BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

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. (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. (Hughes)

SB 1236 (Gruters) exempts land and real property improvements used exclusively for educational purposes from ad valorem taxes if an educational institution, under a ground lease or other contractual arrangement, owns the building and other improvements to the real property and is responsible for any taxes owed. (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)

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)

SB 1016 (Rouson) refines the term “infrastructure” for purposes of the Local Government Infrastructure Surtax to include authorized expenditures for certain affordable residential housing. (Hughes)

SB 930 (Gainer) and HB 769 (Trumbull) exempt from public records requirements certain financial and taxpayer personal identifying information held by a county or municipality in connection with the collection or administration of a local business tax. (Hughes)

SB 990 (Hutson) and HB 721 (Roth) allow the state's chief financial officer to designate credit unions as qualified public depositories after meeting certain criteria. (Hughes)

HB 7007 (Oversight, Transparency & Public Management Subcommittee) and SB 7004 (Finance and Tax) maintain the current public record exemption for taxpayer e-mail addresses held by tax collectors for certain tax notice purposes. (Hughes)

SB 126 (Gruters) and HB 159 (Clemons) require retailers with no physical presence in Florida to collect Florida’s sales tax on sales of taxable items delivered to purchasers in Florida if the retailer makes a substantial number of sales into Florida or provides for the taxation of sales facilitated through a marketplace provider. The bill also deletes a provision that exempts an out-of-state dealer which makes retail sales into this state from collecting and remitting any local option surtax. (Hughes)

SB 1512 (Diaz) deletes an annual requirement for municipal budget officers to report specified budget information to the Office of Economic and Demographic Research. Instead, by October 15, 2020, each municipality must submit certain information, such as government spending, debt, public employee salary, and median income, to the Department of Finance Services. By January 15, 2021, DFS must establish an interactive website that allows residents to compare certain information about counties and municipalities and generate and distribute a local government report depicting the fiscal and economic status of each county and municipality and providing a comparative ranking with all other counties and municipalities in this state (Hughes)

HB 1149 (DiCeglie) and SB 1702 (Diaz) amend multiple provisions related to local government financial transparency. The bills expand public notice and public hearing requirements for local option tax increases, other than property taxes and taxes adopted by referendum, and new long-term tax-supported debt issuances. Each local government is required to prominently post on its website the voting records on any action taken by its governing board related to tax increases and new tax-supported debt issuances. The bills impose requirements on county property appraisers and local governments relating to Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices, millage rate history and the amount of tax levied by each taxing authority on each parcel.

Additionally, local governments will be required to conduct a debt affordability analysis prior to approving the issuance of new long-term tax-supported debt. The bills require the local government annual audit reports to include information regarding compliance with the requirements of this newly created section of law. Failure to comply would result in the withholding of state-shared revenues. The bills revise the local government reporting requirements for economic development incentives. They require each municipality to report to the Office of Economic and Demographic Research whether the incentive is provided directly to an individual business or by another entity on behalf of the local government and the source of dollars obligated for the incentive (including local, state and federal). (Hughes)

HJR 477 (Rommel) proposes an amendment to the Florida Constitution requiring that any local tax or fee that is imposed, authorized or raised by a local jurisdiction, including municipalities, be approved by two-thirds of the membership of the jurisdiction. “Fee” is defined as any charge or payment required by ordinance or regulation. The proposed amendment requires any local tax or fee imposed or raised under this section to be contained in a separate resolution or ordinance. This proposed amendment would require 60 percent approval of the electorate for passage. (Hughes)