HB 1123

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to Broward County; providing legislative
3	findings; authorizing municipalities in Broward County to
4	levy special assessments to fund law enforcement services;
5	providing for a reduction in ad valorem assessments when a
6	law enforcement special assessment is levied pursuant to
7	this act; providing an effective date.
8
9	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
10
11	Section 1.  Legislative findings.-Broward County is the
12	second most populous county in the state with 31 municipalities
13	within the county and little unincorporated area within the
14	developed portion of the county. Law enforcement is a vital
15	municipal service as it protects both persons and property from
16	crime. In urban areas such as Broward County, property crimes,
17	including burglary, vandalism, trespassing, arson, and others
18	have a dramatic impact on property owners and the value of real
19	property. Law enforcement services work to prevent these
20	significant property crimes, and thus prevent the loss of
21	property values and use. Moreover, after a property crime
22	occurs, law enforcement efforts to solve such crimes prevents
23	additional property crimes from occurring in the community.
24	Finally, law enforcement provides protection for unoccupied
25	properties and prevents additional losses to property owners,
26	especially in times of economic distress. As a result, the
27	Legislature finds that there is a logical relationship between
28	law enforcement services attributable to the protection of real
29	property and the prevention of real property crimes and the
30	benefit to real property.
31	Section 2.  A municipality in Broward County may fund the
32	costs of law enforcement services, in whole or in part, through
33	the levy of a law enforcement services special assessment
34	provided that the governing body of the municipality:
35	(1)  Adopts a law enforcement services assessment ordinance
36	that authorizes the special assessment, requires that it be
37	levied by resolution each year, and apportions such assessable
38	costs among the property based on a methodology that charges a
39	parcel in reasonable proportion to its benefits.
40	(2)  In the initial year of implementation, reduces its
41	total ad valorem tax revenue, as projected for the upcoming
42	fiscal year and calculated as if there were no law enforcement
43	services assessment, by an amount equal to the amount of the law
44	enforcement services assessment, except that no municipality
45	shall be required to reduce its millage rate by more than 75
46	percent; thereafter, such assessment shall be increased only in
47	the same manner as ad valorem revenue is permitted to be
48	increased pursuant to section 200.065, Florida Statutes. The
49	initial reduction in ad valorem tax revenue shall be limited to
50	no more than 50 percent if the implementing resolution is
51	adopted by a extraordinary majority vote of the governing body.
52	Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.