Senate Bill 0974c1

    Florida Senate - 1999                            CS for SB 974

    By the Committee on Education and Senator Childers





    304-2018-99

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the educational property tax

  3         exemption; amending s. 196.198, F.S.; providing

  4         circumstances in which land is considered to be

  5         property owned by an educational institution;

  6         providing an effective date.

  7

  8  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

  9

10         Section 1.  Section 196.198, Florida Statutes, is

11  amended to read:

12         196.198  Educational property exemption.--Educational

13  institutions within this state and their property used by them

14  or by any other exempt entity or educational institution

15  exclusively for educational purposes shall be exempt from

16  taxation.  Sheltered workshops providing rehabilitation and

17  retraining of disabled individuals and exempted by a

18  certificate under s. (d) of the federal Fair Labor Standards

19  Act of 1938, as amended, are declared wholly educational in

20  purpose and shall be exempted from certification,

21  accreditation, and membership requirements set forth in s.

22  196.012.  Those portions of property of college fraternities

23  and sororities certified by the president of the college or

24  university to the appropriate property appraiser as being

25  essential to the educational process, shall be exempt from ad

26  valorem taxation. The use of property by public fairs and

27  expositions chartered by chapter 616 is presumed to be an

28  educational use of such property and shall be exempt from ad

29  valorem taxation to the extent of such use.  Property used

30  exclusively for educational purposes shall be deemed owned by

31  an educational institution if the entity owning 100 percent of

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 1999                            CS for SB 974
    304-2018-99




  1  the educational institution is owned by the identical persons

  2  who own the property. If the title to land is held by the

  3  trustee of an irrevocable inter vivos trust and if the trust

  4  grantor owns 100 percent of the entity that owns an

  5  educational institution that is using the land exclusively for

  6  educational purposes, the land is deemed to be property owned

  7  by the educational institution for purposes of this exemption.

  8  Property owned by an educational institution shall be deemed

  9  to be used for an educational purpose if the institution has

10  taken affirmative steps to prepare the property for

11  educational use.  Affirmative steps means environmental or

12  land use permitting activities, creation of architectural

13  plans or schematic drawings, land clearing or site

14  preparation, construction or renovation activities, or other

15  similar activities that demonstrate commitment of the property

16  to an educational use.

17         Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

18  law.

19

20          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
21                              SB 974

22

23  The committee substitute clarifies the proposed ad valorem tax
    exemption to avoid obscure ownership issues and conforms
24  terminology to that currently used in chapter 196, F.S.

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