BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

HB 6093 (Gregory) repeals 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) revises 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)

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)

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 the governmental or public purpose of providing affordable housing. (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 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)

HB 777 (Robinson) and 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 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)

HB 301 (Roach) and CS/SB 510 (Brodeur) require all municipal elected officials and all municipal managers to file an annual full disclosure of financial interests (Form 6) with the Florida Commission on Ethics. These individuals are currently required to file only a Limited Disclosure of Financial Interests (Form 1). (Hughes)

SB 1264 (Brandes) provides 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. This bill 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 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 HB 401 (Smith) expand options that would allow a nonprofit home for the aged to qualify for an exemption from ad valorem taxation. (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 501 (Gregory) prohibits local governments and school districts from using public funds to retain a lobbyist for purposes of lobbying the state legislative or executive branch. The bill prohibits lobbyists from accepting public funds for such purposes. Full-time employees of the local government or school district are excluded from the prohibition. The bill prohibits a not-for-profit organization that accepts public funds from the state specialty license plate program from retaining a lobbyist to represent the organization before the state executive or legislative branch. The bill specifies penalties for violations and authorizes any Florida resident to bring a civil action for injunctive relief to enforce the bill's provisions. Persons prevailing in such civil actions are entitled to recover attorney fees and costs. The bill authorizes any Florida resident to file a complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics for alleged violations. (O'Hara)

HB 7001 (Public Integrity & Elections Committee) provides implementing legislation for the constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2018 that prohibits lobbying by certain state and local public officers both during public service and for a six-year period following vacation of public office. The constitutional prohibitions address lobbying before the federal government, the Legislature, any state agency, or any political subdivision, and takes effect December 31, 2022. The bill provides definitions of terms that are not defined in the constitutional provision, giving needed clarity for state and local public officers. Notable definitions in the bill include: "lobby," "compensation" and "legislative action," "issue of policy," "issue of procurement," "issue of appropriation," "administrative action," lobbying before the federal government and lobbying before political subdivisions. The bill provides specified exemptions from the definition of lobbying. The definitions included in the bill should be helpful to local and state public officials whose private sector employment requires them to render legal services for clients before various state and political subdivisions. (O'Hara)

SB 508 (Diaz) establishes standards of conduct and a mandatory five hours of training relating to the "fiduciary duty of care" for appointed local public officers and executive officers of local government entities. In addition, the bills impose restrictions on legal representation by government attorneys. The fiduciary duty and training requirements apply to appointed officials of various local boards and committees, including code enforcement boards, planning and zoning boards, land use boards and community redevelopment agency boards. The requirements do not apply to pension board members. The bill provides that each appointed public official and executive officer has a fiduciary duty of care to the governmental entity served and has a duty to act in accordance with laws and terms governing the office or employment, act with the care and competence normally exercised by private business professionals, act only within the scope of authority and refrain from conduct likely to damage the economic interests of the governmental entity. Further, such persons must become reasonably informed in connection with any decision-making function and keep reasonably informed concerning the performance of a governmental entity's officers, agents and employees. The bill imposes training requirements on appointed public officers and executive officers that require completion of at least five hours of board governance training per term served. The bill specifies the minimum content of such training programs, including board governance best practices and fiduciary duty of care and liabilities imposed by the new law. The bill provides that all legal counsel employed by a governmental entity must represent the legal interest and position of the governing body of the governmental entity and not the interest of any individual or employee of the governmental entity. (Cruz)