BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

HB 219 (Tuck) and SB 1380 (Rodriguez, A.) revise that rights that are not affected or extinguished by Marketable Record Titles Act (MRTA) and require persons with certain interests in land that may be extinguished by this act to file a specified notice to preserve their interests. The bills establish a bright-line rule to clarify MRTA's operation in light of the 2016 court decision and clarify that a property conveyance subject to existing encumbrances identified in a muniment of title does not restart MRTA's 30-year marketability period on such encumbrances. The bills add covenants, restrictions, zoning requirements, and building or development permits to the list of encumbrances extinguished by MRTA but excepts them from extinguishment. Additionally, the bills authorize owners or operators of private property used for motor vehicle parking to establish rules, rates and fines governing private persons parking on the property. The bills prohibit counties and municipalities from enacting any ordinance or regulation attempting to restrict or prohibit the owner or operator from adopting such rules, rates or fines. (Cruz)

HB 739 (Borrero) and SB 1248 (Gruters) specify that a county or municipality must review applications for development permits or orders within 30 days of receiving the application and issue a letter indicating that all required information is submitted or specifying any areas that are deficient. In an attempt to make a more uniform process for future developments, the bills also require that each local government adopt residential infill development standards in its land use regulations by October 1, 2022. The legislation requires local governments to adopt certain guidelines when adopting its residential infill development standards that may preempt existing land use regulations. (Cruz)

HB 681 (Rodriguez) and SB 1030 (Taddeo) clarify that impact fee credits are assignable and transferable any time after establishment from one development or parcel to any other as long as it falls within the same impact fee zone or district, or that is within the same impact fee zone in the county or municipality. (Cruz)

SB 1338 (Diaz) and HB 1411 (Avila) provide that a floating solar facility must be a permitted use in appropriate land use categories in each local government's comprehensive plan. The bills require each local government to amend its development regulations to promote the expanded use of floating solar facilities. (Cruz)

HB 1089 (Woodson) – Affordable Housing

HB 6017 (Eskamani)and SB 580 (Torres) – Rent Control Measures

SB 518 (Brodeur) amends current law provisions that prohibit local governments from requiring permits for the removal of "dangerous" trees on residential property. The bill clarifies what constitutes residential property and increases the level of assessment and type of documentation that must be provided by an arborist or landscape architect under the law. (Branch)

SB 962 (Bradley) and HB 981 (Payne) allow a municipality or county regardless of zoning or a comprehensive plan to approve mixed-use residential development projects if the portion of the project is used for affordable housing. (Branch)

SB 152 (Farmer) proposes an amendment to the Florida Constitution that would require any general law that preempts a subject of legislation to the state to pass by a two-thirds vote of each house of the legislature. (O'Hara)

HB 6113 (Eskamani) and SB 1900 (Torres) repeal numerous provisions of current law that operate as preemptions of municipal and county authority on a variety of subjects. (O'Hara)

SB 280 (Hutson) and HB 403 (Giallombardo) change the legal standards and processes used by courts to assess the validity of municipal ordinances and imposes new substantive requirements on municipalities for adopting and enforcing ordinances. First, the bills require a municipality to prepare a business impact statement before adopting an ordinance and specifies the minimum content that must be included in the statement. Emergency ordinances are exempt. The statement must be posted on the municipality's website concurrent with a publication of notice of the proposed ordinance. Second, the bills require a municipality to suspend enforcement of an ordinance that is the subject of a civil action, including any appeals, challenging the ordinance's validity on the grounds that it is preempted by state law, is arbitrary or unreasonable, or is otherwise prohibited by law. This requirement applies only if: the action was filed within 20 days of the ordinance's effective date; suspension of the ordinance was requested in the complaint, and the municipality was served with a copy of the complaint. Third, the bills authorize the award of attorney fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff in a civil action commenced after October 1, 2022, in which the adoption or enforcement of an ordinance is alleged to be arbitrary or unreasonable or prohibited by law other than by express preemption (i.e., is impliedly preempted or is in conflict with state law). Ordinances adopted to implement Part II of Chapter 163 (comprehensive planning and land development regulation), section 553.73 (Building Code), or section 633.202 (Fire Code) are exempt from this provision. Fourth, the bill specifies factors a court must consider in determining whether an ordinance is arbitrary or unreasonable, including: the extent to which the ordinance protects public health, safety and welfare; the impact of the ordinance on the personal rights and privileges of municipal residents; the total economic impact of the ordinance; and the business impact statement prepared by the municipality. It requires courts to prioritize and expedite the disposition of cases in which enforcement of an ordinance is suspended. It authorizes the award of attorney fees and costs pursuant to section 57.112. The court prioritization and new legal standard do not apply to emergency ordinances, ordinances relating to comprehensive planning and land development regulations, ordinances implementing the Florida Building Code and ordinances implementing the Florida Fire Code. (O'Hara)

