| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to low-income and moderate-income |
| 3 | homeowners; providing for counties to establish a fund for |
| 4 | providing no-interest loans to assist low-income and |
| 5 | moderate-income homeowners in paying homeowners' insurance |
| 6 | premiums; authorizing the governing authority of a county |
| 7 | to levy surtaxes on building-related permits to finance |
| 8 | the assistance fund; limiting the amount a family may |
| 9 | receive from the fund in any year; requiring that a loan |
| 10 | be repaid if the homestead is sold or refinanced; |
| 11 | requiring that any proceeds from refinancing or selling a |
| 12 | homestead be deposited back into the fund; defining the |
| 13 | terms "low-income family" and "moderate-income family"; |
| 14 | providing requirements for the ordinance levying the |
| 15 | surtax and creating the fund; specifying the amount of the |
| 16 | surtaxes; providing limitations on the use of the fund; |
| 17 | providing for the program to be adopted initially by the |
| 18 | governing authority of certain constitutional charter |
| 19 | counties and for later adoption in the remaining counties |
| 20 | of the state; providing effective dates. |
| 21 |
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| 22 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 23 |
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| 24 | Section 1. Low-Income and Moderate-Income Homeowners' |
| 25 | Insurance Premium Assistance Pilot Program.-- |
| 26 | (1) The governing authority of each county may levy a |
| 27 | discretionary surtax on building-related permits for the purpose |
| 28 | of establishing and financing a Low and Moderate Income |
| 29 | Insurance Assistance Fund. This fund shall be used to make no- |
| 30 | interest loans to assist low-income and moderate-income families |
| 31 | who own homestead property in paying their homeowners' insurance |
| 32 | premiums. These loans shall be made on a first-come, first-to- |
| 33 | qualify basis. Seventy-five percent of the revenue in the fund |
| 34 | in each county shall be used to provide loan assistance to low- |
| 35 | income families and 25 percent of the revenue in the fund shall |
| 36 | be used to provide loan assistance to moderate-income families. |
| 37 | The maximum amount of any loan that a low-income family or |
| 38 | moderate-income family may receive from the fund is $2,000 per |
| 39 | year, and a check from the fund must be made payable to the |
| 40 | homeowner's insurance company. When a homeowner who has received |
| 41 | a loan from the fund sells or refinances his or her homestead |
| 42 | property, that loan must be repaid from the proceeds of the sale |
| 43 | or refinancing. Repayment of a loan made from the fund may be |
| 44 | collected by the method provided for in ss. 197.3632 and |
| 45 | 197.3635, Florida Statutes, for non-ad valorem assessments, and |
| 46 | may also be collected by any alternative method that is |
| 47 | authorized by law. Any proceeds of repayment must be deposited |
| 48 | into the Low and Moderate Income Insurance Assistance Fund. As |
| 49 | used in this section, "low-income family" means a family whose |
| 50 | income does not exceed 80 percent of the median income for the |
| 51 | area and "moderate-income family" means a family whose income is |
| 52 | in excess of 80 percent but less than 140 percent of the median |
| 53 | income for the area. |
| 54 | (2) The levy of the discretionary surtax and the creation |
| 55 | of a Low and Moderate Income Insurance Assistance Fund shall be |
| 56 | by an ordinance that sets forth the policies and procedures of |
| 57 | the assistance program. The discretionary surtax must be levied |
| 58 | as set forth in subsection (3). The ordinance shall be proposed |
| 59 | at a regular meeting of the governing authority at least 2 weeks |
| 60 | prior to formal adoption. Formal adoption is not effective |
| 61 | unless approved on final vote by a majority of the total |
| 62 | membership of the governing authority. The ordinance may not |
| 63 | take effect until 90 days after formal adoption. |
| 64 | (3) The county shall levy the discretionary surtax as |
| 65 | follows: |
| 66 | (a) One dollar per permit for building-related permits |
| 67 | that are less than $11. |
| 68 | (b) Two dollars per permit for building-related permits |
| 69 | that are $11 to $99.99. |
| 70 | (c) Five dollars per permit for building-related permits |
| 71 | that are $100 to $499.99. |
| 72 | (d) Twenty-five dollars per permit for building-related |
| 73 | permits that are $500 to $999.99. |
| 74 | (e) Fifty dollars per permit for building-related permits |
| 75 | that are $1,000 or more. |
| 76 | (4) The county shall deposit 90 percent of the revenues |
| 77 | from the discretionary surtax in the Low and Moderate Income |
| 78 | Insurance Assistance Fund of the county. Ten percent of the |
| 79 | revenues may be used for administrative costs. Any interest |
| 80 | earned from the fund must remain in the fund. The county shall |
| 81 | use the revenues in the fund only to offer low-income and |
| 82 | moderate-income families financial assistance with their |
| 83 | homeowners' insurance premium payments on their homestead |
| 84 | property, to pay necessary costs of collection and enforcement |
| 85 | of the surtax, and to fund any local matching contributions |
| 86 | required pursuant to federal law for the Low-Income and |
| 87 | Moderate-Income Homeowners' Insurance Premium Assistance Pilot |
| 88 | Program. The proceeds of the surtax may not be used for rent |
| 89 | subsidies or grants. |
| 90 | Section 2. Effective July 1, 2009, the Low-Income and |
| 91 | Moderate-Income Homeowners' Insurance Premium Assistance Pilot |
| 92 | Program may be adopted only by the governing authority of a |
| 93 | county as defined in s. 125.011(1), Florida Statutes. Effective |
| 94 | July 1, 2010, the Low-Income and Moderate-Income Homeowners' |
| 95 | Insurance Premium Assistance Pilot Program may be adopted by the |
| 96 | governing authorities of the remaining counties in the state. |
| 97 | Section 3. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this |
| 98 | act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |