Florida Senate - 2016 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. HB 7099, 2nd Eng.
Ì200342jÎ200342
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
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Floor: WD .
03/10/2016 11:56 AM .
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Senator Hays moved the following:
1 Senate Amendment to Amendment (673118) (with title
2 amendment)
3
4 Between lines 64 and 65
5 insert:
6 Section 3. Section 196.1955, Florida Statutes, is created
7 to read:
8 196.1955 Preparing property for educational, literary,
9 scientific, religious, or charitable use.—
10 (1) Property owned by an exempt organization is used for an
11 exempt purpose if the owner has taken affirmative steps to
12 prepare the property for an exempt educational, literary,
13 scientific, religious, or charitable use and no portion of the
14 property is being used for a nonexempt purpose. The term
15 “affirmative steps” means environmental or land use permitting
16 activities, creation of architectural plans or schematic
17 drawings, land clearing or site preparation, construction or
18 renovation activities, or other activities that demonstrate a
19 commitment to prepare the property for an exempt use.
20 (2)(a) If property owned by an organization that has been
21 granted an exemption under this section is sold, transferred, or
22 used for a purpose other than an exempt use or is not in actual
23 exempt use within 5 years after the date the organization is
24 granted an exemption, the property appraiser making such
25 determination shall serve upon the organization that received
26 the exemption a notice of intent to record in the public records
27 of the county a notice of tax lien against any property owned by
28 that organization in that county, and such property must be
29 identified in the notice of tax lien. The organization owning
30 such property is subject to the taxes otherwise due as a result
31 of the failure to use the property in an exempt manner, plus 15
32 percent interest per annum.
33 1. The lien, when filed, attaches to any property
34 identified in the notice of tax lien which is owned by the
35 organization that received the exemption. If the organization no
36 longer owns property in the county but owns property in another
37 county in the state, the property appraiser shall record in each
38 such county a notice of tax lien identifying the property owned
39 by the organization in each respective county, which shall
40 become a lien against the identified property.
41 2. Before a lien may be filed, the organization must be
42 given 30 days to pay the taxes and interest.
43 3. If an exemption is improperly granted as a result of a
44 clerical mistake or an omission by the property appraiser, the
45 organization improperly receiving the exemption may not be
46 assessed interest.
47 4. The 5-year limitation specified in this subsection shall
48 be extended by the property appraiser on an annual basis if the
49 organization continues to take affirmative steps to prepare the
50 property for the purposes specified in this section.
51 (b) This subsection does not apply to property being
52 prepared for use as a house of public worship. The term “public
53 worship” means religious worship services and those activities
54 that are incidental to religious worship services, such as
55 educational activities, parking, recreation, partaking of meals,
56 and fellowship.
57 Section 4. Subsections (3), (4), and (5) of section
58 196.196, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
59 196.196 Determining whether property is entitled to
60 charitable, religious, scientific, or literary exemption.—
61 (3) Property owned by an exempt organization is used for a
62 religious purpose if the institution has taken affirmative steps
63 to prepare the property for use as a house of public worship.
64 The term “affirmative steps” means environmental or land use
65 permitting activities, creation of architectural plans or
66 schematic drawings, land clearing or site preparation,
67 construction or renovation activities, or other similar
68 activities that demonstrate a commitment of the property to a
69 religious use as a house of public worship. For purposes of this
70 subsection, the term “public worship” means religious worship
71 services and those other activities that are incidental to
72 religious worship services, such as educational activities,
73 parking, recreation, partaking of meals, and fellowship.
74 (3)(4) Except as otherwise provided in this section herein,
75 property claimed as exempt for literary, scientific, religious,
76 or charitable purposes which is used for profitmaking purposes
77 is shall be subject to ad valorem taxation. Use of property for
78 functions not requiring a business or occupational license
79 conducted by the organization at its primary residence, the
80 revenue of which is used wholly for exempt purposes, is shall
81 not be considered profitmaking profit making. In this connection
82 the playing of bingo on such property is shall not be considered
83 a use of as using such property which in such a manner as would
84 impair its exempt status.
85 (5)(a) Property owned by an exempt organization qualified
86 as charitable under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code is
87 used for a charitable purpose if the organization has taken
88 affirmative steps to prepare the property to provide affordable
89 housing to persons or families that meet the extremely-low
90 income, very-low-income, low-income, or moderate-income limits,
91 as specified in s. 420.0004. The term “affirmative steps” means
92 environmental or land use permitting activities, creation of
93 architectural plans or schematic drawings, land clearing or site
94 preparation, construction or renovation activities, or other
95 similar activities that demonstrate a commitment of the property
96 to providing affordable housing.
97 (b)1. If property owned by an organization granted an
98 exemption under this subsection is transferred for a purpose
99 other than directly providing affordable homeownership or rental
100 housing to persons or families who meet the extremely-low
101 income, very-low-income, low-income, or moderate-income limits,
102 as specified in s. 420.0004, or is not in actual use to provide
103 such affordable housing within 5 years after the date the
104 organization is granted the exemption, the property appraiser
105 making such determination shall serve upon the organization that
106 illegally or improperly received the exemption a notice of
107 intent to record in the public records of the county a notice of
108 tax lien against any property owned by that organization in the
109 county, and such property shall be identified in the notice of
110 tax lien. The organization owning such property is subject to
111 the taxes otherwise due and owing as a result of the failure to
112 use the property to provide affordable housing plus 15 percent
113 interest per annum and a penalty of 50 percent of the taxes
114 owed.
