| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to a local option surcharge on rentals or |
| 3 | leases of motor vehicles; creating s. 212.0607, F.S.; |
| 4 | authorizing certain counties to impose by ordinance a |
| 5 | surcharge on rental or lease of motor vehicles; providing |
| 6 | limitations; providing for collection, administration, and |
| 7 | enforcement of the surcharge by the Department of Revenue; |
| 8 | providing duties of the department; requiring a |
| 9 | referendum; providing for the uses of surcharge proceeds; |
| 10 | providing for application of certain rules of the |
| 11 | department; providing an effective date. |
| 12 |
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| 13 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 14 |
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| 15 | Section 1. Section 212.0607, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 16 | to read: |
| 17 | 212.0607 Local option surcharge on the lease or rental of |
| 18 | motor vehicles.-- |
| 19 | (1) Subject to this section, any county in this state that |
| 20 | is a member of a metropolitan planning organization designated |
| 21 | under s. 339.175 may impose a surcharge not to exceed $2 per day |
| 22 | or any part of a day upon the lease or rental of a motor vehicle |
| 23 | licensed for hire and designed to carry fewer than nine |
| 24 | passengers, regardless of whether such motor vehicle is licensed |
| 25 | in this state. The surcharge may apply only to the first 30 days |
| 26 | of the term of any lease or rental. The surcharge is subject to |
| 27 | all applicable taxes imposed by this chapter. The surcharge is |
| 28 | designated as the "Local Option Rental Car Surcharge." |
| 29 | (2)(a) The surcharge shall be imposed pursuant to an |
| 30 | ordinance enacted by a majority vote of the governing board of |
| 31 | the county. Such ordinance shall designate the Department of |
| 32 | Revenue as the agency which shall collect the surcharge and to |
| 33 | which surcharge proceeds shall be remitted. |
| 34 | (b)1. The department shall collect, administer, and |
| 35 | enforce the surcharge as provided in this chapter. |
| 36 | 2. The department shall require dealers to report |
| 37 | surcharge collections according to the county to which the |
| 38 | surcharge was attributed. For purposes of this section, the |
| 39 | surcharge shall be attributed to the county in which the rental |
| 40 | agreement was entered into. |
| 41 | 3. Dealers who collect the surcharge shall, on a timely |
| 42 | filed return for each required reporting period, report to the |
| 43 | department all surcharge revenues attributed to the county in |
| 44 | which the rental agreement was entered into. The provisions of |
| 45 | this chapter which apply to interest and penalties on delinquent |
| 46 | taxes shall apply to the surcharge. The surcharge shall not be |
| 47 | included in the calculation of estimated taxes pursuant to s. |
| 48 | 212.11. The dealer's credit provided in s. 212.12 shall not |
| 49 | apply to any amount collected under this section. |
| 50 | 4. The department shall distribute proceeds of the |
| 51 | surcharge to the county to which the surcharge was attributed. |
| 52 | 5. A portion of the surcharge collected may be retained by |
| 53 | the department for costs of administration, but such portion |
| 54 | shall not exceed 3 percent of collections. |
| 55 | (3) The ordinance shall provide that it shall not become |
| 56 | effective until approved by a majority vote of the electors of |
| 57 | the county voting in a referendum on the local option rental car |
| 58 | surcharge and until a local option rental car surcharge is |
| 59 | approved by referendum in each of the member counties of the |
| 60 | metropolitan planning organization. Such referendum shall be |
| 61 | conducted in accordance with applicable laws of this state. If |
| 62 | approved by such referendum, a certified copy of the ordinance |
| 63 | that authorizes the imposition of the surcharge shall be |
| 64 | furnished by the county to the department within 10 days after |
| 65 | such approval. |
| 66 | (4) All proceeds of the surcharge received pursuant to |
| 67 | this section by a county imposing the surcharge shall be used by |
| 68 | the county solely to provide funding on an annual basis for |
| 69 | those transportation projects listed in the long-range |
| 70 | transportation plan of the metropolitan planning organization |
| 71 | encompassing that county, as specified in s. 339.175(6), |
| 72 | provided, at the discretion of the county, a portion of such |
| 73 | proceeds may be used on an annual basis to provide funding for |
| 74 | designated public transportation facilities and public |
| 75 | transportation systems within that metropolitan planning |
| 76 | organization's urbanized area. For purposes of this subsection, |
| 77 | the term "proceeds of the surcharge" means all funds collected |
| 78 | and received by the department under this section, including |
| 79 | interest and penalties on delinquent surcharges. |
| 80 | (5) For purposes of administering the surcharge, all rules |
| 81 | adopted by the department for administering the rental car |
| 82 | surcharge established by s. 212.0606 shall apply, except the |
| 83 | ordinance enacted by the county may contain differing and |
| 84 | conflicting provisions, which shall prevail. |
| 85 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006. |