BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

CS/CS/SB 364 (Rader) and CS/CS/CS/HB 39 (Gottlieb) create the Assisted and Independent Living Facility Task Force within the Agency for Person with Disabilities. The task force must develop and evaluate policy proposals that incentivize developers or contractors to dedicate space for assisted living facilities or independent living facilities within mixed-use developments to house individuals with an intellectual disability, autism or mental illness. The task force membership includes a representative from the Florida League of Cities. (Branch)

SB 306 (Mayfield) and HB 381 (Silvers) specify that funds deposited in the State Housing Trust Fund and the Local Government Housing Trust Fund may not be transferred or used for any other purpose. (Branch)

CS/CS/SB 998 (Hutson) and CS/CS/CS/CS/HB 1339 (Yarborough) make varied and comprehensive changes to Florida law impacting affordable housing. The bills:

•allow a local government to adopt an ordinance to allow accessory dwelling units in any area zoned for single-family residential use.

•require the reporting of impact fee charges data within the annual financial audit report submitted to the Department of Financial Services.

•require reporting on annual expenditures for affordable housing in reports of economic status information to the Office of Economic and Demographic Research.

•establish biannual regional workshops for locally elected officials serving on affordable housing advisory committees to identify and share best affordable housing practices.

•permit a mobile home park damaged or destroyed by natural forces to be rebuilt on the same site with the same density as was approved, permitted or built before being damaged or destroyed. (Branch)

SB 54 (Book) and HB 87 (Mercado) – Sales Tax Exemption: Diapers and Incontinence Products 

HB 93 (Casello) and SB 192 (Berman) – Sales Tax Exemption: Assist Living Facilities

SJR 282 (Diaz) – Constitutional Amendment: Homestead Assessment Limitation for Certain Persons 

SB 284 (Diaz) – Implementation Bill: Homestead Assessments for Certain Persons

SB 296 (Albritton) – Property Assessment Administration 

HB 429 (Valdes) and SB 508 (Baxley) – Sales Tax Absorption 

SB 524 (Gruters) – Sales Tax Holiday for Disaster Preparedness Supplies

HB 527 (Hill) – Sales Tax Exemption: Industrial Machinery and Equipment

SB 542 (Perry) – Back-to-school Sales Tax Holiday

SJR 396 (Rodriguez) – Single Subject Limitation for Taxation and Budget Reform Commission

HB 555 (Aloupis) and SB 844 (Taddeo) – Sales Tax Exemption for Hurricane Shutters and Impact-resistant Windows

SB 654 (Lee) – Sales Tax Refund for Eligible Job Training Organizations

HB 1077 (LaMarca) and SB 1404 (Perry) – Department of Financial Services

SB 1052 (Taddeo) – Small Business Saturday Sales Tax Holiday

HB 1141 (Caruso) and SB 1778 (Gruters) – Taxation of Real Property

HB 1249 (Sullivan) and SB 1662 (Albritton) – Transfer of Tax Exemption for Veterans

SB 1310 (Mayfield) – Hunting and Fishing Sales Tax Holiday

HB 811 (Geller) and SB 1306 (Thurston) – Transfers in Divorce

SB 2500 (Appropriations Committee) and HB 5001 (Appropriations) – General Appropriations Act

SB 2502 (Appropriations) HB 5003 (Appropriations) – Implementing the 2020-2021 General Appropriations Act

HB 919 (Caruso) – Property Tax Exemptions Used by Hospitals

SJR 1502 (Diaz) and HB 7061 (State Affairs Committee) propose an amendment to the Florida Constitution requiring Florida’s chief financial officer to annually provide information about counties and municipalities to residents in a manner that allows residents to compare economic and noneconomic factors of each local government. HB 7061 passed the House (90-23) and is awaiting action by the Senate. (Hughes)

SB 1330 (Gruters) require that establishment, merger, or abolishment of a municipal service taxing (MSTU) or municipal service benefit unit (MSBU) be approved by majority vote of certain qualified electors who would be or are subject to any service charge, special assessment, or tax within the unit in an election that is called for such purpose by the governing body of the county. The boundaries of an MSTU or MSBU may include all or part of the boundaries of a municipality if, in addition to the majority approval of qualified electors, consent by ordinance of the governing body of the affected municipality is given either annually or for a term of years. This bill provides procedures for the dissolution of an MSTU or MSBU that is created after July 1, 2020 and does not achieve the majority vote of qualified electors. (Hughes)

HB 6079 (Mariano) deletes gross income requirements for a totally and permanently disabled person to qualify for specified homestead exemptions. (Hughes)

HB 881 (Killebrew) and CS/SB 1078 (Wright) provide for a special election to be held on Tuesday, August 18, 2020, to approve or reject HJR 877 (Killebrew), SJR 1076 (Wright) or a similar joint resolution having substantially the same specific intent and purpose. (Hughes)

HB 879 (Killebrew) and CS/SB 1074 (Wright) implement HJR 877, SJR 1076 or similar joint resolution if approved by the voters. CS/SB 1074 was substituted for HB 879. HB 879 passed both chambers and is on the way to the governor. (Hughes)

HJR 877 (Killebrew) and SJR 1076 (Wright) propose an amendment to the Florida Constitution to allow the same ad valorem tax discount on homestead property for combat-disabled veterans age 65 or older to carry over to the surviving spouse of a veteran receiving the discount if the surviving spouse holds legal title to the homestead and permanently resides there. The discount would apply to the property until the surviving spouse remarries, sells or otherwise disposes of the property. If the surviving spouse sells the property, the discount may be transferred to the surviving spouse’s new residence if the residence is used as the surviving spouse’s permanent residence and he or she does not remarry. SJR 1076 was substituted for HJR 877. HJR 877 passed both chambers and is on the way to the Secretary of State. (Hughes)

