Florida Senate - 2011 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Bill No. SB 880 Barcode 514436 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House Comm: RCS . 04/26/2011 . . . . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— The Committee on Budget (Margolis) recommended the following: 1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 2 3 Delete everything after the enacting clause 4 and insert: 5 Section 1. Section 194.014, Florida Statutes, is created to 6 read: 7 194.014 Partial payment of ad valorem taxes; proceedings 8 before value adjustment board.— 9 (1)(a) A petitioner before the value adjustment board who 10 challenges the assessed value of property must pay all of the 11 non-ad valorem assessments and make a partial payment of at 12 least 75 percent of the ad valorem taxes, less the applicable 13 discount under s. 197.162, before the taxes become delinquent 14 pursuant to s. 197.333. 15 (b)1. A petitioner before the value adjustment board who 16 challenges the denial of a classification or exemption, or the 17 assessment based on an argument that the property was not 18 substantially complete as of January 1, must pay all of the non 19 ad valorem assessments and the amount of the tax which the 20 taxpayer admits in good faith to be owing, less the applicable 21 discount under s. 197.162, before the taxes become delinquent 22 pursuant to s. 197.333. 23 2. If the value adjustment board determines that the amount 24 of the tax that the taxpayer has admitted to be owing pursuant 25 to this paragraph is grossly disproportionate to the amount of 26 the tax found to be due and that the taxpayer’s admission was 27 not made in good faith, the tax collector shall collect a 28 penalty at the rate of 10 percent of the deficiency per year 29 from the date the taxes became delinquent pursuant to s. 30 197.333. 31 (c) The value adjustment board shall deny the petition by 32 written decision by April 20 if the petitioner fails to make the 33 payment required by this subsection. The clerk, upon issuance of 34 the decision, shall, on a form provided by the Department of 35 Revenue, notify by first-class mail each taxpayer, the property 36 appraiser, and the department of the decision of the board. 37 (2) If the value adjustment board determines that the 38 petitioner owes ad valorem taxes in excess of the amount paid, 39 the unpaid amount accrues interest at the rate of 12 percent per 40 year from the date the taxes became delinquent pursuant to s. 41 197.333, until the unpaid amount is paid. If the value 42 adjustment board determines that a refund is due, the overpaid 43 amount accrues interest at the rate of 12 percent per year from 44 the date the taxes became delinquent pursuant to s. 197.333, 45 until a refund is paid. Interest does not accrue on amounts paid 46 in excess of 100 percent of the current taxes due as provided on 47 the tax notice issued pursuant to s. 197.322. 48 (3) This section does not apply to petitions for ad valorem 49 tax deferrals pursuant to chapter 197. 50 Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 194.034, Florida 51 Statutes, is amended to read: 52 194.034 Hearing procedures; rules.— 53 (2) In each case, except when a complaint is withdrawn by 54 the petitioner,oris acknowledged as correct by the property 55 appraiser, or is denied pursuant to s. 194.014(1)(c), the value 56 adjustment board shall render a written decision. All such 57 decisions shall be issued within 20 calendar days of the last 58 day the board is in session under s. 194.032. The decision of 59 the board shall contain findings of fact and conclusions of law 60 and shall include reasons for upholding or overturning the 61 determination of the property appraiser. When a special 62 magistrate has been appointed, the recommendations of the 63 special magistrate shall be considered by the board. The clerk, 64 upon issuance of the decisions, shall, on a form provided by the 65 Department of Revenue, notify by first-class mail each taxpayer, 66 the property appraiser, and the department of the decision of 67 the board. 68 Section 3. Section 197.162, Florida Statutes, is amended to 69 read: 70 197.162 Discounts; amount and time.—On all taxes assessed 71 on the county tax rolls and collected by the county tax 72 collector, discounts for early payment thereof shall be at the 73 rate of 4 percent in the month of November or at any time within 74 30 days after the mailing of the original tax notice; 3 percent 75 in the month of December; 2 percent in the following month of 76 January; 1 percent in the following month of February; and zero 77 percent in the following month of March or within 30 days prior 78 to the date of delinquency if the date of delinquency is after 79 April 1. When a taxpayer makes a request to have the original 80 tax notice corrected, the discount rate for early payment 81 applicable at the time the request for correction is made shall 82 apply for 30 days after the mailing of the corrected tax notice. 83 A discount shall apply at the rate of 4 percent for 30 days 84 after the mailing of a tax notice resulting from the action of a 85 value adjustment board if the corrected tax notice is issued 86 before the taxes become delinquent pursuant to s. 197.333. 87 Thereafter, the regular discount periods shall apply. For the 88 purposes of this section, when a discount period ends on a 89 Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the discount period shall be 90 extended to the next working day, if payment is delivered to a 91 designated collection office of the tax collector. 92 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011, and 93 applies to petitions filed with value adjustment boards on or 94 after July 1, 2011. 95 96 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================ 97 And the title is amended as follows: 98 Delete everything before the enacting clause 99 and insert: 100 A bill to be entitled 101 An act relating to value adjustment boards; creating 102 s. 194.014, F.S.; requiring a petitioner challenging 103 the assessed value of property before the value 104 adjustment board to pay a specified percentage of the 105 taxes by a certain date; requiring a petitioner 106 challenging the denial of a classification or 107 exemption, or the assessment on specified grounds, 108 before the value adjustment board to pay the amount of 109 tax which the taxpayer admits in good faith to be 110 owing by a certain date; providing for a penalty if 111 the taxpayer’s payment is grossly disproportionate to 112 the amount of tax found to be due and the taxpayer’s 113 admission was not made in good faith; requiring the 114 board to deny the petition in writing by a certain 115 date if the required amount of taxes is not timely 116 paid; requiring the payment of interest on certain 117 unpaid taxes; requiring the payment of interest on 118 certain overpayments of taxes; providing that s. 119 194.014, F.S., does not apply to petitions for ad 120 valorem deferrals pursuant to ch. 197, F.S.; amending 121 s. 194.034, F.S.; conforming provisions to changes 122 made by the act; amending s. 197.162, F.S.; revising a 123 provision providing for a discount for ad valorem 124 taxes paid within 30 days after the mailing of a 125 corrected tax notice resulting from the action of a 126 value adjustment if the corrected tax notice is issued 127 before the taxes become delinquent; providing for 128 application of the act; providing an effective date.