Florida Senate - 2010 (Proposed Committee Bill) SPB 7024
FOR CONSIDERATION By the Committee on Finance and Tax
593-01064B-10 20107024__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the assessment of lands used for
3 conservation purposes; amending s. 193.501, F.S.;
4 providing for certain lands that are covenanted for
5 use for conservation purposes to be assessed for ad
6 valorem taxation in the same manner as lands used for
7 outdoor recreational or park purposes; redefining the
8 term “covenant”; defining the term “conservation
9 purposes”; specifying the information that must be
10 included in a covenant; requiring covenants to be
11 notarized; requiring the executive director of the
12 Department of Revenue to work with local governments
13 and conservation organizations to develop a form for a
14 covenant; providing that the requirements for
15 covenants do not apply to covenants in existence
16 before the effective date of the act; providing for
17 retroactive application; providing an effective date.
18
19 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
20
21 Section 1. Section 193.501, Florida Statutes, is amended to
22 read:
23 193.501 Assessment of lands subject to a conservation
24 easement, environmentally endangered lands, or lands used for
25 outdoor recreational, conservation, or park purposes after when
26 land development rights have been conveyed or conservation
27 restrictions have been covenanted.—
28 (1) The owner or owners in fee of any land subject to a
29 conservation easement as described in s. 704.06; land qualified
30 as environmentally endangered pursuant to paragraph (6)(i) and
31 so designated by formal resolution of the governing board of the
32 municipality or county within which such land is located; land
33 designated as conservation land in a comprehensive plan adopted
34 by the appropriate municipal or county governing body; or any
35 land that which is used utilized for conservation, outdoor
36 recreational, or park purposes may, by appropriate instrument,
37 for a term of at least not less than 10 years:
38 (a) Convey the development right of such land to the
39 governing board of any public agency in this state within which
40 the land is located, or to the Board of Trustees of the Internal
41 Improvement Trust Fund, or to a charitable corporation or trust
42 as described in s. 704.06(3); or
43 (b) Enter into a covenant as provided in subsection (8)
44 Covenant with the governing board of any public agency in this
45 state within which the land is located, or with the Board of
46 Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, or with a
47 charitable corporation or trust as described in s. 704.06(3),
48 that such land be subject to one or more of the conservation
49 restrictions provided in s. 704.06(1) or not be used by the
50 owner for any purpose other than conservation, outdoor
51 recreational, or park purposes. If land is covenanted and used
52 for an outdoor recreational purpose, the normal use and
53 maintenance of the land for that purpose, consistent with the
54 covenant, is shall not be restricted.
55 (2) The governing board of any public agency in this state
56 within which the land is located, or the Board of Trustees of
57 the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, or a charitable corporation
58 or trust as described in s. 704.06(3), is authorized to and may
59 empowered in its discretion to accept any and all instruments
60 conveying the development right of any such land or enter into a
61 covenant restricting the use of such land as provided under
62 subsection (8). establishing a covenant pursuant to subsection
63 (1), and if accepted by the board or charitable corporation or
64 trust, The covenant or other instrument shall be promptly filed
65 with the appropriate officer for recording in the same manner as
66 any other instrument affecting the title to real property and
67 shall be indexed and maintained in such a manner that allows
68 members of the public to locate the covenant or other instrument
69 affecting any particular property assessed pursuant to this
70 section.
71 (3) After When, pursuant to subsections (1) and (2), the
72 development right in real property has been conveyed, pursuant
73 to subsections (1) and (2), to the governing board of any public
74 agency of this state within which the land is located, to the
75 Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, or to
76 a charitable corporation or trust as described in s. 704.06(2),
77 or a covenant has been executed and accepted by the board or
78 charitable corporation or trust, the lands that which are the
79 subject of such conveyance or covenant shall be thereafter
80 assessed as provided in this section. herein:
81 (a) If the covenant or conveyance extends for a period of
82 at least not less than 10 years from January 1 in the year such
83 assessment is made, the property appraiser, in valuing such land
84 for tax purposes, shall consider no factors other than those
85 relative to its value for the present use, as restricted by any
86 conveyance or covenant under this section.
87 (b) If the covenant or conveyance extends for a period less
88 than 10 years, the land shall be assessed under the provisions
89 of s. 193.011, recognizing the nature and length thereof of any
90 restriction placed on the use of the land under the provisions
91 of subsection (1).