CS/SB 1236 (Gruters) expands the current ad valorem exemption for property used for educational purposes to exempt land that is not owned by the educational institution but is used for educational purposes under a lease. This provision applies only if the educational institution is responsible for any taxes owed and for ongoing maintenance and operational expenses for the land and buildings. Additionally, the property must have been used for educational purposes and has been receiving the exemption under this section of law for at least 10 years. (Hughes)

SB 334 (Stewart) expands the authorized use of the tourist development tax to include promoting or incentivizing film or television productions in this state. (Hughes)

HB 281 (Hattersley) and SB 484 (Simmons) expands the definition of “first responder” for purposes of eligibility for specified property tax exemptions to include a law enforcement officer or firefighter who, before becoming a resident of this state, sustained a total and permanent disability in the line of duty while serving as a full-time paid law enforcement officer or firefighter in another state. This change would apply to the 2021 tax rolls. (Hughes)

CS/HB 223 (Buchanan) and CS/SB 514 (Gruters) provide that a person receiving a homestead ad valorem tax exemption in Florida and simultaneously receiving a similar exemption in another state that requires permanent residency in that state is entitled to the Florida homestead exemption if that person or family unit can demonstrate that they did not apply for the exemption and that they have relinquished the exemption in the other state. The bills require forms to claim homestead exemption that are promulgated by the Department of Revenue to ask the taxpayer whether he or she receives an ad valorem tax exemption or tax credit in another state where permanent residency is required as a basis for the granting of that exemption. (Hughes)

HB 671 (Roth) provides for a special election to be held on Tuesday, August 18, 2020, to approve or reject HJR 369 (Roth) or a similar joint resolution if approved by three-fourths of the membership of each chamber of the Legislature. (Hughes)

CS/SB 148 (Brandes) and HB 371 (Roth) increase the timeframe, from two to three years, during which the accrued benefit from specified limitations on homestead property tax assessments may be transferred from a prior homestead to a new homestead. The bills also revise the timeframe during which an owner of homestead property significantly damaged or destroyed by a named tropical storm or hurricane must establish a new homestead to make a certain election and requires the passage of the amendment to the state Constitution proposed by SJR 146, HJR 369 or a similar joint resolution having substantially the same specific intent and purpose. (Hughes)

SJR  146 (Brandes) and HJR 369 (Roth) propose an amendment to the state constitution to increase the period from two to three years when accrued Save-Our-Homes benefits may be transferred from a prior homestead to a new homestead. These proposed amendments require 60% approval of the electorate for passage. (Hughes)

HB 141 (Bush) prohibits tax collectors from assessing or collecting certain charges on property tax bills from low-income seniors and schoolteachers at public schools who meet certain requirements. The bill also prohibits tax collectors from authorizing a debt collection entity to collect certain charges on property tax bills for those identified groups and prohibits tax collectors from selling tax certificates on certain properties if outstanding amounts due are only for delinquent payment of property tax. The bill requires the Department of Revenue to work with tax collectors to identify mechanisms, strategies and funding sources for helping certain populations pay for delinquent charges. (Hughes)

CS/HB 7097 (Ways and Means) is the House “tax package” for the 2020 Session and includes several tax reductions and other tax-related modifications. Of note, the bill includes a 0.5 percent rate reduction for both the state communications services tax and the direct-to-home satellite services. The sales tax rate on commercial leases is reduced from 5.5 to 5.4 percent. The bill includes two sales tax holidays: a three-day “back-to-school” holiday and a seven-day “disaster preparedness” holiday. The bill includes a requirement that school capital outlay sales surtaxes approved in the future be proportionately shared with charter schools. The bill restructures the authorized uses of tourist development, convention development and local option food and beverage taxes levied by Miami-Dade County. The bill also expands the allowable uses for tourist development tax revenues to include certain water quality improvement and parks and trails projects. The bill makes multiple changes to property taxes including amending the requirements for hospitals to qualify for a charitable tax exemption and updates the qualifying operations for the deployed servicemember tax exemption. The bill provides for a one-time increase of $8.2 million available for the brownfields tax credit equal to the amount of the current backlog of approved tax credits. The bill provides for an approximately one-third reduction in the aviation fuel tax paid by commercial air carriers. The bill also includes several provisions proposed by the Department of Revenue designed to enhance its administration of state taxes and oversight of property taxation. Additionally, the bill provides for a future sunset of the Charter County and Regional Transportation System Sales Surtax currently levied in Miami-Dade County and a requirement that any future levy of the tax in any eligible county be limited to 20 years in duration. The total local government revenue impact of the bill in fiscal year 2020-21 is -$24.8 million (-$42.5 million recurring). CS/HB 7097 passed the House (97-16) and is awaiting Senate action.  (Hughes)

SB 7060 (Finance and Tax) makes changes to tax-related statutes as recommended by the Department of Revenue. Of note to municipalities, the bill extends, from three to five years, the time for commencement of repairs to property damaged by Hurricane Michael without the property owner losing the prior assessment limitation. The bill also updates real property classification language to classify apartments with more than nine units as commercial property. The bill also updates DOR’s tax roll review requirements by deleting the requirement that the department do in-depth reviews of tangible personal property and the requirement that the department calculate a confidence interval for an entire property roll. (Hughes)