| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to the discretionary surtax on documents; |
| 3 | amending ss. 125.0167 and 201.031, F.S.; authorizing |
| 4 | certain counties operating under a home rule charter to |
| 5 | levy the discretionary surtax for purposes of establishing |
| 6 | and funding a Housing Assistance Loan Trust Fund to assist |
| 7 | in providing housing for low-income and moderate-income |
| 8 | families; prohibiting certain counties from levying the |
| 9 | surtax unless approved by a majority of the electors of |
| 10 | the county voting in a referendum; providing requirements |
| 11 | for holding a referendum; providing for the future repeal |
| 12 | of ss. 125.0167 and 201.031, F.S., relating to the surtax |
| 13 | on documents for purposes of funding housing assistance; |
| 14 | repealing s. 3 of ch. 83-220, Laws of Florida, as amended, |
| 15 | relating to the former repeal date established for the |
| 16 | discretionary surtax on documents; providing an effective |
| 17 | date. |
| 18 |
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| 19 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 20 |
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| 21 | Section 1. Section 125.0167, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 22 | to read: |
| 23 | 125.0167 Discretionary surtax on documents; adoption; |
| 24 | application of revenue.-- |
| 25 | (1) Pursuant to the provisions of s. 201.031, the |
| 26 | governing authority in each county having a population of 1.2 |
| 27 | million or greater which operates under a home rule charter, and |
| 28 | each county, as defined by s. 125.011(1), is authorized to levy |
| 29 | a discretionary surtax on documents for the purpose of |
| 30 | establishing and financing a Housing Assistance Loan Trust Fund |
| 31 | to assist in the financing of construction, rehabilitation, or |
| 32 | purchase of housing for low-income and moderate-income families. |
| 33 | No less than 50 percent of the funds used in each county to |
| 34 | provide such housing assistance shall be for the benefit of low- |
| 35 | income families. For the purpose of this section, "low-income |
| 36 | family" means a family whose income does not exceed 80 percent |
| 37 | of the median income for the area, and "moderate-income family" |
| 38 | means a family whose income is in excess of 80 percent but less |
| 39 | than 140 percent of the median income for the area. For |
| 40 | purposes of this section, the term "housing" is not limited to |
| 41 | single-family, detached dwellings. The rate of the surtax shall |
| 42 | not exceed the rate of 45 cents for each $100 or fractional part |
| 43 | thereof of the consideration therefor. Such surtax shall apply |
| 44 | only to those documents taxable under s. 201.02, except that |
| 45 | there shall be no surtax on any document pursuant to which the |
| 46 | interest granted, assigned, transferred, or conveyed involves |
| 47 | only a single-family residence. Such single-family residence |
| 48 | may be a condominium unit, a unit held through stock ownership |
| 49 | or membership representing a proprietary interest in a |
| 50 | corporation owning a fee or a leasehold initially in excess of |
| 51 | 98 years, or a detached dwelling. |
| 52 | (2)(a) The levy of the discretionary surtax and the |
| 53 | creation of a Housing Assistance Loan Trust Fund shall be by |
| 54 | ordinance, which shall set forth the policies and procedures of |
| 55 | the assistance program. A charter county that is not a county as |
| 56 | defined in s. 125.011(1) may, by ordinance, limit the |
| 57 | applicability of the discretionary surtax on documents taxable |
| 58 | under s. 201.031. The ordinance shall be proposed at a regular |
| 59 | meeting of the governing authority at least 2 weeks prior to |
| 60 | formal adoption. Formal adoption shall not be effective unless |
| 61 | approved on final vote by a majority of the total membership of |
| 62 | the governing authority. The ordinance shall not take effect |
| 63 | until 90 days after formal adoption. |
| 64 | (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), a charter county that |
| 65 | is not a county as defined in s. 125.011(1) may not levy the |
| 66 | surtax unless such levy is approved by a majority of the |
| 67 | qualified electors of the county voting in a referendum called |
| 68 | by the governing authority of the charter county. The referendum |
| 69 | may be held in conjunction with any primary or general election, |
| 70 | or at any other time determined appropriate by the governing |
| 71 | authority of the charter county. The general laws of this state |
| 72 | governing elections shall apply to the referendum required by |
| 73 | this paragraph and notice of the referendum must comply with s. |
| 74 | 100.342. If the voters approved the levy of the surtax, the |
| 75 | charter county's governing authority shall proceed to levy the |
| 76 | surtax as provided in paragraph (a). |
| 77 | (3) The county shall deposit revenues from the |
| 78 | discretionary surtax in the Housing Assistance Loan Trust Fund |
| 79 | of the county, except that a portion of such revenues may be |
| 80 | deposited into the Home Investment Trust Fund of the county as |
| 81 | defined by and created pursuant to the requirements of federal |
| 82 | law. The county shall use the revenues only to help finance the |
| 83 | construction, rehabilitation, or purchase of housing for low- |
| 84 | income families and moderate-income families, to pay necessary |
| 85 | costs of collection and enforcement of the surtax, and to fund |
| 86 | any local matching contributions required pursuant to federal |
| 87 | law. For purposes of this section, authorized uses of the |
| 88 | revenues include, but are not limited to, providing funds for |
| 89 | first and second mortgages and acquiring property for the |
| 90 | purpose of forming housing cooperatives. Special consideration |
| 91 | shall be given toward using the revenues in the neighborhood |
| 92 | economic development programs of community development |
| 93 | corporations. No more than 50 percent of the revenues collected |
| 94 | each year pursuant to this section may be used to help finance |
| 95 | new construction as provided herein. The proceeds of the surtax |
| 96 | shall not be used for rent subsidies or grants. |
| 97 | (4) This section is repealed effective October 1, 2016. |
| 98 | Section 2. Section 201.031, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 99 | to read: |
| 100 | 201.031 Discretionary surtax; administration and |
| 101 | collection; Housing Assistance Loan Trust Fund; reporting |
| 102 | requirements.-- |
| 103 | (1) Each county having a population of 1.2 million or |
| 104 | greater which operates under a home rule charter, and each |
| 105 | county, as defined by s. 125.011(1), may levy, subject to the |
| 106 | provisions of s. 125.0167, a discretionary surtax on documents |
| 107 | taxable under the provisions of s. 201.02, except that there |
| 108 | shall be no surtax on any document pursuant to which the |
| 109 | interest granted, assigned, transferred, or conveyed involves |
| 110 | only a single-family residence. Such single-family residence |
| 111 | may be a condominium unit, a unit held through stock ownership |
| 112 | or membership representing a proprietary interest in a |
| 113 | corporation owning a fee or a leasehold initially in excess of |
| 114 | 98 years, or a detached dwelling. |
| 115 | (2) All provisions of chapter 201, except s. 201.15, shall |
| 116 | apply to the surtax. The Department of Revenue shall pay to the |
| 117 | governing authority of the county which levies the surtax all |
| 118 | taxes, penalties, and interest collected under this section less |
| 119 | any costs of administration. |
| 120 | (3) Each county which levies the surtax shall include in |
| 121 | the financial report required under s. 218.32 information |
| 122 | showing the revenues and the expenses of the trust fund for the |
| 123 | fiscal year. |
| 124 | (4) This section is repealed effective October 1, 2016. |
| 125 | Section 3. Section 3 of chapter 83-220, Laws of Florida, |
| 126 | as amended by section 1 of chapter 84-270, Laws of Florida, and |
| 127 | section 1 of chapter 89-252, Laws of Florida, is repealed. |
| 128 | Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |