Florida Senate - 2016                       CS for CS for SB 160
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Fiscal Policy; and Community Affairs; and
       Senator Gaetz
       
       594-02381-16                                           2016160c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to an ad valorem tax exemption for
    3         deployed servicemembers; amending s. 196.173, F.S.;
    4         revising the military operations that qualify a
    5         servicemember deployed in support of such an operation
    6         in the previous calendar year for an additional ad
    7         valorem tax exemption; providing an extended deadline
    8         and specifying procedures for filing an application
    9         for such tax exemption for a qualifying deployment
   10         during the 2014 and 2015 calendar years; providing
   11         procedures to appeal a denial by a property appraiser
   12         of an application for such tax exemption; providing
   13         refund procedures for servicemembers who were on
   14         qualifying deployments for more than 365 days during
   15         the 2014 and 2015 calendar years; providing for
   16         retroactive applicability; providing an effective
   17         date.
   18          
   19  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   20  
   21         Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 196.173, Florida
   22  Statutes, is amended to read:
   23         196.173 Exemption for deployed servicemembers.—
   24         (2) The exemption is available to servicemembers who were
   25  deployed during the preceding calendar year on active duty
   26  outside the continental United States, Alaska, or Hawaii in
   27  support of any of the following operations:
   28         (a) Operation Joint Task Force Bravo, which began in 1995.
   29         (b) Operation Joint Guardian, which began on June 12, 1999.
   30         (c)(a) Operation Noble Eagle, which began on September 15,
   31  2001.;
   32         (d)(b) Operation Enduring Freedom, which began on October
   33  7, 2001.;
   34         (c) Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began on March 19, 2003,
   35  and ended on August 31, 2010;
   36         (e) Operations in the Balkans, which began in 2004.
   37         (f) Operation Nomad Shadow, which began in 2007.
   38         (g) Operation U.S. Airstrikes Al Qaeda in Somalia, which
   39  began in January 2007.
   40         (h) Operation Copper Dune, which began in 2009.
   41         (i) Operation Georgia Deployment Program, which began in
   42  August 2009.
   43         (j)(d) Operation New Dawn, which began on September 1,
   44  2010, and ended on December 15, 2011.; or
   45         (k)(e) Operation Odyssey Dawn, which began on March 19,
   46  2011, and ended on October 31, 2011.
   47         (l) Operation Spartan Shield, which began in June 2011.
   48         (m) Operation Observant Compass, which began in October
   49  2011.
   50         (n) Operation Inherent Resolve, which began on August 8,
   51  2014.
   52         (o) Operation Atlantic Resolve, which began in April 2014.
   53         (p) Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, which began on January 1,
   54  2015.
   55  
   56  The Department of Revenue shall notify all property appraisers
   57  and tax collectors in this state of the designated military
   58  operations.
   59         Section 2. (1) Notwithstanding provisions in s. 196.173,
   60  Florida Statutes, to the contrary:
   61         (a) The deadline for an applicant to file an application
   62  with the property appraiser for an additional ad valorem tax
   63  exemption under s. 196.173, Florida Statutes, for the 2016 year
   64  is June 1, 2016.
   65         (b) For purposes of calculating the 2016 exemption for
   66  operations added by this act, a servicemember may include the
   67  number of days he or she was on qualifying deployments during
   68  the 2014 and 2015 calendar years as days he or she was on a
   69  qualifying deployment in the preceding calendar year.
   70         (2) If an application is not timely filed under subsection
   71  (1), a property appraiser may grant the exemption if:
   72         (a) The applicant files an application for the exemption on
   73  or before the 25th day after the mailing by the property
   74  appraiser during the 2016 calendar year of the notice required
   75  under s. 194.011(1), Florida Statutes;
   76         (b) The applicant is qualified for the exemption; and
   77         (c) The applicant produces sufficient evidence, as
   78  determined by the property appraiser, which demonstrates that
   79  the applicant was unable to apply for the exemption in a timely
   80  manner or otherwise demonstrates extenuating circumstances that
   81  warrant granting the exemption.
   82         (3) If the property appraiser denies an application under
   83  subsection (2), the applicant may file, pursuant to s.
   84  194.011(3), Florida Statutes, a petition with the value
   85  adjustment board which requests that the exemption be granted.
   86  Such petition must be filed on or before the 25th day after the
   87  mailing by the property appraiser during the 2016 calendar year
   88  of the notice required under s. 194.011(1), Florida Statutes.
   89  Notwithstanding s. 194.013, Florida Statutes, the eligible
   90  servicemember is not required to pay a filing fee for such
   91  petition. Upon review of the petition, the value adjustment
   92  board may grant the exemption if the applicant is qualified for
   93  the exemption and demonstrates extenuating circumstances, as
   94  determined by the board, which warrant granting the exemption.
   95         (4) A servicemember may receive a refund of taxes paid for
   96  the 2015 tax year if he or she was on qualifying deployments
   97  during the 2014 and 2015 calendar years for more than 365 days.
   98  The amount of the refund is equal to the taxes paid on the
   99  servicemember’s homestead in 2015 multiplied by the number of
  100  days in excess of 365 that the servicemember was on qualifying
  101  deployments during the 2014 and 2015 calendar years, divided by
  102  365.
  103         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law,
  104  and first applies to ad valorem tax rolls for 2016.