Florida Senate - 2009                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SJR 1302
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 532228                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/01/2009           .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————




       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
       The Committee on Finance and Tax (Bennett) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3  
    4         Delete everything after the resolving clause
    5  and insert:
    6         That the following amendment to Section 3 of Article VII of
    7  the State Constitution is agreed to and shall be submitted to
    8  the electors of this state for approval or rejection at the next
    9  general election or at an earlier special election specifically
   10  authorized by law for that purpose:
   11                             ARTICLE VII                           
   12                        FINANCE AND TAXATION                       
   13         SECTION 3. Taxes; exemptions.—
   14         (a) All property owned by a municipality and used
   15  exclusively by it for municipal or public purposes shall be
   16  exempt from taxation. A municipality, owning property outside
   17  the municipality, may be required by general law to make payment
   18  to the taxing unit in which the property is located. Such
   19  portions of property as are used predominantly for educational,
   20  literary, scientific, religious or charitable purposes may be
   21  exempted by general law from taxation.
   22         (b) There shall be exempt from taxation, cumulatively, to
   23  every head of a family residing in this state, household goods
   24  and personal effects to the value fixed by general law, not less
   25  than one thousand dollars, and to every widow or widower or
   26  person who is blind or totally and permanently disabled,
   27  property to the value fixed by general law not less than five
   28  hundred dollars.
   29         (c) Any county or municipality may, for the purpose of its
   30  respective tax levy and subject to the provisions of this
   31  subsection and general law, grant community and economic
   32  development ad valorem tax exemptions to new businesses and
   33  expansions of existing businesses, as defined by general law.
   34  Such an exemption may be granted only by ordinance of the county
   35  or municipality, and only after the electors of the county or
   36  municipality voting on such question in a referendum authorize
   37  the county or municipality to adopt such ordinances. An
   38  exemption so granted shall apply to improvements to real
   39  property made by or for the use of a new business and
   40  improvements to real property related to the expansion of an
   41  existing business and shall also apply to tangible personal
   42  property of such new business and tangible personal property
   43  related to the expansion of an existing business. The amount or
   44  limits of the amount of such exemption shall be specified by
   45  general law. The period of time for which such exemption may be
   46  granted to a new business or expansion of an existing business
   47  shall be determined by general law. The authority to grant such
   48  exemption shall expire ten years from the date of approval by
   49  the electors of the county or municipality, and may be renewable
   50  by referendum as provided by general law.
   51         (d) Any county or municipality may, for the purpose of its
   52  respective tax levy and subject to the provisions of this
   53  subsection and general law, grant historic preservation ad
   54  valorem tax exemptions to owners of historic properties. This
   55  exemption may be granted only by ordinance of the county or
   56  municipality. The amount or limits of the amount of this
   57  exemption and the requirements for eligible properties must be
   58  specified by general law. The period of time for which this
   59  exemption may be granted to a property owner shall be determined
   60  by general law.
   61         (e) By general law and subject to conditions specified
   62  therein, twenty-five thousand dollars of the assessed value of
   63  property subject to tangible personal property tax shall be
   64  exempt from ad valorem taxation.
   65         (f) There shall be granted an ad valorem tax exemption for
   66  real property dedicated in perpetuity for conservation purposes,
   67  including real property encumbered by perpetual conservation
   68  easements or by other perpetual conservation protections, as
   69  defined by general law.
   70         (g)By general law and subject to the conditions specified
   71  therein, each person who receives a homestead exemption as
   72  provided in section 6 of this article; who was a member of the
   73  United States military or military reserves, the United States
   74  Coast Guard or its reserves, or the Florida National Guard; and
   75  who was deployed during the preceding calendar year on active
   76  duty outside the continental United States, Alaska, or Hawaii in
   77  support of military operations that are designated by the
   78  legislature shall receive an additional exemption equal to a
   79  percentage of the taxable value of his or her homestead
   80  property. The applicable percentage shall be calculated as the
   81  number of days during the preceding calendar year the person was
   82  deployed on active duty outside the continental United States,
   83  Alaska, or Hawaii in support of military operations that are
   84  designated by the legislature divided by the number of days in
   85  that year.
   86         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following statement be
   87  placed on the ballot:
   88                      CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT                     
   89                       ARTICLE VII, SECTION 3                      
   90         HOMESTEAD AD VALOREM TAX CREDIT FOR DEPLOYED MILITARY
   91  PERSONNEL.—This proposed amendment to the State Constitution
   92  requires the Legislature to provide an additional property tax
   93  exemption for members of the United States military or its
   94  reserves, the United States Coast Guard or its reserves, or the
   95  Florida National Guard who receive a homestead exemption and
   96  were deployed in the previous year on active duty outside the
   97  continental United States, Alaska, or Hawaii in support of
   98  military operations that are designated by the Legislature. The
   99  exempt amount will be based upon the number of days in the
  100  previous calendar year that the person was deployed on active
  101  duty outside the continental United States, Alaska, or Hawaii in
  102  support of military operations that are designated by the
  103  Legislature.
  104  
  105  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  106  And the title is amended as follows:
  107  
  108         Delete everything before the resolving clause
  109  and insert:
  110                       Senate Joint Resolution                     
  111         A joint resolution proposing an amendment to Section 3
  112         of Article VII of the State Constitution to provide an
  113         additional property tax exemption for members of the
  114         military who receive a homestead exemption and who
  115         were deployed outside the United States during the
  116         preceding year.