The Florida Senate

¹193.503  Classification and assessment of historic property used for commercial or certain nonprofit purposes.--

(1)  Pursuant to s. 4(d), Art. VII of the State Constitution, the board of county commissioners of a county or the governing authority of a municipality may adopt an ordinance providing for assessment of historic property used for commercial or certain nonprofit purposes as described in this section solely on the basis of character or use as provided in this section. Such character or use assessment shall apply only to the jurisdiction adopting the ordinance. The board of county commissioners or municipal governing authority shall notify the property appraiser of the adoption of such ordinance no later than December 1 of the year prior to the year such assessment will take effect. If such assessment is granted only for a specified period or the ordinance is repealed, the board of county commissioners or municipal governing authority shall notify the property appraiser no later than December 1 of the year prior to the year the assessment expires.

(2)  If an ordinance is adopted as described in subsection (1), the property appraiser shall, for assessment purposes, annually classify any eligible property as historic property used for commercial or certain nonprofit purposes, for purposes of the taxes levied by the governing body or authority adopting the ordinance. For all other purposes, the property shall be assessed pursuant to s. 193.011.

(3)  No property shall be classified as historic property used for commercial or certain nonprofit purposes unless a return is filed on or before March 1 of each year. The property appraiser, before so classifying such property, may require the taxpayer or the taxpayer's representative to furnish the property appraiser such information as may reasonably be required to establish that such property was actually used as required by this section. Failure to make timely application by March 1 shall constitute a waiver for 1 year of the privilege herein granted for such assessment.

(4)  Any property classified and assessed as historic property used for commercial or certain nonprofit purposes pursuant to this section must meet all of the following criteria:

(a)  The property must be used for commercial purposes or used by a not-for-profit organization under s. 501(c)(3) or (6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

(b)  The property must be listed in the National Register of Historic Places, as defined in s. 267.021; or must be a contributing property to a National Register Historic District; or must be designated as a historic property or as a contributing property to a historic district, under the terms of a local preservation ordinance.

(c)  The property must be regularly open to the public; that is, it must be open for a minimum of 40 hours per week for 45 weeks per year or an equivalent of 1,800 hours per year.

(d)  The property must be maintained in good repair and condition to the extent necessary to preserve the historic value and significance of the property.

(5)  In years in which proper application for assessment has been made and granted pursuant to this section, the assessment of such historic property shall be based solely on its use for commercial or certain nonprofit purposes. The property appraiser shall consider the following use factors only:

(a)  The quantity and size of the property.

(b)  The condition of the property.

(c)  The present market value of the property as historic property used for commercial or certain nonprofit purposes.

(d)  The income produced by the property.

(6)  In years in which proper application for assessment has not been made under this section, the property shall be assessed under the provisions of s. 193.011 for all purposes.

(7)  Any property owner who is denied classification under this section may appeal to the value adjustment board. The property appraiser shall notify the property owner in writing of the denial of such classification on or before July 1 of the year for which the application was filed. The notification shall advise the property owner of his or her right to appeal to the value adjustment board and of the filing deadline. The board may also review all property classified by the property appraiser upon its own motion. The property appraiser shall have available at his or her office a list by ownership of all applications received showing the full valuation under s. 193.011, the valuation of the property under the provisions of this section, and whether or not the classification requested was granted.

(8)  For the purposes of assessment roll preparation and recordkeeping, the property appraiser shall report the assessed value of property qualified for the assessment pursuant to this section as its "classified use value" and shall annually determine and report as "just value" the fair market value of such property, irrespective of any negative impact that restrictions imposed or conveyances made pursuant to this section may have had on such value.

(9)(a)  After qualifying for and being granted the classification and assessment pursuant to this section, the owner of the property shall not use the property in any manner not consistent with the qualifying criteria. If the historic designation status or the use of the property changes or if the property fails to meet the other qualifying criteria for the classification and assessment, the property owner shall be liable for the amount of taxes equal to the "deferred tax liability" for up to the past 10 years in which the property received the use classification and assessment pursuant to this section. The governmental taxing unit shall determine the time period for which the deferred tax liability is due. A written instrument from the governmental taxing unit shall be promptly recorded in the same manner as any other instrument affecting the title to real property. A release of the written instrument shall be made to the owner upon payment of the deferred tax liability.

(b)  For purposes of this subsection, "deferred tax liability" means an amount equal to the difference between the total amount of taxes that would have been due in March if the property had been assessed under the provisions of s. 193.011 and the total amount of taxes actually paid in those years when the property was assessed under the provisions of this section, plus interest on that difference computed as provided in s. 212.12(3).

(c)  Any payment of the deferred tax liability shall be payable to the county tax collector within 90 days after the date of the change in classification. The collector shall distribute the payment to each governmental unit where the classification and assessment was allowed in the proportion that its millage bears to the total millage levied on the parcel for the years in which such classification and assessment was in effect.

(d)  The tax collector shall annually report to the department the amount of deferred tax liability collected pursuant to this section.

History.--s. 2, ch. 97-117.

¹Note.--Section 9, ch. 97-117, provides that "this act shall take effect on the effective date of an amendment to the State Constitution approved by the electors at the general election to be held in November 1998 which authorizes, or removes impediment to, enactment by the Legislature of the provisions of [ch. 97-117]."