115 2. Such lien, when filed, attaches to any property
116 identified in the notice of tax lien owned by the organization
117 that illegally or improperly received the exemption. If such
118 organization no longer owns property in the county but owns
119 property in any other county in the state, the property
120 appraiser shall record in each such other county a notice of tax
121 lien identifying the property owned by such organization in such
122 county which shall become a lien against the identified
123 property. Before any such lien may be filed, the organization so
124 notified must be given 30 days to pay the taxes, penalties, and
125 interest.
126 3. If an exemption is improperly granted as a result of a
127 clerical mistake or an omission by the property appraiser, the
128 organization improperly receiving the exemption shall not be
129 assessed a penalty or interest.
130 4. The 5-year limitation specified in this subsection may
131 be extended if the holder of the exemption continues to take
132 affirmative steps to develop the property for the purposes
133 specified in this subsection.
134 Section 5. Section 196.198, Florida Statutes, is amended to
135 read:
136 196.198 Educational property exemption.—
137 (1) Educational institutions within this state and their
138 property used by them or by any other exempt entity or
139 educational institution exclusively for educational purposes are
140 exempt from taxation.
141 (a) Sheltered workshops providing rehabilitation and
142 retraining of individuals who have disabilities and exempted by
143 a certificate under s. (d) of the federal Fair Labor Standards
144 Act of 1938, as amended, are declared wholly educational in
145 purpose and are exempt from certification, accreditation, and
146 membership requirements set forth in s. 196.012.
147 (b) Those portions of property of college fraternities and
148 sororities certified by the president of the college or
149 university to the appropriate property appraiser as being
150 essential to the educational process are exempt from ad valorem
151 taxation.
152 (c) The use of property by public fairs and expositions
153 chartered by chapter 616 is presumed to be an educational use of
154 such property and is exempt from ad valorem taxation to the
155 extent of such use.
156 (2) Property used exclusively for educational purposes
157 shall be deemed owned by an educational institution if the
158 entity owning 100 percent of the educational institution is
159 owned by the identical persons who own the property, or if the
160 entity owning 100 percent of the educational institution and the
161 entity owning the property are owned by the identical natural
162 persons.
163 (a) Land, buildings, and other improvements to real
164 property used exclusively for educational purposes shall be
165 deemed owned by an educational institution if the entity owning
166 100 percent of the land is a nonprofit entity and the land is
167 used, under a ground lease or other contractual arrangement, by
168 an educational institution that owns the buildings and other
169 improvements to the real property, is a nonprofit entity under
170 s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and provides
171 education limited to students in prekindergarten through grade
172 8.
173 (b) If legal title to property is held by a governmental
174 agency that leases the property to a lessee, the property shall
175 be deemed to be owned by the governmental agency and used
176 exclusively for educational purposes if the governmental agency
177 continues to use such property exclusively for educational
178 purposes pursuant to a sublease or other contractual agreement
179 with that lessee.
180 (c) If the title to land is held by the trustee of an
181 irrevocable inter vivos trust and if the trust grantor owns 100
182 percent of the entity that owns an educational institution that
183 is using the land exclusively for educational purposes, the land
184 is deemed to be property owned by the educational institution
185 for purposes of this exemption. Property owned by an educational
186 institution shall be deemed to be used for an educational
187 purpose if the institution has taken affirmative steps to
188 prepare the property for educational use. The term “affirmative
189 steps” means environmental or land use permitting activities,
190 creation of architectural plans or schematic drawings, land
191 clearing or site preparation, construction or renovation
192 activities, or other similar activities that demonstrate
193 commitment of the property to an educational use.
194
195 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
196 And the title is amended as follows:
197 Delete line 1293
198 and insert:
199 businesses; creating s. 196.1955, F.S.; consolidating
200 and revising provisions relating to obtaining an ad
201 valorem exemption for property owned by an exempt
202 organization, including the requirement that the owner
203 of an exempt organization take affirmative steps to
204 demonstrate an exempt use; defining the term
205 “affirmative steps”; requiring the property appraiser
206 to serve a notice of tax lien on exempt property that
207 is not in exempt use after a certain time; providing
208 that the lien attaches to any property owned by the
209 organization identified in the notice of lien;
210 providing that the provisions authorizing the tax lien
211 do not apply to a house of public worship; defining
212 the term “public worship”; amending s. 196.196, F.S.;
213 deleting provisions relating to the exemption as it
214 applies to public worship and affordable housing and
215 provisions incorporated into s. 196.1955, F.S.;
216 amending s. 196.198, F.S.; deleting provisions
217 relating to property owned by an educational
218 institution and used for an educational purpose which
219 are incorporated in s. 196.1955, F.S.; amending s.
220 196.1995, F.S.; revising an