission as soil-conservation programs, erosion control, water-resource cooperation with state and federal agencies, and educational/demonstration activity. Section 582.20 enumerates specific powers. Operating a public water utility is not among them.

Chapter 153 is the parallel statutory home for water and sewer service authority. The Legislature designed it as the controlled space for who can provide that service: counties (Part I), county-created water and sewer districts (Part II), and qualifying public entities entering wastewater privatization contracts (Part III). Section 153.91(3) treats a special district as a "public entity" only when separately "authorized to provide wastewater service" under its enabling statute. The cross-reference makes it impossible for a special district outside Chapter 153 to bootstrap into the privatization framework.

The structure reflects a deliberate Florida choice to channel utility authority through general-purpose local governments and clearly enumerated districts, not through indirect arrangements with conservation-mission special districts.

Citations and references

Statutes:
- § 582.20, Fla. Stat. (Powers of districts)
- Chapter 582, Fla. Stat. (Soil and Water Conservation)
- Chapter 153, Fla. Stat. (Water and Sewer Systems)

Cases:
- Forbes Pioneer Boat Line v. Bd. of Commissioners of Evergreen Drainage Dist., 82 So. 346 (Fla. 1919)
- Bd. of Commissioners of Jupiter Inlet Dist. v. Thibadeau, 956 So. 2d 529 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)

Federal authority:
- IRS Rev. Rul. 63-20, 1963-1 C.B. 24

Source

• Landing page: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/ag-opinions/soil-water-conservation-district
• Original PDF: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/print/pdf/node/8038

Original opinion text

June 15, 2017

Mr. Rick Dantzler
Victor Smith Law Group, P.A.
55 Fifth Street Northwest
Winter Haven, Florida 33881

Dear Mr. Dantzler:

On behalf of the Polk County Soil and Water Conservation District, you have asked the Attorney General whether the District may sponsor a nonprofit corporation organized for the purpose of owning and operating a water and wastewater utility. Attorney General Bondi has asked me to respond to your letter.

You state that the District has been asked whether it is interested in acquiring a privately owned water and sewer system located in Polk County. Rather than purchasing the utility, an independent nonprofit corporation would be created under Florida law to sell bonds to finance the purchase, with no liability on the part of the District, and the property would become the property of the District once the indebtedness is paid off.[1] The District would provide oversight for the corporation and receive a fee for the service, and when the utility becomes the property of the District, it could sell the utility and use the proceeds for District purposes. You ask whether this arrangement would be within the scope of a soil and water conservation district.

Special districts have only those powers expressly enumerated by statute, or necessarily implied to carry out a power conferred by the Legislature.[2] The powers granted to soil and water conservation districts are set forth in section 582.20, Florida Statutes. Although districts are authorized to acquire and administer property and to receive income from and sell such property, no provision authorizes a district to sponsor and provide oversight to a water and wastewater system.

In fact, the oversight of water and sewer systems is controlled by Chapter 153, Florida Statutes. Generally, Part I of Chapter 153 gives the power to purchase, construct, or improve water and sewer systems to counties. Part II gives counties the power to create water and sewer districts. Part III specifically addresses wastewater facility privatization contracts, finding as follows in section 153.90(2), Florida Statutes:

"The Legislature therefore determines that it is in the public interest of the state to supplement and enhance the authority of public entities to solicit, negotiate, and enter into contracts with private entities for the financing, designing, acquisition, ownership, leasing, construction, improvement, operation, maintenance, and administration, or any combination thereof, of wastewater facilities."

Section 153.91(3), Florida Statutes, provides that the definition of "Public entity" as used above includes a special district when it is "authorized to provide wastewater service[.]" There is no authorization in Chapter 582, Florida Statutes, for soil and water conservation districts to "provide wastewater service," and thus, no grant of power to a soil and water conservation district to enter into an agreement regarding the operation of a water and wastewater system.

I trust that the above informal comments may be of assistance to you in resolving this matter.

Sincerely,

Ellen B. Gwynn
Assistant Attorney General

EBG/tsh

[1] You base this arrangement on Internal Revenue Service Revenue Ruling 63-20, which describes the elements necessary to enable tax-exempt financing of a nonprofit that is engaged in a public purpose on behalf of a state or political subdivision. Rev. Rul. 63-20, 1963-1 C.B. 24.

[2] See Forbes Pioneer Boat Line v. Bd. of Commissioners of Evergreen Drainage Dist., 82 So. 346, 350 (Fla. 1919); Bd. of Commissioners of Jupiter Inlet Dist. v. Thibadeau, 956 So. 2d 529, 532 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007).