BRADENTON, Fla. - Miami-Dade County plans to solicit qualifications of firms interested in entering a public-private partnership for its court and jail facilities.
The county will release a request for qualifications in the next 60 days to solicit responses from firms or consortiums with the expertise to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the facilities.
The P3 contract will not include privatizing user functions.
The comprehensive plan to examine courthouses and jails has been prompted by deteriorating conditions at a 90-year-old civil courthouse and a settlement between the county and Department of Justice involving six correctional facilities where remedial measures are necessary.
The county is moving forward with the RFQ, and a concurrent process to implement the use of P3s, after Miami-Dade voters refused to support a $400 million general obligation bond issue in November to finance a new courthouse.
The GO bonds would have provided the funding to replace a 90-year-old facility that already needs $30 million in emergency repairs to cure problems with air quality, termites, mildew, carbon dioxide, and a crumbling foundation.
In coming weeks, the County Commission also plans to appoint a task force of experts to recommend the regulations and policies the county needs in order to use P3s on all types of infrastructure.
"We have a number of opportunities for P3s in Miami-Dade County [but] we don't really have a clear path to it now," Mayor Carlos Gimenez told the board on Feb 3. "We need a road map to what is the process."
Alvarez said the county's ordinances should be adopted in accordance with state law, which allows local governments to use private partners to finance infrastructure needs based on certain standardized guidelines.
Commissioner Juan Zapata, who sponsored the resolutions to send out the RFQ and create the task force, said it is important that the county move ahead simultaneously on both matters because of the opportunity to have the private sector involved in financing, design, and other elements of needed projects.
In the past, Miami-Dade has issued bonds and managed construction projects.
In 2013, the Florida Legislature passed a bill authorizing local governments to use P3s for all kinds of infrastructure needs.
The bill also designated a task force to develop uniform guidelines for P3s to be implemented. The task force concluded its work last year.
Many of the task force's recommendations will be considered by lawmakers in House Bill 65 and a companion measure in Senate Bill 824.
The Legislature is currently holding committee meetings on pre-filed bills. The regular session begins March 3 and runs through May 1.
