| 1 | The Finance & Tax Committee recommends the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Council/Committee Substitute |
| 4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 5 | A bill to be entitled |
| 6 | An act relating to property tax exemptions; amending s. |
| 7 | 196.012, F.S.; defining the term "ex-service member"; |
| 8 | amending s. 196.24, F.S.; entitling certain honorably |
| 9 | discharged disabled ex-service members to an exemption |
| 10 | from taxation of the value of certain property under |
| 11 | certain circumstances; entitling certain unremarried |
| 12 | surviving spouses of such ex-service members to the |
| 13 | exemption under certain circumstances; providing an |
| 14 | effective date. |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 17 |
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| 18 | Section 1. Subsection (20) is added to section 196.012, |
| 19 | Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 20 | 196.012 Definitions.--For the purpose of this chapter, the |
| 21 | following terms are defined as follows, except where the context |
| 22 | clearly indicates otherwise: |
| 23 | (20) "Ex-service member" means any person who has served |
| 24 | as a member of the United States Armed Forces on active duty or |
| 25 | state active duty, a member of the Florida National Guard, or a |
| 26 | member of the United States Armed Forces Reserve. |
| 27 | Section 2. Section 196.24, Florida Statutes, is amended to |
| 28 | read: |
| 29 | 196.24 Exemption for disabled ex-service member or |
| 30 | surviving spouse; evidence of disability.--Any ex-service |
| 31 | member, as defined in s. 196.012, who is a bona fide resident of |
| 32 | the state, who was honorably discharged, and who has been |
| 33 | disabled to a degree of 10 percent or more while serving during |
| 34 | a period of wartime service as defined in s. 1.01(14), or by |
| 35 | misfortune, is entitled to the exemption from taxation provided |
| 36 | for in s. 3(b), Art. VII of the State Constitution as provided |
| 37 | in this section. Property to the value of $5,000 of such a |
| 38 | person is exempt from taxation. The production by him or her of |
| 39 | a certificate of disability from the United States Government or |
| 40 | the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or its |
| 41 | predecessor before the property appraiser of the county wherein |
| 42 | the ex-service member's property lies is prima facie evidence of |
| 43 | the fact that he or she is entitled to the exemption. The |
| 44 | unremarried surviving spouse of such a disabled ex-service |
| 45 | member who, on the date of the disabled ex-service member's |
| 46 | death, had been married to the disabled ex-service member for at |
| 47 | least 5 years is also entitled to the exemption. |
| 48 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2005. |