BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

SB 1056 (Hutson) and CS/HB 1345 (McFarland) revise the criteria of the homestead property tax exemption to state that the rental of a portion of a dwelling claimed to be a homestead while the dwelling is physically occupied by the owner does not constitute the abandonment of the dwelling as a homestead. (Hughes)

SB 1318 (Hutson) and HB 1559 (Harding) allow the state's Chief Financial Officer to designate credit unions as qualified public depositories after meeting certain criteria. (Hughes)

HB 751 (Clemons) revises the definition of the term "inventory" to include construction equipment by a heavy equipment rental dealer for sale or short-term rental in the normal course of business on the annual assessment date. This change only applies to non-school levies. (Hughes)

HB 243 (Roth) and SB 1126 (Harrell) exempt, from property taxation, property used by educational institutions that hold a leasehold interest in certain leases that exceed 98 years. (Hughes)

CS/SB 1150 (Rodriguez, A.) and HB 495 (Rodriguez, Ant.) authorize municipalities and counties to adopt ordinances to grant ad valorem tax exemptions to property owners whose properties are used for governmental or public purpose of providing affordable housing. CS/SB 1150 now specifies that property given tax exemptions are considered having a charitable purpose.  (Hughes)

HB 13 (Gottlieb) and SB 154 (Rodriguez) increase the property tax exemption from $500 to $5,000 for homesteaded residents who are widows, widowers, blind or totally and permanently disabled. (Hughes)

HB 839 (Fischer) and SB 1152 (Rodriguez, A.) increase the property tax discount percentage rates for early payment of all property taxes assessed on the county tax rolls. (Hughes)

HB 417 (Fernandez-Barquin) and SB 572 (Garcia) revise factors that a property appraiser must consider in deriving just valuation for a property. For example, the property appraiser may not consider the highest and best use if the necessary zoning changes, concurrency requirement or permits to achieve the highest and best use are not in place on January 1 of the assessment year. (Hughes)

CS/HB 777 (Robinson) and CS/SB 1194 (Boyd) require referenda elections related to tourist development taxes, tourist impact taxes, increases in municipal and county ad valorem tax millages, children's services and independent special district property taxes, ninth-cent fuel tax, local option fuel taxes and certain school millages to be held at the general election. (Hughes)

HB 975 (Borrero) and SB 1280 (Diaz) create an additional assessment limitation for certain low-income seniors if HJR 973, SJR 1278 or a similar constitutional amendment is approved by the voters at the 2022 general election. This additional assessment limitation applies to assessed values of homestead properties with a just value of $300,000 or less owned by a person at least 65 years old whose annual household income does not exceed $20,000. The assessment limitation carries over to a surviving spouse who uses the property as a homestead, who has attained age 65 and meets the household income limitations. The bills also modify the current local option low-income senior property tax exemption to increase the just value requirement from $250,000 to $300,000. (Hughes)

HJR 973 (Borrero) and SJR 1278 (Diaz) propose amendments to the Florida Constitution to authorize the legislature to prohibit increases in the assessed value of homestead property owned by low-income seniors. (Hughes)

HB 283 (Duran) and SB 460 (Rodriguez) provide for an exception from assessment of homestead property at just value upon transfer of property if the property is transferred to a child or a grandchild of the deceased owner. (Hughes)

SB 1890 (Hutson) revises the types of lessees whose purpose and functions are deemed to be governmental, municipal or public purpose in determining the exemption from as valorem taxes for certain real property. These changes are intended to clarify existing law. (Hughes)

SB 1264 (Brandes) and CS/HB 1503 (Fischer) provide for the periodic increase in the additional property tax exemption on a homestead property if SJR 1266 or a similar constitutional amendment is approved by the voters at the 2022 general election. The bills would provide for recalculations of the additional homestead every five years and indexes the exemption amount to the House Price Index for Florida. (Hughes)

SJR 1266 (Brandes) and CS/HJR 923 (Fischer) propose an amendment to the Florida Constitution to provide for the periodic increase of the twenty-five thousand dollar exemption on a homestead property's assessed value that is greater than fifty thousand dollars. (Hughes)

HB 717 (Tomkow) and SB 1186 (Albritton) prohibit the denial or revocations of a property's agricultural classification due solely to the conduct of agritourism or the construction of a nonresidential structure on a bona fide farm that is used to conduct agritourism activities. The nonresidential structures and other improvements to the land must be assessed at their just value and added to the agriculturally assessed value of the land. (Hughes)

SB 362 (Rodriguez) and CS/HB 401 (Smith) expand options that would allow a nonprofit home for the aged to qualify for an exemption from ad valorem taxation. The bills allow the

sole general partner to be another entity wholly owned by a not-for-profit corporation. (Hughes)

HB 71 (Woodson) and SB 568 (Polsky) create an abatement of property taxes for residential dwellings that are uninhabitable due to a catastrophic event. If a residential dwelling is rendered uninhabitable for at least 30 days due to a catastrophic event, taxes originally levied for the tax year in which the catastrophic event occurred may be abated if certain conditions are met. The bills require the tax collector to notify each affected local government of the reduction of property taxes due to this bill. This change would apply retroactively to January 1, 2021. (Hughes)

HB 177 (Roth) and SB 950 (Rodriguez) – Requiring Broader Public Support for Constitutional Amendments or Revisions

HB 377 (Geller) and SB 586 (Torres) – Legislation by Initiative

HB 1127 (Beltran) and SB 1412 (Brodeur) – Limiting Subject of Constitutional Amendments Proposed by Citizens Initiative

CS/HB 1401 (Persons-Mulicka) and SB 1876 (Perry) specify that if more than 70 percent of land in an area proposed for contraction is owned by individuals, corporations or legal entities that are not registered electors, the area may only be contracted if the owners of more than 50 percent of the parcels of land in the area consent to the contraction. If the area does not have any registered electors on the date the ordinance is adopted, a vote of electors of the area is not required. (Cruz)