Florida Senate - 2015                       CS for CS for SB 668
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Finance and Tax; and Community Affairs; and
       Senator Latvala
       
       
       
       
       593-03128-15                                           2015668c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the emergency fire rescue services
    3         and facilities surtax; amending s. 212.055, F.S.;
    4         revising the distribution of surtax proceeds; deleting
    5         a provision requiring the county governing authority
    6         to develop and execute interlocal agreements with
    7         local government entities providing emergency fire and
    8         rescue services; requiring a local government entity
    9         requesting and receiving certain personnel or
   10         equipment from another service provider to pay for
   11         such personnel or equipment from its share of surtax
   12         proceeds; deleting a provision requiring local
   13         government entities to enter into an interlocal
   14         agreement in order to receive surtax proceeds;
   15         providing an effective date.
   16          
   17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   18  
   19         Section 1. Paragraphs (b) through (j) of subsection (8) of
   20  section 212.055, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   21         212.055 Discretionary sales surtaxes; legislative intent;
   22  authorization and use of proceeds.—It is the legislative intent
   23  that any authorization for imposition of a discretionary sales
   24  surtax shall be published in the Florida Statutes as a
   25  subsection of this section, irrespective of the duration of the
   26  levy. Each enactment shall specify the types of counties
   27  authorized to levy; the rate or rates which may be imposed; the
   28  maximum length of time the surtax may be imposed, if any; the
   29  procedure which must be followed to secure voter approval, if
   30  required; the purpose for which the proceeds may be expended;
   31  and such other requirements as the Legislature may provide.
   32  Taxable transactions and administrative procedures shall be as
   33  provided in s. 212.054.
   34         (8) EMERGENCY FIRE RESCUE SERVICES AND FACILITIES SURTAX.—
   35         (b) Upon the adoption of the ordinance, the levy of the
   36  surtax must be placed on the ballot by the governing authority
   37  of the county enacting the ordinance. The ordinance will take
   38  effect if approved by a majority of the electors of the county
   39  voting in a referendum held for such purpose. The referendum
   40  shall be placed on the ballot of a regularly scheduled election.
   41  The ballot for the referendum must conform to the requirements
   42  of s. 101.161. The interlocal agreement required under paragraph
   43  (d) is a condition precedent to holding the referendum.
   44         (c) Pursuant to s. 212.054(4), the proceeds of the
   45  discretionary sales surtax collected under this subsection, less
   46  an administrative fee that may be retained by the Department of
   47  Revenue, shall be distributed by the department to the county.
   48  The county shall distribute the proceeds it receives from the
   49  department to each local government entity providing emergency
   50  fire rescue services in the county. The surtax proceeds, less an
   51  administrative fee not to exceed 2 percent of the surtax
   52  collected, shall be distributed by the county based on each
   53  entity’s average annual expenditures for fire control and
   54  emergency fire rescue services in the 5 fiscal years preceding
   55  the fiscal year in which the surtax takes effect in proportion
   56  to the average annual total of the expenditures for such
   57  entities in the 5 fiscal years preceding the fiscal year in
   58  which the surtax takes effect. The county shall revise the
   59  distribution proportions to reflect a change in the service area
   60  of an entity receiving a distribution of the surtax proceeds the
   61  participating jurisdictions that have entered into an interlocal
   62  agreement with the county under this subsection. The county may
   63  also charge an administrative fee for receiving and distributing
   64  the surtax in the amount of the actual costs incurred, not to
   65  exceed 2 percent of the surtax collected.
   66         (d) If a local government entity requests The county
   67  governing authority must develop and execute an interlocal
   68  agreement with participating jurisdictions, which are the
   69  governing bodies of municipalities, dependent special districts,
   70  independent special districts, or municipal service taxing units
   71  that provide emergency fire and rescue services within the
   72  county. The interlocal agreement must include a majority of the
   73  service providers in the county.
   74         1. The interlocal agreement shall only specify that:
   75         a. The amount of the surtax proceeds to be distributed by
   76  the county to each participating jurisdiction is based on the
   77  actual amounts collected within each participating jurisdiction
   78  as determined by the Department of Revenue’s population
   79  allocations in accordance with s. 218.62; or
   80         b. If a county has special fire control districts and
   81  rescue districts within its boundary, the county shall
   82  distribute the surtax proceeds among the county and the
   83  participating municipalities or special fire control and rescue
   84  districts based on the proportion of each entity’s expenditures
   85  of ad valorem taxes and non-ad valorem assessments for fire
   86  control and emergency rescue services in each of the immediately
   87  preceding 5 fiscal years to the total of the expenditures for
   88  all participating entities.
   89         2. Each participating jurisdiction shall agree that if a
   90  participating jurisdiction is requested to provide personnel or
   91  equipment from to any other service provider, on a long-term
   92  basis and the personnel or equipment is provided pursuant to an
   93  interlocal agreement, the local government entity jurisdiction
   94  providing the service is entitled to payment from the requesting
   95  service provider from that provider’s share of the surtax
   96  proceeds for all costs of the equipment or personnel.
   97         (e) Upon the surtax taking effect and initiation of
   98  collections, each local government entity receiving a share of
   99  surtax proceeds a county and any participating jurisdiction
  100  entering into the interlocal agreement shall reduce the ad
  101  valorem tax levy or any non-ad valorem assessment for fire
  102  control and emergency rescue services in its next and subsequent
  103  budgets by the estimated amount of revenue provided by the
  104  surtax.
  105         (f) Use of surtax proceeds authorized under this subsection
  106  does not relieve a local government from complying with the
  107  provisions of chapter 200 and any related provision of law that
  108  establishes millage caps or limits undesignated budget reserves
  109  and procedures for establishing rollback rates for ad valorem
  110  taxes and budget adoption. If surtax collections exceed
  111  projected collections in any fiscal year, any surplus
  112  distribution shall be used to further reduce ad valorem taxes in
  113  the next fiscal year. These proceeds shall be applied as a
  114  rebate to the final millage, after the TRIM notice is completed
  115  in accordance with this provision.
  116         (g) Municipalities, special fire control and rescue
  117  districts, and contract service providers that do not enter into
  118  an interlocal agreement are not entitled to receive a portion of
  119  the proceeds of the surtax collected under this subsection and
  120  are not required to reduce ad valorem taxes or non-ad valorem
  121  assessments pursuant to paragraph (e).
  122         (h) The provisions of sub-subparagraph (d)1.a. and
  123  subparagraph (d)2. do not apply if:
  124         1. There is an interlocal agreement with the county and one
  125  or more participating jurisdictions which prohibits one or more
  126  jurisdictions from providing the same level of service for
  127  prehospital emergency medical treatment within the prohibited
  128  participating jurisdictions’ boundaries; or
  129         2. The county has issued a certificate of public
  130  convenience and necessity or its equivalent to a county
  131  department or a dependent special district of the county.
  132         (g)(i) Surtax collections shall be initiated on January 1
  133  of the year following a successful referendum in order to
  134  coincide with s. 212.054(5).
  135         (h)(j) Notwithstanding s. 212.054, if a multicounty
  136  independent special district created pursuant to chapter 67-764,
  137  Laws of Florida, levies ad valorem taxes on district property to
  138  fund emergency fire rescue services within the district and is
  139  required by s. 2, Art. VII of the State Constitution to maintain
  140  a uniform ad valorem tax rate throughout the district, the
  141  county may not levy the discretionary sales surtax authorized by
  142  this subsection within the boundaries of the district.
  143         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.