Florida Senate - 2014                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 312
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì324694EÎ324694                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  01/08/2014           .                                
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       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Subsection (7) of section 193.461, Florida
    6  Statutes, is amended to read:
    7         193.461 Agricultural lands; classification and assessment;
    8  mandated eradication or quarantine program.—
    9         (7)(a) Lands classified for assessment purposes as
   10  agricultural lands which are taken out of production by a any
   11  state or federal eradication or quarantine program shall
   12  continue to be classified as agricultural lands for the duration
   13  of such program or successor programs. Lands under these
   14  programs which are converted to fallow, or otherwise nonincome
   15  producing uses shall continue to be classified as agricultural
   16  lands and shall be assessed at a de minimis value of up to no
   17  more than $50 per acre, on a single year assessment methodology;
   18  however, lands converted to other income-producing agricultural
   19  uses permissible under such programs shall be assessed pursuant
   20  to this section. Land under a mandated eradication or quarantine
   21  program which is diverted from an agricultural to a
   22  nonagricultural use shall be assessed under s. 193.011.
   23         (b) Lands classified for assessment purposes as
   24  agricultural lands which participate in a dispersed water
   25  storage program pursuant to a contract with the Department of
   26  Environmental Protection or a water management district which
   27  requires flooding of land shall continue to be classified as
   28  agricultural lands for the duration of the inclusion of the
   29  lands in such program or successor programs and shall be
   30  assessed at a de minimis value, on a single year assessment
   31  methodology.
   32         Section 2. Subsection (32) of section 212.02, Florida
   33  Statutes, is amended to read:
   34         212.02 Definitions.—The following terms and phrases when
   35  used in this chapter have the meanings ascribed to them in this
   36  section, except where the context clearly indicates a different
   37  meaning:
   38         (32) “Agricultural production” means the production of
   39  plants and animals useful to humans, including the preparation,
   40  planting, cultivating, or harvesting, or storage of these
   41  products or any other practices necessary to accomplish
   42  production through the harvest and storage phase, and includes
   43  aquaculture, horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, forestry,
   44  dairy, livestock, poultry, bees, and any and all forms of farm
   45  products and farm production.
   46         Section 3. Subsection (3) of section 212.08, Florida
   47  Statutes, is amended to read:
   48         212.08 Sales, rental, use, consumption, distribution, and
   49  storage tax; specified exemptions.—The sale at retail, the
   50  rental, the use, the consumption, the distribution, and the
   51  storage to be used or consumed in this state of the following
   52  are hereby specifically exempt from the tax imposed by this
   53  chapter.
   54         (3) EXEMPTIONS; CERTAIN FARM EQUIPMENT.—There shall be no
   55  tax on the sale, rental, lease, use, consumption, repair, or
   56  storage for use in this state of power farm equipment and
   57  irrigation equipment, including replacement parts and
   58  accessories for such equipment, which are used exclusively on a
   59  farm or in a forest in the agricultural production of crops or
   60  products as produced by those agricultural industries included
   61  in s. 570.02(1), or for fire prevention and suppression work
   62  with respect to such crops or products. Trailers used in
   63  agricultural production and the transportation of farm products
   64  from the farm to the first point of sale are also exempt from
   65  such tax. Harvesting may not be construed to include processing
   66  activities. This exemption is not forfeited by moving farm
   67  equipment between farms or forests. However, this exemption may
   68  shall not be allowed unless the purchaser, renter, or lessee
   69  signs a certificate stating that the farm equipment is to be
   70  used exclusively on a farm or in a forest for agricultural
   71  production or for fire prevention and suppression, as required
   72  by this subsection. Possession by a seller, lessor, or other
   73  dealer of a written certification by the purchaser, renter, or
   74  lessee certifying the purchaser’s, renter’s, or lessee’s
   75  entitlement to an exemption permitted by this subsection
   76  relieves the seller from the responsibility of collecting the
   77  tax on the nontaxable amounts, and the department shall look
   78  solely to the purchaser for recovery of such tax if it
   79  determines that the purchaser was not entitled to the exemption.
   80         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.
   81  
   82  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   83  And the title is amended as follows:
   84         Delete everything before the enacting clause
   85  and insert:
   86                        A bill to be entitled                      
   87         An act relating to agriculture; amending s. 193.461,
   88         F.S.; providing that participation in certain
   89         dispersed water storage programs does not change a
   90         land’s agricultural classification for assessment
   91         purposes; amending s. 212.02, F.S.; redefining the
   92         term “agricultural production” to include storage;
   93         amending s. 212.08, F.S.; expanding the exemption for
   94         certain farm equipment from the sales and use tax
   95         imposed under ch. 212, F.S., to include repairs of
   96         such equipment and trailers that are used for certain
   97         purposes; providing an effective date.