Florida Senate - 2014                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 626
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì476230wÎ476230                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/09/2014           .                                
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       recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Section 196.1955, Florida Statutes, is created
    6  to read:
    7         196.1955 Preparing property for educational, literary,
    8  scientific, religious, or charitable use.—
    9         (1) Property owned by an exempt organization is used for an
   10  exempt purpose if the owner has taken affirmative steps to
   11  prepare the property for an exempt educational, literary,
   12  scientific, religious, or charitable use and no portion of the
   13  property is being used for a nonexempt purpose. The term
   14  “affirmative steps” means environmental or land use permitting
   15  activities, creation of architectural plans or schematic
   16  drawings, land clearing or site preparation, construction or
   17  renovation activities, or other similar activities that
   18  demonstrate a commitment to prepare the property for an exempt
   19  use.
   20         (2) If property owned by an organization granted an
   21  exemption under this section is transferred for a purpose other
   22  than an exempt use or is not in actual exempt use within 5 years
   23  after the date the organization is granted an exemption, the
   24  property appraiser making such determination shall serve upon
   25  the organization that received the exemption a notice of intent
   26  to record in the public records of the county a notice of tax
   27  lien against any property owned by that organization in the
   28  county, and such property must be identified in the notice of
   29  tax lien. The organization owning such property is subject to
   30  the taxes otherwise due and owing as a result of the failure to
   31  use the property in an exempt manner plus 15 percent interest
   32  per annum.
   33         (a) The lien, when filed, attaches to any property
   34  identified in the notice of tax lien owned by the organization
   35  that received the exemption. If the organization no longer owns
   36  property in the county but owns property in any other county in
   37  the state, the property appraiser shall record in each such
   38  county a notice of tax lien identifying the property owned by
   39  the organization in each respective county, which shall become a
   40  lien against the identified property.
   41         (b) Before such lien may be filed, the organization so
   42  notified must be given 30 days to pay the taxes and interest.
   43         (c) If an exemption is improperly granted as a result of a
   44  clerical mistake or an omission by the property appraiser, the
   45  organization improperly receiving the exemption may not be
   46  assessed interest.
   47         (d) The 5-year limitation specified in this subsection may
   48  be extended if the holder of the exemption continues to take
   49  affirmative steps to develop the property for the purposes
   50  specified in this subsection.
   51         Section 2. Subsections (3), (4), and (5) of section
   52  196.196, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   53         196.196 Determining whether property is entitled to
   54  charitable, religious, scientific, or literary exemption.—
   55         (3) Property owned by an exempt organization is used for a
   56  religious purpose if the institution has taken affirmative steps
   57  to prepare the property for use as a house of public worship.
   58  The term “affirmative steps” means environmental or land use
   59  permitting activities, creation of architectural plans or
   60  schematic drawings, land clearing or site preparation,
   61  construction or renovation activities, or other similar
   62  activities that demonstrate a commitment of the property to a
   63  religious use as a house of public worship. For purposes of this
   64  subsection, the term “public worship” means religious worship
   65  services and those other activities that are incidental to
   66  religious worship services, such as educational activities,
   67  parking, recreation, partaking of meals, and fellowship.
   68         (3)(4) Except as otherwise provided in this section herein,
   69  property claimed as exempt for literary, scientific, religious,
   70  or charitable purposes which is used for profitmaking purposes
   71  is shall be subject to ad valorem taxation. Use of property for
   72  functions not requiring a business or occupational license
   73  conducted by the organization at its primary residence, the
   74  revenue of which is used wholly for exempt purposes, is shall
   75  not be considered profitmaking profit making. In this connection
   76  the playing of bingo on such property is shall not be considered
   77  as using such property in such a manner as would impair its
   78  exempt status.
   79         (5)(a) Property owned by an exempt organization qualified
   80  as charitable under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code is
   81  used for a charitable purpose if the organization has taken
   82  affirmative steps to prepare the property to provide affordable
   83  housing to persons or families that meet the extremely-low
   84  income, very-low-income, low-income, or moderate-income limits,
   85  as specified in s. 420.0004. The term “affirmative steps” means
   86  environmental or land use permitting activities, creation of
   87  architectural plans or schematic drawings, land clearing or site
   88  preparation, construction or renovation activities, or other
   89  similar activities that demonstrate a commitment of the property
   90  to providing affordable housing.
   91         (b)1. If property owned by an organization granted an
   92  exemption under this subsection is transferred for a purpose
   93  other than directly providing affordable homeownership or rental
   94  housing to persons or families who meet the extremely-low
   95  income, very-low-income, low-income, or moderate-income limits,
   96  as specified in s. 420.0004, or is not in actual use to provide
   97  such affordable housing within 5 years after the date the
   98  organization is granted the exemption, the property appraiser
   99  making such determination shall serve upon the organization that
  100  illegally or improperly received the exemption a notice of
  101  intent to record in the public records of the county a notice of
  102  tax lien against any property owned by that organization in the
  103  county, and such property shall be identified in the notice of
  104  tax lien. The organization owning such property is subject to
  105  the taxes otherwise due and owing as a result of the failure to
  106  use the property to provide affordable housing plus 15 percent
  107  interest per annum and a penalty of 50 percent of the taxes
  108  owed.
