| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to value adjustment boards; requiring a |
| 3 | petitioner challenging ad valorem taxes before the value |
| 4 | adjustment board to pay a specified percentage of the |
| 5 | taxes by a certain date; requiring the board to deny the |
| 6 | petition if the required amount of taxes is not timely |
| 7 | paid; requiring the payment of interest on certain unpaid |
| 8 | taxes; amending s. 197.162, F.S.; deleting a provision |
| 9 | providing for a discount for ad valorem taxes paid within |
| 10 | 30 days after the mailing of a tax notice resulting from |
| 11 | the action of a value adjustment board; providing an |
| 12 | effective date. |
| 13 |
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| 14 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Section 1. Partial payment of ad valorem taxes; |
| 17 | proceedings before value adjustment board.- |
| 18 | (1) A petitioner before the value adjustment board who |
| 19 | challenges an assessment of property or the denial of a |
| 20 | classification or an exemption must pay all of the non-ad |
| 21 | valorem assessments and make a partial payment of at least 50 |
| 22 | percent of the ad valorem taxes before April 1 of the year in |
| 23 | which the payment is due, less the applicable discount under s. |
| 24 | 197.162, Florida Statutes. The value adjustment board must deny |
| 25 | the petition if the required payment is not made by that date. |
| 26 | (2) If the value adjustment board determines that the |
| 27 | petitioner owes ad valorem taxes in excess of the amounts paid, |
| 28 | the unpaid amount accrues interest at the rate of 12 percent per |
| 29 | year from April 1 of the year in which the payment was due. |
| 30 | Section 2. Section 197.162, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 31 | to read: |
| 32 | 197.162 Discounts; amount and time.-On all taxes assessed |
| 33 | on the county tax rolls and collected by the county tax |
| 34 | collector, discounts for early payment thereof shall be at the |
| 35 | rate of 4 percent in the month of November or at any time within |
| 36 | 30 days after the mailing of the original tax notice; 3 percent |
| 37 | in the month of December; 2 percent in the following month of |
| 38 | January; 1 percent in the following month of February; and zero |
| 39 | percent in the following month of March or within 30 days prior |
| 40 | to the date of delinquency if the date of delinquency is after |
| 41 | April 1. When a taxpayer makes a request to have the original |
| 42 | tax notice corrected, the discount rate for early payment |
| 43 | applicable at the time the request for correction is made shall |
| 44 | apply for 30 days after the mailing of the corrected tax notice. |
| 45 | A discount shall apply at the rate of 4 percent for 30 days |
| 46 | after the mailing of a tax notice resulting from the action of a |
| 47 | value adjustment board. Thereafter, the regular discount periods |
| 48 | shall apply. For the purposes of this section, when a discount |
| 49 | period ends on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the |
| 50 | discount period shall be extended to the next working day, if |
| 51 | payment is delivered to a designated collection office of the |
| 52 | tax collector. |
| 53 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011. |