The Florida Senate

197.402  Advertisement of real or personal property with delinquent taxes.--

(1)  Whenever legal advertisements are required, the board of county commissioners shall select the newspaper as provided in chapter 50. The office of the tax collector shall pay all newspaper charges, and the proportionate cost of the advertisements shall be added to the delinquent taxes when they are collected.

(2)  Within 45 days after the personal property taxes become delinquent, the tax collector shall advertise a list of the names of delinquent personal property taxpayers and the amount of tax due by each. The advertisement shall include a notice that all personal property taxes are drawing interest at the rate of 18 percent per year and that, unless the delinquent taxes are paid, warrants will be issued thereon pursuant to s. 197.413 and the tax collector will apply to the circuit court for an order directing levy upon and seizure of the personal property of the taxpayer for the unpaid taxes.

(3)  Except as provided in s. 197.432(4), on or before June 1 or the 60th day after the date of delinquency, whichever is later, the tax collector shall advertise once each week for 3 weeks and shall sell tax certificates on all real property with delinquent taxes. The tax collector shall make a list of such properties in the same order in which the lands were assessed, specifying the amount due on each parcel, including interest at the rate of 18 percent per year from the date of delinquency to the date of sale; the cost of advertising; and the expense of sale.

(4)  All advertisements shall be in the form prescribed by the department.

(5)  Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the counties of Lake, Marion, Seminole, and Sumter shall enter into a pilot program for the next two full property tax cycles. During this time the tax collector in each county shall, in lieu of the advertisement required in subsection (3), advertise once at least 21 days prior to a sale under that subsection. At the end of this 2-year pilot program, the tax collector in each of the counties named in this subsection shall submit a report to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, on or before October 1, 2007, which compares the effectiveness of single publication versus the effectiveness of triple publication by listing the number and percentage of properties on which delinquent taxes were paid after the single publication in comparison to the number and percentage of properties on which delinquent taxes were paid after three publications.

History.--s. 166, ch. 85-342; s. 55, ch. 94-353; s. 1478, ch. 95-147; s. 1, ch. 2005-220.