Florida Senate - 2016                                     SB 264
       
       
        
       By Senator Smith
       
       
       
       
       
       31-00179-16                                            2016264__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to a special assessment for law
    3         enforcement services; creating s. 166.225, 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 proposed property
   13         taxes; specifying exceptions to the reduction of the
   14         ad 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 166.225, Florida Statutes, is created to
   22  read:
   23         166.225 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 each parcel
   32  receives, but levies no more than $200 per 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  with assessed parcels grouped by neighborhood, zone, or category
   44  of use. Projections may include the amount of time that will be
   45  spent responding to calls for law enforcement services and the
   46  amount of time that law enforcement officers will spend
   47  patrolling or regulating traffic on the streets that provide
   48  access to the parcel.
   49         (e) The value of the real property served or protected,
   50  including the value of each structure on the parcel and the
   51  structure’s contents. However, this factor may not be used as
   52  the sole factor or as a major factor in determining the benefit
   53  of law enforcement services to a parcel of real property.
   54         (f) Any other factor that may reasonably be used to
   55  determine the benefit of law enforcement services to a parcel of
   56  real property.
   57         (3) REDUCTION IN AD VALOREM MILLAGE.—
   58         (a) In the first year that the special assessment is
   59  levied, the governing body of the municipality must reduce its
   60  ad valorem millage, calculated as if there were no law
   61  enforcement services assessment, by the millage that would be
   62  required to collect revenue equal to the revenue that the
   63  governing body expects to collect from the special assessment.
   64         (b) When preparing the notice of proposed property taxes
   65  pursuant to s. 200.069 in the first year of the assessment, the
   66  governing body of the municipality shall calculate the rolled
   67  back millage rate pursuant to s. 200.065(5) and shall determine
   68  the preliminary proposed millage rate as if there were no law
   69  enforcement services assessment. The governing body shall then
   70  adopt the proposed law enforcement services assessment and
   71  determine the equivalent millage rate pursuant to paragraph (a).
   72  The preliminary proposed millage rate must then be reduced by
   73  the amount of the law enforcement services assessment equivalent
   74  millage rate and the resulting millage rate reported to the
   75  property appraiser, together with the amount of the law
   76  enforcement services assessment, pursuant to the notice
   77  requirements of ss. 200.065 and 200.069. The property appraiser
   78  shall list the law enforcement services assessment on the notice
   79  of proposed property taxes below the line in the columns
   80  reserved for non-ad valorem assessments. After the first year of
   81  the assessment, the millage rate and rolled-back rate for the
   82  notice of proposed property taxes must be calculated pursuant to
   83  s. 200.065(5) and be based on the adopted millage rate from the
   84  previous year.
   85         (c) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), the governing body of a
   86  municipality is not required to reduce its millage, excluding
   87  millage approved by a vote of the electors and millage pledged
   88  to repay bonds, by more than 75 percent, or by more than 50
   89  percent if the ordinance levying the law enforcement services
   90  assessment is approved by a two-thirds vote of the governing
   91  body of the municipality.
   92         (4) RULES AND FORMS.—The Department of Revenue may adopt
   93  rules and forms necessary to administer this section.
   94         (5) CONSTRUCTION.—The levy of a law enforcement services
   95  special assessment pursuant to this section shall be construed
   96  as being authorized by general law in accordance with ss. 1 and
   97  9, Art. VII of the State Constitution.
   98         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.