Bill Text: FL S1502 | 2011 | Regular Session | Comm Sub


Bill Title: Ad Valorem Tax Exemption/Deployed Servicemembers

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-02 - Read 2nd time -SJ 643 [S1502 Detail]

Download: Florida-2011-S1502-Comm_Sub.html
       Florida Senate - 2011                      CS for CS for SB 1502
       
       
       
       By the Committees on Budget; and Military Affairs, Space, and
       Domestic Security; and Senators Simmons, Dean, and Altman
       
       
       
       576-04624-11                                          20111502c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to an ad valorem tax exemption for
    3         deployed servicemembers; creating s. 196.173, F.S.;
    4         providing for certain servicemembers who receive a
    5         homestead exemption and who are deployed in certain
    6         military operations to receive an additional ad
    7         valorem tax exemption; designating qualifying military
    8         operations; requiring the Department of Revenue to
    9         notify property appraisers and tax collectors of the
   10         designated military operations; requiring the
   11         Department of Military Affairs to submit a report
   12         annually of military operations to the President of
   13         the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
   14         Representatives, and the tax committees of each house
   15         of the Legislature; specifying the calculation to be
   16         used in determining the exemption amount; requiring
   17         that a servicemember apply to the property appraiser
   18         to receive the exemption in the year following the
   19         year of a qualifying deployment; providing for the
   20         application forms to be prescribed by the Department
   21         of Revenue and furnished to an applicant by the
   22         property appraiser; requiring that a property
   23         appraiser consider applications for an exemption
   24         within a certain time; providing a definition;
   25         amending s. 194.011, F.S.; requiring a person
   26         appealing the denial of a deployed servicemember
   27         exemption to the value adjustment board to file the
   28         appeal within a certain time; amending s. 196.011,
   29         F.S.; providing requirements for the forms used for
   30         claims for the exemption for deployed servicemembers;
   31         authorizing the Department of Revenue to adopt
   32         emergency rules; providing for application of the act
   33         to qualifying deployments in the 2010 calendar year;
   34         providing for the act to apply to tax rolls beginning
   35         in 2011; providing an effective date.
   36  
   37  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   38  
   39         Section 1. Section 196.173, Florida Statutes, is created to
   40  read:
   41         196.173Exemption for deployed servicemembers.—
   42         (1)A servicemember who receives a homestead exemption may
   43  receive an additional ad valorem tax exemption on that homestead
   44  property as provided in this section.
   45         (2)The exemption is available to servicemembers who were
   46  deployed during the preceding calendar year on active duty
   47  outside the continental United States, Alaska, or Hawaii in
   48  support of:
   49         (a)Operation Enduring Freedom, which began on October 7,
   50  2001;
   51         (b)Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began on March 19, 2003,
   52  and ended on August 31, 2010; or
   53         (c)Operation New Dawn, which began on September 1, 2010.
   54  
   55  The Department of Revenue shall notify all property appraisers
   56  and tax collectors in this state of the designated military
   57  operations.
   58         (3)By January 15 of each year, the Department of Military
   59  Affairs shall submit to the President of the Senate, the Speaker
   60  of the House of Representatives, and the tax committees of each
   61  house of the Legislature a report of all known and unclassified
   62  military operations outside the continental United States,
   63  Alaska, or Hawaii for which servicemembers based in the
   64  continental United States have been deployed during the previous
   65  calendar year. The report must include:
   66         (a)The official and common names of the military
   67  operations;
   68         (b)The general location and purpose of each military
   69  operation;
   70         (c)The date each military operation commenced; and
   71         (d)The date each military operation terminated, unless the
   72  operation is ongoing.
   73         (4)The amount of the exemption is equal to the taxable
   74  value of the homestead of the servicemember on January 1 of the
   75  year in which the exemption is sought multiplied by the number
   76  of days that the servicemember was on a qualifying deployment in
   77  the preceding calendar year and divided by the number of days in
   78  that year.
   79         (5)(a) An eligible servicemember who seeks to claim the
   80  additional tax exemption as provided in this section must file
   81  an application for exemption with the property appraiser on or
   82  before March 1 of the year following the year of the qualifying
   83  deployment. The application for the exemption must be made on a
   84  form prescribed by the department and furnished by the property
   85  appraiser. The form must require a servicemember to include or
   86  attach proof of a qualifying deployment, the dates of that
   87  deployment, and other information necessary to verify
   88  eligibility for and the amount of the exemption.
   89         (b) An application may be filed on behalf of an eligible
   90  servicemember by his or her spouse if the homestead property to
   91  which the exemption applies is held by the entireties or jointly
   92  with the right of survivorship, by a person who has been
   93  designated by the servicemember to take actions on his or her
   94  behalf pursuant to chapter 709, or by the personal
   95  representative of the servicemember’s estate.
   96         (6)The property appraiser shall consider each application
   97  for a deployed servicemember exemption within 30 days after
