Florida Senate - 2020                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS/HB 7097, 1st Eng.
       
       
       
       
       
       
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                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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                 Floor: WD/2R          .                                
             03/12/2020 06:37 PM       .                                
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       Senator Gruters moved the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment to Substitute Amendment (271678) (with
    2  title amendment)
    3  
    4         Between lines 464 and 465
    5  insert:
    6         Section 13. Section 196.198, Florida Statutes, is amended
    7  to read:
    8         196.198 Educational property exemption.—Educational
    9  institutions within this state and their property used by them
   10  or by any other exempt entity or educational institution
   11  exclusively for educational purposes are exempt from taxation.
   12  Sheltered workshops providing rehabilitation and retraining of
   13  individuals who have disabilities and exempted by a certificate
   14  under s. (d) of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as
   15  amended, are declared wholly educational in purpose and are
   16  exempt from certification, accreditation, and membership
   17  requirements set forth in s. 196.012. Those portions of property
   18  of college fraternities and sororities certified by the
   19  president of the college or university to the appropriate
   20  property appraiser as being essential to the educational process
   21  are exempt from ad valorem taxation. The use of property by
   22  public fairs and expositions chartered by chapter 616 is
   23  presumed to be an educational use of such property and is exempt
   24  from ad valorem taxation to the extent of such use. Property
   25  used exclusively for educational purposes shall be deemed owned
   26  by an educational institution if the entity owning 100 percent
   27  of the educational institution is owned by the identical persons
   28  who own the property, or if the entity owning 100 percent of the
   29  educational institution and the entity owning the property are
   30  owned by the identical natural persons. Land, buildings, and
   31  other improvements to real property used exclusively for
   32  educational purposes shall be deemed owned by an educational
   33  institution if the entity owning 100 percent of the land is a
   34  nonprofit entity and the land is used, under a ground lease or
   35  other contractual arrangement, by an educational institution
   36  that owns the buildings and other improvements to the real
   37  property, is a nonprofit entity under s. 501(c)(3) of the
   38  Internal Revenue Code, and provides education limited to
   39  students in prekindergarten through grade 8. Land, buildings,
   40  and other improvements to real property used exclusively for
   41  educational purposes shall be deemed owned by an educational
   42  institution if the educational institution that currently uses
   43  the land, buildings, and other improvements for educational
   44  purposes received the exemption under this section on the same
   45  property in any 10 consecutive prior years or is an educational
   46  institution described in s. 212.0602, and, under a lease, the
   47  educational institution is responsible for any taxes owed and
   48  for ongoing maintenance and operational expenses for the land,
   49  buildings, and other improvements. For such leasehold
   50  properties, the educational institution shall receive the full
   51  benefit of the exemption. The owner of the property shall
   52  disclose to the educational institution the full amount of the
   53  benefit derived from the exemption and the method for ensuring
   54  that the educational institution receives the benefit.
   55  Notwithstanding ss. 196.195 and 196.196, property owned by a
   56  house of public worship and used by an educational institution
   57  for educational purposes limited to students in preschool
   58  through grade 8 shall be exempt from ad valorem taxation. If
   59  legal title to property is held by a governmental agency that
   60  leases the property to a lessee, the property shall be deemed to
   61  be owned by the governmental agency and used exclusively for
   62  educational purposes if the governmental agency continues to use
   63  such property exclusively for educational purposes pursuant to a
   64  sublease or other contractual agreement with that lessee. If the
   65  title to land is held by the trustee of an irrevocable inter
   66  vivos trust and if the trust grantor owns 100 percent of the
   67  entity that owns an educational institution that is using the
   68  land exclusively for educational purposes, the land is deemed to
   69  be property owned by the educational institution for purposes of
   70  this exemption. Property owned by an educational institution
   71  shall be deemed to be used for an educational purpose if the
   72  institution has taken affirmative steps to prepare the property
   73  for educational use. The term “affirmative steps” means
   74  environmental or land use permitting activities, creation of
   75  architectural plans or schematic drawings, land clearing or site
   76  preparation, construction or renovation activities, or other
   77  similar activities that demonstrate commitment of the property
   78  to an educational use.
   79  
   80  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   81  And the title is amended as follows:
   82         Delete line 1854
   83  and insert:
   84         meets income limits; amending s. 196.198, F.S.;
   85         exempting land, buildings, and real property
   86         improvements used exclusively for educational purposes
   87         from ad valorem taxes if certain criteria are met;
   88         providing that the educational institution shall
   89         receive the full benefit of the exemption; requiring
   90         the property owner to make certain disclosures to the
   91         educational institution; providing an exemption from
   92         ad valorem taxation for properties owned by houses of
   93         public worship under certain circumstances; amending
   94         s. 200.065, F.S.;