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House Bill 1335e1

HJR 1335, First Engrossed/ntc 1 House Joint Resolution 2 A joint resolution proposing an amendment to 3 Section 3 of Article VII and the creation of 4 Section 22 of Article XII of the State 5 Constitution relating to exemption from ad 6 valorem taxation of certain tangible personal 7 property. 8 9 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 10 11 That the amendment to Section 3 of Article VII and the 12 creation of Section 22 of Article XII of the State 13 Constitution set forth below are agreed to and shall be 14 submitted to the electors of Florida for approval or rejection 15 at the general election to be held in November 1998: 16 ARTICLE VII 17 FINANCE AND TAXATION 18 SECTION 3. Taxes; exemptions.-- 19 (a) All property owned by a municipality and used 20 exclusively by it for municipal or public purposes shall be 21 exempt from taxation. A municipality, owning property outside 22 the municipality, may be required by general law to make 23 payment to the taxing unit in which the property is located. 24 Such portions of property as are used predominantly for 25 educational, literary, scientific, religious or charitable 26 purposes may be exempted by general law from taxation. 27 (b) There shall be exempt from taxation, cumulatively, 28 to every head of a family residing in this state, household 29 goods and personal effects to the value fixed by general law, 30 not less than one thousand dollars, and to every widow or 31 widower or person who is blind or totally and permanently 1 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. HJR 1335, First Engrossed/ntc 1 disabled, property to the value fixed by general law not less 2 than five hundred dollars. 3 (c) Any county or municipality may, for the purpose of 4 its respective tax levy and subject to the provisions of this 5 subsection and general law, grant community and economic 6 development ad valorem tax exemptions to new businesses and 7 expansions of existing businesses, as defined by general law. 8 Such an exemption may be granted only by ordinance of the 9 county or municipality, and only after the electors of the 10 county or municipality voting on such question in a referendum 11 authorize the county or municipality to adopt such ordinances. 12 An exemption so granted shall apply to improvements to real 13 property made by or for the use of a new business and 14 improvements to real property related to the expansion of an 15 existing business and shall also apply to tangible personal 16 property of such new business and tangible personal property 17 related to the expansion of an existing business. The amount 18 or limits of the amount of such exemption shall be specified 19 by general law. The period of time for which such exemption 20 may be granted to a new business or expansion of an existing 21 business shall be determined by general law. The authority to 22 grant such exemption shall expire ten years from the date of 23 approval by the electors of the county or municipality, and 24 may be renewable by referendum as provided by general law. 25 (d) By general law and subject to conditions specified 26 therein, there may be granted an ad valorem tax exemption to a 27 renewable energy source device and to real property on which 28 such device is installed and operated, to the value fixed by 29 general law not to exceed the original cost of the device, and 30 for the period of time fixed by general law not to exceed ten 31 years. 2 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. HJR 1335, First Engrossed/ntc 1 (e) Any county or municipality may, for the purpose of 2 its respective tax levy and subject to the provisions of this 3 subsection and general law, grant historic preservation ad 4 valorem tax exemptions to owners of historic properties 5 engaging in the rehabilitation or renovation of these 6 properties in accordance with approved historic preservation 7 guidelines. This exemption may be granted only by ordinance 8 of the county or municipality. The amount or limits of the 9 amount of this exemption and the requirements for eligible 10 properties must be specified by general law. The period of 11 time for which this exemption may be granted to a property 12 owner shall be determined by general law. 13 (f) By general law and subject to the conditions 14 specified therein, in addition to any other exemption granted 15 to tangible personal property pursuant to this section, all 16 tangible personal property in a county held by the same owner 17 may be exempted from ad valorem taxation up to a total 18 cumulative value of $5,000. This exemption does not apply if 19 the total cumulative value of all tangible personal property 20 in a county held by the owner that would qualify for this 21 exemption exceeds the amount of the exemption. The maximum 22 exempt value shall be adjusted to reflect inflation. This 23 exemption does not apply to tangible personal property held 24 for sale as stock in trade and livestock, which are subject to 25 Section 4(b) of this Article. 26 ARTICLE XII 27 SCHEDULE 28 SECTION 22. Exemption for tangible personal 29 property.--Subsection (f) of Section 3 of Article VII, 30 relating to exemption of certain tangible personal property 31 from ad valorem taxation, shall take effect January 1, 1999. 3 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. HJR 1335, First Engrossed/ntc 1 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in accordance with the 2 requirements of section 101.161, Florida Statutes, the title 3 and substance of the amendment proposed herein shall appear on 4 the ballot as follows: 5 TAX EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN 6 TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY 7 Allows exemption from ad valorem taxation by general 8 law of all tangible personal property in a county held by one 9 owner up to a total value of $5,000, adjusted for inflation, 10 unless the value of property qualified for the exemption held 11 by the owner exceeds the exemption amount. This exemption 12 would be in addition to other constitutional exemptions and 13 would not apply to tangible personal property held for sale as 14 stock in trade or livestock. 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 4