Florida Senate - 2009 SB 2056
By Senator Sobel
31-01640A-09 20092056__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to school district required local
3 effort; requiring tax collectors to include on annual
4 tax bills a notice of any specific provisions of law
5 requiring a school district to change its required
6 local effort resulting in a change in property taxes;
7 amending s.200.069, F.S.; requiring the notice of
8 proposed property taxes and non-ad valorem assessments
9 to include an explanation of changes in millage rates
10 for required local effort ad valorem taxes set by the
11 Legislature; providing an effective date.
12
13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15 Section 1. Whenever the Legislature enacts legislation that
16 requires a school district to change its required local effort
17 resulting in a change in related ad valorem taxes, the tax
18 collector in each county shall notify each taxpayer, in the
19 notice of proposed property taxes and non-ad valorem assessments
20 required by s. 200.069, Florida Statutes, of the specific
21 chapter of the Laws of Florida which imposes the change in the
22 required local effort and results in the change in ad valorem
23 taxation.
24 Section 2. Section 200.069, Florida Statutes, is amended to
25 read:
26 200.069 Notice of proposed property taxes and non-ad
27 valorem assessments.—Pursuant to s. 200.065(2)(b), the property
28 appraiser, in the name of the taxing authorities and local
29 governing boards levying non-ad valorem assessments within his
30 or her jurisdiction and at the expense of the county, shall
31 prepare and deliver by first-class mail to each taxpayer to be
32 listed on the current year's assessment roll a notice of
33 proposed property taxes, which notice shall contain the elements
34 and use the format provided in the following form.
35 Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 195.022, no county officer
36 shall use a form other than that provided herein. The Department
37 of Revenue may adjust the spacing and placement on the form of
38 the elements listed in this section as it considers necessary
39 based on changes in conditions necessitated by various taxing
40 authorities. If the elements are in the order listed, the
41 placement of the listed columns may be varied at the discretion
42 and expense of the property appraiser, and the property
43 appraiser may use printing technology and devices to complete
44 the form, the spacing, and the placement of the information in
45 the columns. A county officer may use a form other than that
46 provided by the department for purposes of this part, but only
47 if his or her office pays the related expenses and he or she
48 obtains prior written permission from the executive director of
49 the department; however, a county officer may not use a form the
50 substantive content of which is at variance with the form
51 prescribed by the department. The county officer may continue to
52 use such an approved form until the law that specifies the form
53 is amended or repealed or until the officer receives written
54 disapproval from the executive director.
55 (1) The notice shall read:
56
57 NOTICE OF PROPOSED PROPERTY TAXES
58 DO NOT PAY—THIS IS NOT A BILL
59
60 The taxing authorities which levy property taxes against
61 your property will soon hold PUBLIC HEARINGS to adopt budgets
62 and tax rates for the next year.
63 The purpose of these PUBLIC HEARINGS is to receive opinions
64 from the general public and to answer questions on the proposed
65 tax change and budget PRIOR TO TAKING FINAL ACTION.
66 Each taxing authority may AMEND OR ALTER its proposals at
67 the hearing.
68
69 (2) The notice shall further contain information applicable
70 to the specific parcel in question. The information shall be in
71 columnar form. There shall be five column headings which shall
72 read: “Taxing Authority,” “Your Property Taxes Last Year,” “Your
73 Taxes This Year IF PROPOSED Budget Change is Made,” “A Public
74 Hearing on the Proposed Taxes and Budget Will be Held:”, and
75 “Your Taxes This Year IF NO Budget Change is Made.”
76 (3) There shall be under each column heading an entry for
77 the county; the school district levy required pursuant to s.
78 1011.60(6); other operating school levies; the municipality or
79 municipal service taxing unit or units in which the parcel lies,
80 if any; the water management district levying pursuant to s.
81 373.503; the independent special districts in which the parcel
82 lies, if any; and for all voted levies for debt service
83 applicable to the parcel, if any.
84 (4) For each entry listed in subsection (3), there shall
85 appear on the notice the following:
86 (a) In the first column, a brief, commonly used name for
87 the taxing authority or its governing body. The entry in the
88 first column for the levy required pursuant to s. 1011.60(6)
89 shall be “By State Law.” The entry for other operating school
90 district levies shall be “By Local Board.” Both school levy
91 entries shall be indented and preceded by the notation “Public
92 Schools:”. For each voted levy for debt service, the entry shall
93 be “Voter Approved Debt Payments.”
94 (b) In the second column, the gross amount of ad valorem
95 taxes levied against the parcel in the previous year. If the
96 parcel did not exist in the previous year, the second column
97 shall be blank.
98 (c) In the third column, the gross amount of ad valorem
99 taxes proposed to be levied in the current year, which amount
100 shall be based on the proposed millage rates provided to the
101 property appraiser pursuant to s. 200.065(2)(b) or, in the case
102 of voted levies for debt service, the millage rate previously
103 authorized by referendum, and the taxable value of the parcel as
104 shown on the current year's assessment roll.
105 (d) In the fourth column, the date, the time, and a brief
106 description of the location of the public hearing required
107 pursuant to s. 200.065(2)(c).
108 (e) In the fifth column, the gross amount of ad valorem
109 taxes which would apply to the parcel in the current year if
110 each taxing authority were to levy the rolled-back rate computed
111 pursuant to s. 200.065(1) or, in the case of voted levies for
112 debt service, the amount previously authorized by referendum.
113 (f) For special assessments collected utilizing the ad
114 valorem method pursuant to s. 197.363, the previous year's
115 assessment amount shall be added to the ad valorem taxes shown
116 in the second and fifth columns, and the amount proposed to be
117 imposed for the current year shall be added to the ad valorem
118 taxes shown in the third column.
