| 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 | amending s. 201.0205, F.S.; deleting references to ch. 83- |
| 15 | 220, Laws of Florida, to conform; updating cross- |
| 16 | references; repealing s. 3 of ch. 83-220, Laws of Florida, |
| 17 | as amended, relating to the former repeal date established |
| 18 | for the discretionary surtax on documents; providing an |
| 19 | effective date. |
| 20 |
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| 21 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 22 |
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| 23 | Section 1. Section 125.0167, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 24 | to read: |
| 25 | 125.0167 Discretionary surtax on documents; adoption; |
| 26 | application of revenue.-- |
| 27 | (1) Pursuant to the provisions of s. 201.031, the |
| 28 | governing authority in each county having a population of 1.2 |
| 29 | million or greater which operates under a home rule charter, and |
| 30 | each county, as defined by s. 125.011(1), is authorized to levy |
| 31 | a discretionary surtax on documents for the purpose of |
| 32 | establishing and financing a Housing Assistance Loan Trust Fund |
| 33 | to assist in the financing of construction, rehabilitation, or |
| 34 | purchase of housing for low-income and moderate-income families. |
| 35 | No less than 50 percent of the funds used in each county to |
| 36 | provide such housing assistance shall be for the benefit of low- |
| 37 | income families. For the purpose of this section, "low-income |
| 38 | family" means a family whose income does not exceed 80 percent |
| 39 | of the median income for the area, and "moderate-income family" |
| 40 | means a family whose income is in excess of 80 percent but less |
| 41 | than 140 percent of the median income for the area. For purposes |
| 42 | of this section, the term "housing" is not limited to single- |
| 43 | family, detached dwellings. The rate of the surtax shall not |
| 44 | exceed the rate of 45 cents for each $100 or fractional part |
| 45 | thereof of the consideration therefor. Such surtax shall apply |
| 46 | only to those documents taxable under s. 201.02, except that |
| 47 | there shall be no surtax on any document pursuant to which the |
| 48 | interest granted, assigned, transferred, or conveyed involves |
| 49 | only a single-family residence. Such single-family residence may |
| 50 | be a condominium unit, a unit held through stock ownership or |
| 51 | membership representing a proprietary interest in a corporation |
| 52 | owning a fee or a leasehold initially in excess of 98 years, or |
| 53 | a detached dwelling. |
| 54 | (2)(a) The levy of the discretionary surtax and the |
| 55 | creation of a Housing Assistance Loan Trust Fund shall be by |
| 56 | ordinance which shall set forth the policies and procedures of |
| 57 | the assistance program. The ordinance shall be proposed at a |
| 58 | regular meeting of the governing authority at least 2 weeks |
| 59 | prior to formal adoption. Formal adoption shall not be effective |
| 60 | unless approved on final vote by a majority of the total |
| 61 | membership of the governing authority. The ordinance shall not |
| 62 | take effect until 90 days after formal adoption. |
| 63 | (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), a charter county that |
| 64 | is not a county as defined in s. 125.011(1) may not levy the |
| 65 | surtax unless such levy is approved by a majority of the |
| 66 | qualified electors of the county voting in a referendum called |
| 67 | by the governing authority of the charter county. The referendum |
| 68 | may be held in conjunction with any primary or general election |
| 69 | or at any other time determined appropriate by the governing |
| 70 | authority of the charter county. The general laws of this state |
| 71 | governing elections shall apply to the referendum required by |
| 72 | this paragraph and notice of the referendum must comply with s. |
| 73 | 100.342. If the voters approved the levy of the surtax, the |
| 74 | charter county's governing authority shall proceed to levy the |
| 75 | surtax as provided in paragraph (a). |
| 76 | (3) The county shall deposit revenues from the |
| 77 | discretionary surtax in the Housing Assistance Loan Trust Fund |
| 78 | of the county, except that a portion of such revenues may be |
| 79 | deposited into the Home Investment Trust Fund of the county as |
| 80 | defined by and created pursuant to the requirements of federal |
| 81 | law. The county shall use the revenues only to help finance the |
| 82 | construction, rehabilitation, or purchase of housing for low- |
| 83 | income families and moderate-income families, to pay necessary |
| 84 | costs of collection and enforcement of the surtax, and to fund |
| 85 | any local matching contributions required pursuant to federal |
| 86 | law. For purposes of this section, authorized uses of the |
| 87 | revenues include, but are not limited to, providing funds for |
| 88 | first and second mortgages and acquiring property for the |
| 89 | purpose of forming housing cooperatives. Special consideration |
| 90 | shall be given toward using the revenues in the neighborhood |
| 91 | economic development programs of community development |
| 92 | corporations. No more than 50 percent of the revenues collected |
| 93 | each year pursuant to this section may be used to help finance |
| 94 | new construction as provided herein. The proceeds of the surtax |
| 95 | shall not be used for rent subsidies or grants. |
| 96 | (4) This section is repealed effective October 1, 2017. |
| 97 | Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 201.031, Florida |
| 98 | Statutes, is amended, and subsection (4) is added to said |
| 99 | section, 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 may |
| 111 | be a condominium unit, a unit held through stock ownership or |
| 112 | membership representing a proprietary interest in a corporation |
| 113 | owning a fee or a leasehold initially in excess of 98 years, or |
| 114 | a detached dwelling. |
| 115 | (4) This section is repealed effective October 1, 2017. |
| 116 | Section 3. Section 201.0205, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 117 | to read: |
| 118 | 201.0205 Counties as defined in s. 125.011(1) that have |
| 119 | implemented a discretionary surtax on documents under s. |
| 120 | 125.0167 ch. 83-220; inapplicability of 10-cent tax increase by |
| 121 | s. 2, ch. 92-317, Laws of Florida.--The 10-cent tax increase in |
| 122 | the documentary stamp tax levied by s. 2, chapter 92-317, Laws |
| 123 | of Florida, does not apply to deeds and other taxable |
| 124 | instruments relating to real property located in any county as |
| 125 | defined in s. 125.011(1) that has levied a discretionary surtax |
| 126 | on documents under s. 125.0167 implemented the provisions of |
| 127 | chapter 83-220, Laws of Florida, as amended by chapters 84-270, |
| 128 | 86-152, and 89-252, Laws of Florida. Each such county and each |
| 129 | eligible jurisdiction within such county shall not be eligible |
| 130 | to participate in programs funded pursuant to s. 201.15(9)(6). |
| 131 | However, each such county and each eligible jurisdiction within |
| 132 | such county shall be eligible to participate in programs funded |
| 133 | pursuant to s. 201.15(10)(7). |
| 134 | Section 4. Section 3 of chapter 83-220, Laws of Florida, |
| 135 | as amended by section 1 of chapter 84-270, Laws of Florida, and |
| 136 | section 1 of chapter 89-252, Laws of Florida, is repealed. |
| 137 | Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |