Cultural facilities; grants for acquisition, renovation, or construction; funding; approval; allocation.

(1) The Division of Arts and Culture may accept and administer moneys appropriated to it for providing grants to counties, municipalities, and qualifying nonprofit corporations for the acquisition, renovation, or construction of cultural facilities.

(2) A county, municipality, or qualified corporation may apply for a grant of state funds for the acquisition, renovation, or construction of a cultural facility. For the purposes of this section, a “qualified corporation” is a corporation which is designated a not-for-profit corporation pursuant to s. 501(c)(3) or (4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, and which is described in, and allowed to receive contributions pursuant to the provisions of, s. 170 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, and which is a corporation not for profit incorporated pursuant to chapter 617. The state grant must be matched by a contribution from the county, municipality, or nonprofit corporation in an amount to be determined by the Department of State.

(3) The Florida Council on Arts and Culture shall review each application for a grant to acquire, renovate, or construct a cultural facility which is submitted pursuant to subsection (2) and shall submit annually to the Secretary of State for approval lists of all applications that are recommended by the council for the award of grants, arranged in order of priority. The division may allocate grants only for projects that are approved or for which funds are appropriated by the Legislature. Projects approved and recommended by the Secretary of State which are not funded by the Legislature shall be retained on the project list for the following grant cycle only. All projects that are retained shall be required to submit such information as may be required by the department as of the established deadline date of the latest grant cycle in order to adequately reflect the most current status of the project.

(4) Any contract administered under this section shall require the recordation of a restrictive covenant by the grantee and property owner or the purchase of a bond as prescribed by rule to ensure that the facility continues to be used as a cultural facility for a period of 10 years following the grant award. If the facility ceases to be used as a cultural facility during the 10 years following the grant award, the grant funds shall be repaid to the department according to an amortization schedule set forth in rule.

(5) The Division of Arts and Culture shall adopt rules prescribing the criteria to be applied by the Florida Council on Arts and Culture in recommending applications for the award of grants and rules providing for the administration of this section.