119 (5) The amounts shown on each line preceding each entry for
120 voted levies for debt service shall include the sum of all ad
121 valorem levies of the applicable unit of local government for
122 operating purposes, including those of dependent special
123 districts (except for municipal service taxing units, which
124 shall be listed on the line for municipalities), and all
125 nonvoted or nondebt service special assessments imposed by the
126 applicable unit of local government to be collected utilizing
127 the ad valorem method.
128 (6) Following the entries for each taxing authority, a
129 final entry shall show: in the first column, the words “Total
130 Property Taxes:” and in the second, third, and fifth columns,
131 the sum of the entries for each of the individual taxing
132 authorities. The second, third, and fifth columns shall,
133 immediately below said entries, be labeled Column 1, Column 2,
134 and Column 3, respectively. Below these labels shall appear, in
135 boldfaced type, the statement: SEE REVERSE SIDE FOR EXPLANATION.
136 (7) The notice shall further show a brief legal description
137 of the property and the name and mailing address of the owner of
138 record.
139 (8) The notice shall further read:
140 MarketValue AssessedValueExemp-tions TaxableValue
141 Your PropertyValue LastYear$...........$...........$...........$...........
142 Your PropertyValue ThisYear $........... $...........$...........$...........
143
144
145 If you feel that the market value of your property is
146 inaccurate or does not reflect fair market value, or if you are
147 entitled to an exemption that is not reflected above, contact
148 your county property appraiser at ...(phone number)... or
149 ...(location)....
150 If the property appraiser's office is unable to resolve the
151 matter as to market value or an exemption, you may file a
152 petition for adjustment with the Value Adjustment Board.
153 Petition forms are available from the county property appraiser
154 and must be filed ON OR BEFORE ...(date)....
155
156 (9) The reverse side of the form shall read:
157
158 EXPLANATION
159
160 *COLUMN 1—“YOUR PROPERTY TAXES LAST YEAR”
161 This column shows the taxes that applied last year to your
162 property. These amounts were based on budgets adopted last year
163 and your property's previous taxable value.
164 *COLUMN 2—“YOUR TAXES IF PROPOSED BUDGET CHANGE IS MADE”
165 This column shows what your taxes will be this year under the
166 BUDGET ACTUALLY PROPOSED by each local taxing authority. The
167 proposal is NOT final and may be amended at the public hearings
168 shown on the front side of this notice.
169 *COLUMN 3—“YOUR TAXES IF NO BUDGET CHANGE IS MADE”
170 This column shows what your taxes will be this year IF EACH
171 TAXING AUTHORITY DOES NOT INCREASE ITS PROPERTY TAX LEVY. These
172 amounts are based on last year's budgets and your current
173 assessment. The difference between columns 2 and 3 is the tax
174 change proposed by each local taxing authority and is NOT the
175 result of higher assessments.
176 ASSESSED VALUE means:
177 For homestead property: value as limited by the State
178 Constitution;
179 For agricultural and similarly assessed property:
180 classified use value;
181 For all other property: market value.
182
183 *Note: Amounts shown on this form do NOT reflect early payment
184 discounts you may have received or may be eligible to receive.
185 (Discounts are a maximum of 4 percent of the amounts shown on
186 this form.)
187
188 (10) The bottom portion of the notice shall further read in
189 bold, conspicuous print:
190
191 “Your final tax bill may contain non-ad valorem
192 assessments which may not be reflected on this notice
193 such as assessments for roads, fire, garbage,
194 lighting, drainage, water, sewer, or other
195 governmental services and facilities which may be
196 levied by your county, city, or any special district.”
197
198 (11)(a) If requested by the local governing board levying
199 non-ad valorem assessments and agreed to by the property
200 appraiser, the notice specified in this section may contain a
201 notice of proposed or adopted non-ad valorem assessments. If so
202 agreed, the notice shall be titled:
203
204 NOTICE OF PROPOSED PROPERTY TAXES
205 AND PROPOSED OR ADOPTED
206 NON-AD VALOREM ASSESSMENTS
207 DO NOT PAY—THIS IS NOT A BILL
208
209 There must be a clear partition between the notice of proposed
210 property taxes and the notice of proposed or adopted non-ad
211 valorem assessments. The partition must be a bold, horizontal
212 line approximately 1/8-inch thick. By rule, the department shall
213 provide a format for the form of the notice of proposed or
214 adopted non-ad valorem assessments which meets the following
215 minimum requirements:
216 1. There must be subheading for columns listing the levying
217 local governing board, with corresponding assessment rates
218 expressed in dollars and cents per unit of assessment, and the
219 associated assessment amount.
220 2. The purpose of each assessment must also be listed in
221 the column listing the levying local governing board if the
222 purpose is not clearly indicated by the name of the board.
223 3. Each non-ad valorem assessment for each levying local
224 governing board must be listed separately.
225 4. If a county has too many municipal service benefit units
226 or assessments to be listed separately, it shall combine them by
227 function.
228 5. A brief statement outlining the responsibility of the
229 tax collector and each levying local governing board as to any
230 non-ad valorem assessment must be provided on the form,
231 accompanied by directions as to which office to contact for
232 particular questions or problems.
233 (b) If the notice includes all adopted non-ad valorem
234 assessments, the provisions contained in subsection (10) shall
235 not be placed on the notice.
236 (12) The notice shall further contain a brief explanation
237 of changes in millage rates for required local effort property
238 taxes set by the Legislature. The notice for each county shall
239 be prepared by the Department of Revenue.
240 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.