July 1, 2001 the Florida Prompt Payment Act, Sec. 218.71, F.S. was made applicable to school districts. The following changes have been made concerning payments related to the School District.

The payment due date for the purchase of goods/services other than construction services is 45 days after:
1. The date a proper invoice is received by the chief disbursement officer.
2. If proper invoice is not received, the date on which delivery of personal
property is accepted, the date on which rental period begins, the date on which services are commenced, whichever is later.

Each invoice must be date stamped with the date first received by an agent of the school district.

If an improper invoice is received, you must notify the vendor within 10 days and indicate the corrective action needed to make the invoice proper (form attached to use for disputes).

Proceedings to resolve disputes must commence not later than 45 days after
proper invoice was received and conclude not later than 60 days after proper invoice was received

Construction invoices have to be processed in a shorter time frame. All construction projects should go through the facilities department. If you have any questions concerning the payment guidelines on construction you can contact accounts payable or facilities.

Payments due and not made within the time period specified shall accrue interest at the rate of 1% per month, and the School Board is prohibited from requiring a vendor to waive the interest requirement by contract. We will be charging interest payments involving the Prompt Payment Act to object 7201 other interest penalties will be charged to object 7202.

For the purposes of this statute, a “proper invoice” or “proper payment request” means an invoice or request for payment which conforms with all statutory requirements and with all requirements specified by the School Board.