92 (4) After making a conveyance of the development right or
93 executing a covenant pursuant to this section, or conveying a
94 conservation easement pursuant to this section and s. 704.06,
95 the owner of the land may shall not use the land in any manner
96 not consistent with the development right voluntarily conveyed,
97 or with the restrictions voluntarily imposed, or with the terms
98 of the conservation easement, and may or shall not change the
99 use of the land from conservation, outdoor recreational, or park
100 purposes during the term of such conveyance or covenant without
101 first obtaining a written instrument from the board or
102 charitable corporation or trust, which instrument reconveys all
103 or part of the development right to the owner or releases the
104 owner from the terms of the covenant. The and which instrument
105 must be promptly recorded in the same manner as any other
106 instrument affecting the title to real property. Upon obtaining
107 approval for reconveyance or release, the reconveyance or
108 release shall be made to the owner upon payment of the deferred
109 tax liability. Any payment of the deferred tax liability shall
110 be payable to the county tax collector within 90 days after of
111 the date of approval by the board or charitable corporation or
112 trust of the reconveyance or release. The collector shall
113 distribute the payment to each governmental unit in the
114 proportion that its millage bears to the total millage levied on
115 the parcel for the years in which such conveyance or covenant
116 was in effect.
117 (5) The governing board of any public agency, or the Board
118 of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, or a
119 charitable corporation or trust that which holds title to a
120 development right pursuant to this section may not convey that
121 development right to anyone other than the governing board of
122 another public agency or a charitable corporation or trust, as
123 described in s. 704.06(3), or the record owner of the fee
124 interest in the land to which the development right attaches.
125 The conveyance from the governing board of a public agency or
126 the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund to
127 the owner of the fee shall be made only after a determination by
128 the board that such conveyance will would not adversely affect
129 the interest of the public. Section 125.35 does not apply to
130 such sales, but any public agency accepting any instrument
131 conveying a development right pursuant to this section shall
132 immediately forthwith adopt appropriate regulations and
133 procedures governing the disposition of the development rights
134 same. These regulations and procedures must provide in part that
135 the board may not convey a development right to the owner of the
136 fee without first holding a public hearing and unless notice of
137 the proposed conveyance and the time and place at which the
138 public hearing is to be held is published once a week for at
139 least 2 weeks in a some newspaper of general circulation in the
140 county involved before prior to the hearing.
141 (6) Unless the context clearly indicates a different
142 meaning, as used The following terms whenever used as referred
143 to in this section, the term have the following meanings unless
144 a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context:
145 (a) “Board” means is the governing board of any
146 municipality city, county, or other public agency of the state
147 or the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund.
148 (b) “Conservation restriction” means a limitation on a
149 right to the use of land for purposes of conserving or
150 preserving land or water areas predominantly in their natural,
151 scenic, open, agricultural, or wooded condition. The limitation
152 on rights to the use of land may involve or pertain to any of
153 the activities enumerated in s. 704.06(1).
154 (c) “Conservation easement” means that property right
155 described in s. 704.06.
156 (d) “Covenant” means an agreement running with the land
157 which restricts the use of the land exclusively to conservation,
158 outdoor recreational, or park purposes is a covenant running
159 with the land.
160 (e) “Deferred tax liability” means an amount equal to the
161 difference between the total amount of taxes that would have
162 been due in March in each of the previous years in which the
163 conveyance or covenant was in effect if the property had been
164 assessed under the provisions of s. 193.011 and the total amount
165 of taxes actually paid in those years when the property was
166 assessed under the provisions of this section, plus interest on
167 that difference computed as provided in s. 212.12(3).
168 (f) “Development right” means is the right of the owner of
169 the fee interest in the land to change the use of the land.
170 (g) “Outdoor recreational or park purposes” includes, but
171 is not necessarily limited to, boating, golfing, camping,
172 swimming, horseback riding, and archaeological, scenic, or
173 scientific sites and applies only to land which is open to the
174 general public.
175 (h) “Present use” is the manner in which the land is used
176 utilized on January 1 of the year in which the assessment is
177 made.
178 (i) “Qualified as environmentally endangered” means land
179 that has unique ecological characteristics, rare or limited
180 combinations of geological formations, or features of a rare or
181 limited nature constituting habitat suitable for fish, plants,
182 or wildlife, and that which, if subject to a development
183 moratorium or one or more conservation easements or development
184 restrictions appropriate to retaining such land or water areas
185 predominantly in their natural state, would be consistent with
186 the conservation, recreation and open space, and, if applicable,
187 coastal protection elements of the comprehensive plan adopted by
188 formal action of the local governing body pursuant to s.
189 163.3161, the Local Government Comprehensive Planning and Land
190 Development Regulation Act,; or surface waters and wetlands, as
191 determined by the methodology ratified in s. 373.4211.
