Florida Senate - 2015                                     SB 780
       
       
        
       By Senator Smith
       
       
       
       
       
       31-01021-15                                            2015780__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to a special assessment for law
    3         enforcement services; creating s. 166.212, F.S.;
    4         authorizing a municipality to levy a special
    5         assessment to fund the costs of providing law
    6         enforcement services; requiring a municipality to
    7         adopt an ordinance and reduce its ad valorem millage
    8         to levy the special assessment; providing a
    9         methodology for the apportionment of the special
   10         assessment and the reduction of the ad valorem
   11         millage; requiring the property appraiser to list the
   12         special assessment on the notice of property taxes;
   13         specifying exceptions to the reduction of the ad
   14         valorem millage by more than a certain percentage;
   15         authorizing the Department of Revenue to adopt rules
   16         and forms; providing for construction; providing an
   17         effective date.
   18          
   19  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   20  
   21         Section 1. Section 166.212, Florida Statutes, is created to
   22  read:
   23         166.212 Law enforcement services special assessment.—
   24         (1) GENERAL.—The governing body of a municipality may levy
   25  a law enforcement services special assessment to fund all or a
   26  portion of its costs of providing law enforcement services, if
   27  the governing body:
   28         (a) Adopts an ordinance levying the law enforcement
   29  services special assessment, which apportions the cost of law
   30  enforcement services among the parcels of real property in the
   31  municipality in reasonable proportion to the benefit received by
   32  each parcel; and
   33         (b) Reduces its ad valorem millage pursuant to subsection
   34  (3).
   35         (2) APPORTIONMENT METHODOLOGY.—The methodology used to
   36  determine the benefit that a parcel of real property derives
   37  from law enforcement services may be based on the following:
   38         (a) The square footage of structures on the parcel.
   39         (b) The location of the parcel.
   40         (c) The use of the parcel.
   41         (d) The projected amount of time that the municipal law
   42  enforcement agency will spend serving and protecting the parcel,
   43  grouped by neighborhood, zone, or category of use, which may
   44  include the projected amount of time that will be spent
   45  responding to calls for law enforcement services and the
   46  projected amount of time that law enforcement officers will
   47  spend patrolling or regulating traffic on the streets that
   48  provide access to the parcel.
   49         (e) The value of the real property that is served or
   50  protected, including the value of each structure on the parcel
   51  and the structure’s contents. However, this factor may not be
   52  used as the sole factor or as a major factor in determining the
   53  benefit of law enforcement services to a parcel of real
   54  property.
   55         (f) Any other factor that may reasonably be used to
   56  determine the benefit of law enforcement services to a parcel of
   57  real property.
   58         (3) REDUCTION IN AD VALOREM MILLAGE.—
   59         (a) In the first year that the special assessment is
   60  levied, the governing body of the municipality must reduce its
   61  ad valorem millage, calculated as if there were no law
   62  enforcement services assessment, by the millage that would be
   63  required to collect revenue equal to the revenue that is
   64  forecast to be collected from the special assessment.
   65         (b) When preparing the notice of proposed property taxes
   66  pursuant to s. 200.069 in the first year of the assessment, the
   67  governing body of the municipality shall calculate the rolled
   68  back millage rate pursuant to s. 200.065(5) and shall determine
   69  the preliminary proposed millage rate as if there were no law
   70  enforcement services assessment. The governing body shall then
   71  adopt the proposed law enforcement services assessment and
   72  determine the equivalent millage rate pursuant to paragraph (a).
   73  The preliminary proposed millage rate shall then be reduced by
   74  the amount of the law enforcement services assessment equivalent
   75  millage rate and the resulting millage rate shall then be
   76  reported to the property appraiser, together with the amount of
   77  the law enforcement services assessment, pursuant to the notice
   78  requirements of ss. 200.065 and 200.069. The property appraiser
   79  shall list the law enforcement services assessment on the notice
   80  of proposed property taxes below the line in the columns
   81  reserved for non-ad valorem assessments. After the first year of
   82  the assessment, the millage rate and rolled-back rate for the
   83  notice of proposed property taxes shall be calculated pursuant
   84  to s. 200.065(5) and shall be based on the adopted millage rate
   85  from the previous year.
   86         (c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), the governing body of a
   87  municipality is not required to reduce its millage, excluding
   88  millage approved by a vote of the electors and millage pledged
   89  to repay bonds, by more than 75 percent, or by more than 50
   90  percent if the ordinance levying the law enforcement services
   91  assessment is approved by a two-thirds vote of the governing
   92  body of the municipality.
   93         (4) RULES AND FORMS.—The Department of Revenue may adopt
   94  rules and forms necessary to administer this section.
   95         (5) CONSTRUCTION.—The levy of a law enforcement services
   96  special assessment pursuant to this section shall be construed
   97  as being authorized by general law in accordance with ss. 1 and
   98  9, Art. VII of the State Constitution.
   99         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.