| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to payments in lieu of taxes; amending s. |
| 3 | 373.59, F.S.; deleting a 10-year limitation on such |
| 4 | payments; subjecting such payments to certain indexes used |
| 5 | by the Governor in funding rural initiatives; amending s. |
| 6 | 373.5905, F.S., to conform; providing an effective date. |
| 7 |
|
| 8 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 9 |
|
| 10 | Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (10) of section |
| 11 | 373.59, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (h) is added |
| 12 | to said section, to read: |
| 13 | 373.59 Water Management Lands Trust Fund.-- |
| 14 | (10) |
| 15 | (b) Payment in lieu of taxes shall be available: |
| 16 | 1. To all counties that have a population of 150,000 or |
| 17 | fewer. Population levels shall be determined pursuant to s. |
| 18 | 11.031. |
| 19 | 2. To all local governments located in eligible counties |
| 20 | and whose lands are bought and taken off the tax rolls. |
| 21 |
|
| 22 | For properties acquired after January 1, 2000, in the event that |
| 23 | such properties otherwise eligible for payment in lieu of taxes |
| 24 | under this subsection are leased or reserved and remain subject |
| 25 | to ad valorem taxes, payments in lieu of taxes shall commence or |
| 26 | recommence upon the expiration or termination of the lease or |
| 27 | reservation, but in no event shall there be more than a total of |
| 28 | 10 annual payments in lieu of taxes for each tax loss. If the |
| 29 | lease is terminated for only a portion of the lands at any time, |
| 30 | the 10 annual payments shall be made for that portion only |
| 31 | commencing the year after such termination, without limiting the |
| 32 | requirement that 10 annual payments shall be made on the |
| 33 | remaining portion or portions of the land as the lease on each |
| 34 | expires. For the purposes of this subsection, "local government" |
| 35 | includes municipalities, the county school board, mosquito |
| 36 | control districts, and any other local government entity which |
| 37 | levies ad valorem taxes. |
| 38 | (h) Payments in lieu of taxes made pursuant to this |
| 39 | subsection shall be subject to the same indexes the Governor |
| 40 | uses for funding rural initiatives. |
| 41 | Section 2. Section 373.5905, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 42 | to read: |
| 43 | 373.5905 Reinstitution of payments in lieu of taxes; |
| 44 | duration.--If a water management district has made a payment in |
| 45 | lieu of taxes to a governmental entity and subsequently |
| 46 | suspended such payment, the water management district shall |
| 47 | reinstitute appropriate payments and continue the payments in |
| 48 | consecutive years until the governmental entity has received a |
| 49 | total of 10 payments for each tax loss. |
| 50 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2005. |