Florida Senate - 2018              PROPOSED COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
       Bill No. CS for SB 272
       
       
       
       
       
                               Ì245118'Î245118                          
       
       576-02115-18                                                    
       Proposed Committee Substitute by the Committee on Appropriations
       (Appropriations Subcommittee on Finance and Tax)
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to local tax referenda; amending s.
    3         212.055, F.S.; providing that a referendum to adopt or
    4         amend a local discretionary sales surtax must be held
    5         at a general election; providing an effective date.
    6          
    7  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
    8  
    9         Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1), paragraph (b)
   10  of subsection (5), and paragraph (b) of subsection (8) of
   11  section 212.055, Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection
   12  (10) is added to that section, to read:
   13         212.055 Discretionary sales surtaxes; legislative intent;
   14  authorization and use of proceeds.—It is the legislative intent
   15  that any authorization for imposition of a discretionary sales
   16  surtax shall be published in the Florida Statutes as a
   17  subsection of this section, irrespective of the duration of the
   18  levy. Each enactment shall specify the types of counties
   19  authorized to levy; the rate or rates which may be imposed; the
   20  maximum length of time the surtax may be imposed, if any; the
   21  procedure which must be followed to secure voter approval, if
   22  required; the purpose for which the proceeds may be expended;
   23  and such other requirements as the Legislature may provide.
   24  Taxable transactions and administrative procedures shall be as
   25  provided in s. 212.054.
   26         (1) CHARTER COUNTY AND REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
   27  SURTAX.—
   28         (c) The proposal to adopt a discretionary sales surtax as
   29  provided in this subsection and to create a trust fund within
   30  the county accounts shall be placed on the ballot in accordance
   31  with law and must be approved in a referendum held at a general
   32  election as set forth in subsection (10) at a time to be set at
   33  the discretion of the governing body.
   34         (5) COUNTY PUBLIC HOSPITAL SURTAX.—Any county as defined in
   35  s. 125.011(1) may levy the surtax authorized in this subsection
   36  pursuant to an ordinance either approved by extraordinary vote
   37  of the county commission or conditioned to take effect only upon
   38  approval by a majority vote of the electors of the county voting
   39  in a referendum. In a county as defined in s. 125.011(1), for
   40  the purposes of this subsection, “county public general
   41  hospital” means a general hospital as defined in s. 395.002
   42  which is owned, operated, maintained, or governed by the county
   43  or its agency, authority, or public health trust.
   44         (b) If the ordinance is conditioned on a referendum, the
   45  proposal to adopt the county public hospital surtax shall be
   46  placed on the ballot in accordance with subsection (10) law at a
   47  time to be set at the discretion of the governing body. The
   48  referendum question on the ballot shall include a brief general
   49  description of the health care services to be funded by the
   50  surtax.
   51         (8) EMERGENCY FIRE RESCUE SERVICES AND FACILITIES SURTAX.—
   52         (b) Upon the adoption of the ordinance, the levy of the
   53  surtax must be placed on the ballot by the governing authority
   54  of the county enacting the ordinance. The ordinance will take
   55  effect if approved by a majority of the electors of the county
   56  voting in a referendum held for such purpose. The referendum
   57  shall be placed on the ballot of a general regularly scheduled
   58  election. The ballot for the referendum must conform to the
   59  requirements of s. 101.161.
   60         (10) DATES FOR REFERENDA.—A referendum to adopt or amend a
   61  local government discretionary sales surtax under this section
   62  shall be held at a general election as defined in s. 97.021.
   63         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.