  109         2. Such lien, when filed, attaches to any property
  110  identified in the notice of tax lien owned by the organization
  111  that illegally or improperly received the exemption. If such
  112  organization no longer owns property in the county but owns
  113  property in any other county in the state, the property
  114  appraiser shall record in each such other county a notice of tax
  115  lien identifying the property owned by such organization in such
  116  county which shall become a lien against the identified
  117  property. Before any such lien may be filed, the organization so
  118  notified must be given 30 days to pay the taxes, penalties, and
  119  interest.
  120         3. If an exemption is improperly granted as a result of a
  121  clerical mistake or an omission by the property appraiser, the
  122  organization improperly receiving the exemption shall not be
  123  assessed a penalty or interest.
  124         4. The 5-year limitation specified in this subsection may
  125  be extended if the holder of the exemption continues to take
  126  affirmative steps to develop the property for the purposes
  127  specified in this subsection.
  128         Section 3. Section 196.198, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  129  read:
  130         196.198 Educational property exemption.—
  131         (1) Educational institutions within this state and their
  132  property used by them or by any other exempt entity or
  133  educational institution exclusively for educational purposes are
  134  exempt from taxation.
  135         (a) Sheltered workshops providing rehabilitation and
  136  retraining of individuals who have disabilities and exempted by
  137  a certificate under s. (d) of the federal Fair Labor Standards
  138  Act of 1938, as amended, are declared wholly educational in
  139  purpose and are exempt from certification, accreditation, and
  140  membership requirements set forth in s. 196.012.
  141         (b) Those portions of property of college fraternities and
  142  sororities certified by the president of the college or
  143  university to the appropriate property appraiser as being
  144  essential to the educational process are exempt from ad valorem
  145  taxation.
  146         (c) The use of property by public fairs and expositions
  147  chartered by chapter 616 is presumed to be an educational use of
  148  such property and is exempt from ad valorem taxation to the
  149  extent of such use.
  150         (2) Property used exclusively for educational purposes
  151  shall be deemed owned by an educational institution if the
  152  entity owning 100 percent of the educational institution is
  153  owned by the identical persons who own the property, or if the
  154  entity owning 100 percent of the educational institution and the
  155  entity owning the property are owned by the identical natural
  156  persons.
  157         (a) Land, buildings, and other improvements to real
  158  property used exclusively for educational purposes shall be
  159  deemed owned by an educational institution if the entity owning
  160  100 percent of the land is a nonprofit entity and the land is
  161  used, under a ground lease or other contractual arrangement, by
  162  an educational institution that owns the buildings and other
  163  improvements to the real property, is a nonprofit entity under
  164  s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and provides
  165  education limited to students in prekindergarten through grade
  166  8.
  167         (b) If legal title to property is held by a governmental
  168  agency that leases the property to a lessee, the property shall
  169  be deemed to be owned by the governmental agency and used
  170  exclusively for educational purposes if the governmental agency
  171  continues to use such property exclusively for educational
  172  purposes pursuant to a sublease or other contractual agreement
  173  with that lessee.
  174         (c) If the title to land is held by the trustee of an
  175  irrevocable inter vivos trust and if the trust grantor owns 100
  176  percent of the entity that owns an educational institution that
  177  is using the land exclusively for educational purposes, the land
  178  is deemed to be property owned by the educational institution
  179  for purposes of this exemption. Property owned by an educational
  180  institution shall be deemed to be used for an educational
  181  purpose if the institution has taken affirmative steps to
  182  prepare the property for educational use. The term “affirmative
  183  steps” means environmental or land use permitting activities,
  184  creation of architectural plans or schematic drawings, land
  185  clearing or site preparation, construction or renovation
  186  activities, or other similar activities that demonstrate
  187  commitment of the property to an educational use.
  188         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.
  189  
  190  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  191  And the title is amended as follows:
  192         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  193  and insert:
  194                        A bill to be entitled                      
  195         An act relating to property prepared for a tax-exempt
  196         use; creating s. 196.1955, F.S.; consolidating
  197         provisions relating to obtaining an ad valorem
  198         exemption for property owned by an exempt
  199         organization, including the requirement that the owner
  200         of an exempt organization take affirmative steps to
  201         demonstrate an exempt use; authorizing the property
  202         appraiser to serve a notice of tax lien on exempt
  203         property that is not in actual exempt use after a
  204         certain time; providing that the lien attaches to any
  205         property owned by the organization identified in the
  206         notice of lien; amending s. 196.196, F.S.; deleting
  207         provisions relating to the exemption as it applies to
  208         public worship and affordable housing and provisions
  209         that have been moved to s. 196.1955, F.S.; amending s.
  210         196.198, F.S.; deleting provisions relating to
  211         property owned by an educational institution and used
  212         for an educational purpose that is included in s.
  213         196.1955, F.S.; providing an effective date.