   98  receipt or within 30 days after receiving notice of the
   99  designation of qualifying deployments by the Legislature,
  100  whichever is later. A property appraiser who finds that the
  101  taxpayer is entitled to the exemption shall approve the
  102  application and file the application in the permanent records. A
  103  property appraiser who finds that the taxpayer is not entitled
  104  to the exemption shall send a notice of disapproval no later
  105  than July 1, citing the reason for disapproval. The original
  106  notice of disapproval shall be sent to the taxpayer and shall
  107  advise the taxpayer of the right to appeal the decision to the
  108  value adjustment board and shall inform the taxpayer of the
  109  procedure for filing such an appeal.
  110         (7)As used in this section, the term “servicemember” means
  111  a member or former member of any branch of the United States
  112  military or military reserves, the United States Coast Guard or
  113  its reserves, or the Florida National Guard.
  114         Section 2. Paragraph (d) of subsection (3) of section
  115  194.011, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  116         194.011 Assessment notice; objections to assessments.—
  117         (3) A petition to the value adjustment board must be in
  118  substantially the form prescribed by the department.
  119  Notwithstanding s. 195.022, a county officer may not refuse to
  120  accept a form provided by the department for this purpose if the
  121  taxpayer chooses to use it. A petition to the value adjustment
  122  board shall describe the property by parcel number and shall be
  123  filed as follows:
  124         (d) The petition may be filed, as to valuation issues, at
  125  any time during the taxable year on or before the 25th day
  126  following the mailing of notice by the property appraiser as
  127  provided in subsection (1). With respect to an issue involving
  128  the denial of an exemption, an agricultural or high-water
  129  recharge classification application, an application for
  130  classification as historic property used for commercial or
  131  certain nonprofit purposes, or a deferral, the petition must be
  132  filed at any time during the taxable year on or before the 30th
  133  day following the mailing of the notice by the property
  134  appraiser under s. 193.461, s. 193.503, s. 193.625, s. 196.173,
  135  or s. 196.193 or notice by the tax collector under s. 197.253.
  136         Section 3. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section
  137  196.011, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  138         196.011 Annual application required for exemption.—
  139         (1)
  140         (b) The form to apply for an exemption under s. 196.031, s.
  141  196.081, s. 196.091, s. 196.101, s. 196.173, or s. 196.202 must
  142  include a space for the applicant to list the social security
  143  number of the applicant and of the applicant’s spouse, if any.
  144  If an applicant files a timely and otherwise complete
  145  application, and omits the required social security numbers, the
  146  application is incomplete. In that event, the property appraiser
  147  shall contact the applicant, who may refile a complete
  148  application by April 1. Failure to file a complete application
  149  by that date constitutes a waiver of the exemption privilege for
  150  that year, except as provided in subsection (7) or subsection
  151  (8).
  152         Section 4. The Department of Revenue is authorized, and all
  153  conditions are deemed met, to adopt emergency rules pursuant to
  154  ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54, Florida Statutes, to administer the
  155  provisions of this act. The emergency rules shall remain in
  156  effect for 6 months after the rules are adopted and the rules
  157  may be renewed during the pendency of procedures to adopt
  158  permanent rules addressing the subject of the emergency rules.
  159         Section 5. Notwithstanding the application deadline in s.
  160  196.173(5), Florida Statutes, the deadline for an eligible
  161  servicemember to file a claim for an additional ad valorem tax
  162  exemption for a qualifying deployment during the 2010 calendar
  163  year is June 1, 2011. Any applicant who seeks to claim the
  164  additional exemption and who fails to file an application by
  165  June 1 must file an application for the exemption with the
  166  property appraiser on or before the 25th day following the
  167  mailing by the property appraiser of the notices required under
  168  s. 194.011(1), Florida Statutes. Upon receipt of sufficient
  169  evidence, as determined by the property appraiser, demonstrating
  170  that the applicant was unable to apply for the exemption in a
  171  timely manner or otherwise demonstrating extenuating
  172  circumstances judged by the property appraiser to warrant
  173  granting the exemption, the property appraiser may grant the
  174  exemption. If the applicant fails to produce sufficient evidence
  175  demonstrating that the applicant was unable to apply for the
  176  exemption in a timely manner or otherwise demonstrating
  177  extenuating circumstances as judged by the property appraiser,
  178  the applicant may file, pursuant to s. 194.011(3), Florida
  179  Statutes, a petition with the value adjustment board requesting
  180  that the exemption be granted. Such petition must be filed
  181  during the taxable year on or before the 25th day following the
  182  mailing of the notice by the property appraiser as provided in
  183  s. 194.011(1), Florida Statutes. Notwithstanding the provisions
  184  of s. 194.013, Florida Statutes, the applicant must pay a
  185  nonrefundable fee of $15 upon filing the petition. Upon
  186  reviewing the petition, if the applicant is qualified to receive
  187  the exemption and demonstrates particular extenuating
  188  circumstances judged by the value adjustment board to warrant
  189  granting the exemption, the value adjustment board may grant the
  190  exemption for the current year.
  191         Section 6. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law,
  192  and first applies for ad valorem tax rolls for 2011.

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