192 (j) “Conservation purposes” means the retention of:
193 1. The substantial natural value of land, including
194 woodlands, wetlands, water courses, ponds, streams, and natural
195 open spaces;
196 2. The land as suitable habitat for fish, plants, or
197 wildlife; or
198 3. The natural value of land for water quality enhancement
199 or water recharge.
200 (7)(a) The property appraiser shall report to the
201 department showing the just value and the classified use value
202 of property that is subject to a conservation easement under s.
203 704.06, property assessed as environmentally endangered land
204 pursuant to this section, and property assessed as outdoor
205 recreational or park land.
206 (b) The tax collector shall annually report to the
207 department the amount of deferred tax liability collected
208 pursuant to this section.
209 (8)(a) A covenant must include:
210 1. Identification of the land to which the covenant
211 applies;
212 2. The land’s allowable use or uses;
213 3. The period of time for which the covenant applies;
214 4. The names of all parties to the covenant and the
215 responsibilities of each party in ensuring that the terms of the
216 covenant are enforced;
217 5. Penalties that apply if the covenant is breached;
218 6. A statement that the covenant runs with the land and
219 applies to future landowners; and
220 7. Signatures of all parties to the covenant attesting that
221 all information in the covenant is true, correct, and complete.
222 (b) A covenant must be notarized.
223 (c) The executive director of the Department of Revenue
224 shall work with the Board of Trustees of the Internal
225 Improvement Trust Fund, local governments, and conservation
226 organizations to develop a form for a covenant. However, the use
227 of the form is not mandatory.
228 (9)(8) A person or organization that, on January 1, has the
229 legal title to land that is entitled by law to assessment under
230 this section shall, on or before March 1 of each year, file an
231 application for assessment under this section with the county
232 property appraiser. The application must identify the property
233 for which assessment under this section is claimed. The initial
234 application for assessment for any property must include a copy
235 of the instrument by which the development right is conveyed or
236 which establishes a covenant that establishes the conservation
237 purposes for which the land is used. The Department of Revenue
238 shall prescribe the forms upon which the application is made.
239 The failure to file an application on or before March 1 of any
240 year constitutes a waiver of assessment under this section for
241 that year. However, an applicant who is qualified to receive an
242 assessment under this section but fails to file an application
243 by March 1 may file an application for the assessment and may
244 file, pursuant to s. 194.011(3), a petition with the value
245 adjustment board requesting that the assessment be granted. The
246 petition must be filed at any time during the taxable year on or
247 before the 25th day following the mailing of the notice by the
248 property appraiser pursuant to s. 194.011(1). Notwithstanding s.
249 194.013, the applicant must pay a nonrefundable fee of $15 upon
250 filing the petition. Upon reviewing the petition, if the person
251 is qualified to receive the assessment and demonstrates
252 particular extenuating circumstances judged by the property
253 appraiser or the value adjustment board to warrant granting the
254 assessment, the property appraiser or the value adjustment board
255 may grant the assessment. The owner of land that was assessed
256 under this section in the previous year and whose ownership or
257 use has not changed may reapply on a short form as provided by
258 the department. A county may, at the request of the property
259 appraiser and by a majority vote of its governing body, waive
260 the requirement that an annual application or statement be made
261 for assessment of property within the county. Such waiver may be
262 revoked by a majority vote of the governing body of the county.
263 (10)(9) A person or entity that owns land assessed pursuant
264 to this section must notify the property appraiser promptly if
265 the land becomes ineligible for assessment under this section.
266 If any property owner fails to notify the property appraiser and
267 the property appraiser determines that for any year within the
268 preceding 10 years the land was not eligible for assessment
269 under this section, the owner of the land is subject to taxes
270 avoided as a result of such failure plus 15 percent interest per
271 annum and a penalty of 50 percent of the taxes avoided. The
272 property appraiser making such determination shall record in the
273 public records of the county a notice of tax lien against any
274 property owned by that person or entity in the county, and such
275 property must be identified in the notice of tax lien. The
276 property is subject to a lien in the amount of the unpaid taxes
277 and penalties. The lien when filed shall attach to any property
278 identified in the notice of tax lien which is owned by the
279 person or entity and which was improperly assessed. If such
280 person or entity no longer owns property in that county but owns
281 property in some other county or counties of this state, the
282 property appraiser shall record a notice of tax lien in such
283 other county or counties, identifying the property owned by such
284 person or entity.
285 Section 2. The requirements for covenants to convey
286 development rights or impose conservation restrictions in
287 section 193.501(8), Florida Statutes, do not apply to such
288 covenants in existence before the effective date of this act.
289 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law,
290 and applies retroactively to January 1, 2010.