The South Florida Water Management District may be breaking state law in re-awarding land leases without competitive bids.

The SFWMD board last month extended leases on 4,701 acres in Glades County to the Old River Cattle Co.

According to district reports, the cattle company is paying SFWMD $55,381 in annual rent on the land -- or $11.78 per acre. The rental charge has increased 3 percent annually, based on the Consumer Price Index, the district said.

With its extended lease, the company may be eligible to receive up to $168,000 in federal Environmental Quality Incentives Program assistance available through matching funds.

Critics of the SFWMD leasing deal, including neighboring ranchers, allege the agency is violating state statutes by extending the leases without seeking competitive bids.

State Statute 373.093 stipulates:

“Before leasing any land, or interest in land, including but not limited to oil and mineral rights, the district shall cause a notice of intention to lease to be published in a newspaper published in the county in which said land is situated and such other places as the board may determine once each week for 3 successive weeks (three insertions being sufficient), the first publication of which shall not be less than 30 nor more than 90 days prior to the date the board executes the lease, which said notice shall set forth the time and place of leasing and a description of the lands to be leased.”

SFWMD published no advertising for the Glades parcels.

The state statute goes on to require that any lease agreements must be "for the best price and terms obtainable, to be determined by the board."

SFWMD did not seek any alternate requests for proposals. District staff, not the board, set the price and terms.

District officials say they were following their own internal regulations.

“A lease may be renewed without competitive process,” SFWMD general counsel Carolyn Ansay told board members at the Oct. 13 meeting.

SFWMD Executive Director Melissa Meeker amplified on Ansay's point this week, saying:

"State statute is silent on whether renewal of an existing lease in good standing requires this step. The district’s longstanding practice -- and those of the other water management districts -- has been to publicly notice new leases only."

The Old River Cattle Co. extension, among a handful of others, was approved by the board on a 6-2 vote, with members Glenn Waldman and Jim Moran, both attorneys, dissenting.

"I questioned the policy of automatically renewing leases without giving other folks the opportunity to bid," Moran told Sunshine State News.

Critics of the SFWMD policy argue that "leasing" and lease "extensions" are a distinction without a difference. And depending on the interpretation of FS 373, the district could have further explaining to do.

A 2004 ruling by the state's 1st District Court of Appeal definitively declared that state law trumps local regulations: “An agency rule cannot contravene statutory provisions. Statutes take precedence over administrative rules.”

That DCA decision reinforced previous court rulings.

In an email to Sunshine State News, SFWMD said it "competes (and advertises) new leases. It has the discretion to renew leases in good standing without a competitive bidding process."

But, agency officials acknowledged, "The district has waived competition in certain instances -- for example, where there are access issues."

SFWMD's governing board, at its upcoming meeting, "will be considering the agency’s land leasing policy for potential revisions," the email stated.

"They will be looking at policy components such as length of lease term, competitive bidding requirements, public noticing protocols and a number of other options. Their revisions, if any, will be in full compliance with Florida Statutes."