Senate Bill sb1824
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Florida Senate - 2003 SB 1824
By Senators Sebesta and Crist
16-5-03
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to real property; amending ss.
3 197.502, 197.582, F.S.; requiring that each
4 owner of property contiguous to property
5 subject to sale under an outstanding tax
6 certificate be notified before the sale of the
7 property; requiring that a county holding any
8 such certificate notify each owner of
9 contiguous property within a specified period
10 if the county does not purchase the property;
11 prohibiting the assessment of taxes and special
12 assessments against property constituting the
13 common elements of a subdivision; requiring
14 that the property appraiser prorate the value
15 of taxes and special assessments against
16 recreational facilities, easements, and other
17 common elements of a subdivision and include
18 such prorated value among the lots within the
19 subdivision conveyed or intended to be conveyed
20 into private ownership; defining the term
21 "common element" for purposes of the act;
22 providing an effective date.
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24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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26 Section 1. Paragraph (h) is added to subsection (4) of
27 section 197.502, Florida Statutes, and subsection (7) of that
28 section is amended, to read:
29 197.502 Application for obtaining tax deed by holder
30 of tax sale certificate; fees.--
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Florida Senate - 2003 SB 1824
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1 (4) The tax collector shall deliver to the clerk of
2 the circuit court a statement that payment has been made for
3 all outstanding certificates or, if the certificate is held by
4 the county, that all appropriate fees have been deposited, and
5 stating that the following persons are to be notified prior to
6 the sale of the property:
7 (h) Any legal titleholder of record of property that
8 is contiguous to the property described in the tax certificate
9 if the address of the titleholder of contiguous property
10 appears on the record of conveyance of the land to that legal
11 titleholder. However, if the legal titleholder of property
12 contiguous to the property described in the tax certificate is
13 the same as the person to whom the property described in the
14 tax certificate was assessed on the tax roll for the year in
15 which the property was last assessed, the notice may only be
16 mailed to the address of the legal titleholder as it appears
17 on the latest assessment roll.
18 (7) On county-held certificates for which there are no
19 bidders at the public sale, the clerk shall enter the land on
20 a list entitled "lands available for taxes" and shall
21 immediately notify the county commission and all other persons
22 holding certificates against the land that the land is
23 available. During the first 90 days after the land is placed
24 on the list of lands available for taxes, the county may
25 purchase the land for the opening bid. Thereafter, any
26 person, the county, or any other governmental unit may
27 purchase the land from the clerk, without further notice or
28 advertising, for the opening bid, except that when the county
29 or other governmental unit is the purchaser for its own use,
30 the board of county commissioners may cancel omitted years'
31 taxes, as provided under s. 197.447. If the county does not
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Florida Senate - 2003 SB 1824
16-5-03
1 elect to purchase the land, before expiration of the 90-day
2 period the county must notify each legal titleholder of
3 property contiguous to the land available for taxes, as
4 provided in paragraph (4)(h). Interest on the opening bid
5 continues to accrue through the month of sale as prescribed by
6 s. 197.542.
7 Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 197.582, Florida
8 Statutes, is amended to read:
9 197.582 Disbursement of proceeds of sale.--
10 (2) If the property is purchased for an amount in
11 excess of the statutory bid of the certificateholder, the
12 excess shall be paid over and disbursed by the clerk. If the
13 property purchased is homestead property and the statutory bid
14 includes an amount equal to at least one-half of the assessed
15 value of the homestead, that amount shall be treated as excess
16 and distributed in the same manner. The clerk shall
17 distribute the excess to the governmental units for the
18 payment of any lien of record held by a governmental unit
19 against the property. In the event the excess is not
20 sufficient to pay all of such liens in full, the excess shall
21 then be paid to each governmental unit pro rata. If, after
22 all liens of record of the governmental units upon the
23 property are paid in full, there remains a balance of
24 undistributed funds, the balance of the purchase price shall
25 be retained by the clerk for the benefit of the persons
26 described in s. 197.522(1)(a), except those persons described
27 in s. 197.502(4)(h), as their interests may appear. The clerk
28 shall mail notices to such persons notifying them of the funds
29 held for their benefit. Any service charges, at the same rate
30 as prescribed in s. 28.24(13), and costs of mailing notices
31 shall be paid out of the excess balance held by the clerk.
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Florida Senate - 2003 SB 1824
16-5-03
1 Excess proceeds shall be held and disbursed in the same manner
2 as unclaimed redemption moneys in s. 197.473. In the event
3 excess proceeds are not sufficient to cover the service
4 charges and mailing costs, the clerk shall receive the total
5 amount of excess proceeds as a service charge.
6 Section 3. Taxes and special assessments against
7 subdivision property.--
8 (1) Ad valorem taxes, benefit taxes, and special
9 assessments by taxing authorities shall be assessed against
10 the lots within a platted subdivision and not upon the
11 subdivision property as a whole. An ad valorem tax, benefit
12 tax, or special assessment, including a tax or assessment
13 imposed by a special district, drainage district, or water
14 management district, may not be assessed separately against
15 recreational facilities or other common elements, regardless
16 of ownership. The value of each parcel of land that is or has
17 been part of a platted subdivision and that is designated on
18 the plat or the approved site plan as a common element shall,
19 regardless of ownership, be prorated by the property appraiser
20 and included in the assessment of all the lots within the
21 subdivision which constitute inventory for the developer and
22 which are intended to be conveyed or which have been conveyed
23 into private ownership.
24 (2) As used in this section, the term "common element"
25 includes:
26 (a) Subdivision property not included within lots
27 constituting inventory for the developer which are intended to
28 be conveyed or which have been conveyed into private
29 ownership.
30 (b) An easement through the subdivision property, not
31 including the property described in paragraph (a), which has
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Florida Senate - 2003 SB 1824
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1 been dedicated to the public or retained for the benefit of
2 the subdivision.
3 (c) Any other part of the subdivision which has been
4 designated on the plat, or which is required to be designated
5 on the site plan, as a drainage pond, detention or retention
6 pond, or recreational feature and which is for the benefit of
7 the subdivision.
8 Section 4. This act shall take effect January 1, 2004.
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11 SENATE SUMMARY
12 Before property is sold under an outstanding tax
certificate, requires that the tax collector notify each
13 owner of property contiguous to the property subject to
sale. Requires that a county notify each owner of
14 contiguous property within 90 days after property is
placed on the list of lands available for taxes if the
15 county holds the tax certificate and does not purchase
the property. Requires that the value of taxes and
16 special assessments against recreational facilities,
easements, and other common elements of a subdivision be
17 prorated by the property appraiser and included within
the value of the lots within the subdivision conveyed or
18 intended to be conveyed into private ownership.
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