SB 620 (Hutson) and HB 569 (McClure) require compensation for business damages caused by local government ordinances or charter provisions. A business that has been engaged in a lawful business in Florida for at least three years may claim business damages from a local government if the government enacts or amends an ordinance or charter provision that will cause a reduction of at least 15% of the business' revenue or profit. A local government is not liable for business damages caused by: ordinances required to comply with state or federal law; emergency ordinances, declarations or orders adopted pursuant to the state Emergency Management Act; a temporary emergency ordinance which remains in effect for no more than 90 days; ordinances that "increase economic freedom." The bills specify procedures and methodologies for a business to recover business damages, attorney fees and costs against a local government. The bills' provisions are nearly identical to the business damage procedures set forth in Florida's eminent domain statute. (O'Hara)

HB 85 (Eskamani) and SB 246 (Book) – Tax Exemption for Diapers and Incontinence Products

HB 201 (Daley) and SB 356 (Jones) – Sales Tax Holiday for ENERGY STAR & WaterSense Products

SB 234 (Jones) and HB 613 (Robinson, F.) – Working Floridians Tax Rebate Program

HB 439 (Smith, C.) and SB 712 (Taddeo) – Small Business Saturday Sales Tax Holiday 

SB 500 (Perry) – Back-to-school Sales Tax Holiday

HB 509 (Yarborough) and SB 830 (Hooper) – Sales Tax on Mobile Homes

HB 589 (Harding) and SB 930 (Hooper) – Sales Tax Exemptions for Public Works

HB 673 (Shoaf) SB 1542 (Gainer) – Tourist development Taxes

HB 763 (Casello) and SB 1146 (Rodriguez) – Tax Exemption for Charges for Private Investigations

SB 808 (Gruters) – Sales Tax Holiday for Disaster Preparedness Supplies

HB 863 (DiCeglie) and SB 1250 (Gruters) – Sales Tax Refunds for Building Mitigation Retrofit Improvements

SB 952 (Gruters) and HB 1293 (Gregory) – Taxation 

HB 959 (LaMarca) and SB 1874 (Boyd) – Department of Financial Services

SB 1130 (Brodeur) and HB 1375 (Goff-Marcil) – Tax Collector Budgets

SB 1132 (Gruters) and HB 801 (Fine) – Valuation of Timeshare Real Property

HB 1163 (Overdorf) – Sales Tax Exemptions for Hydrogen Products

SB 1256 (Gruters) and HB 977 (Caruso) – Sales of Tax Certificates

SB 1382 (Gruters) and HB 1041 (Stevenson) – Tax Administration

HB 1387 (Gregory) and SB 1840 (Gruters) – Determinations for Tax Exemptions

SB 1470 (Stewart) – Taxation of Fees for the Use of Real Property

SB 1610 (Rodriguez) – Ad Valorem Tax Abatement

SB 1698 (Farmer) – Taxes/Marijuana 

SB 1886 (Powell) – Taxes and Fees

HB 6051 (Overdorf) and SB 786 (Hutson) – Aircraft Sales and Lease Tax

HB 6075 (Eskamani) and SB 1898 (Farmer) – Tourist Development Taxes

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 149 (Tuck) and SB 404 (Rodriguez) specify the methodology for the assessment of the structures and equipment used in aquaculture. The bills allow the property owner to request removal of its agriculture classification if the tax assessed based on such methodology exceeds the tax assessed based on the value of the structures and equipment. (Hughes)

HB 6093 (Gregory) and SB 1558 (Gruters) repeal Section 212.031, Florida Statutes, which subjects the renting, leasing, letting or granting a license for the use of any real property to sales and use tax. (Hughes)

SB 1056 (Hutson) and 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 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)

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)