| 1 | The Committee on Local Government & Veterans' Affairs recommends |
| 2 | the following: |
| 3 |
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| 4 | Committee Substitute |
| 5 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 6 | A bill to be entitled |
| 7 | An act relating to the local government infrastructure |
| 8 | surtax; amending s. 212.055, F.S.; limiting use of surtax |
| 9 | revenues for infrastructure purposes; authorizing a |
| 10 | portion of surtax revenues to be used for property tax |
| 11 | reduction under certain circumstances; authorizing use of |
| 12 | a portion of surtax revenues for operating expenses under |
| 13 | certain circumstances; providing requirements for levy of |
| 14 | an ad valorem tax millage for certain purposes under |
| 15 | certain circumstances; providing limitations; deleting a |
| 16 | limitation on frequency of bond issues; providing an |
| 17 | effective date. |
| 18 |
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| 19 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 20 |
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| 21 | Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section |
| 22 | 212.055, Florida Statutes, as amended by section 91 of chapter |
| 23 | 2003-402, Laws of Florida, and paragraph (e) of said subsection, |
| 24 | are amended to read: |
| 25 | 212.055 Discretionary sales surtaxes; legislative intent; |
| 26 | authorization and use of proceeds.--It is the legislative intent |
| 27 | that any authorization for imposition of a discretionary sales |
| 28 | surtax shall be published in the Florida Statutes as a |
| 29 | subsection of this section, irrespective of the duration of the |
| 30 | levy. Each enactment shall specify the types of counties |
| 31 | authorized to levy; the rate or rates which may be imposed; the |
| 32 | maximum length of time the surtax may be imposed, if any; the |
| 33 | procedure which must be followed to secure voter approval, if |
| 34 | required; the purpose for which the proceeds may be expended; |
| 35 | and such other requirements as the Legislature may provide. |
| 36 | Taxable transactions and administrative procedures shall be as |
| 37 | provided in s. 212.054. |
| 38 | (2) LOCAL GOVERNMENT INFRASTRUCTURE SURTAX.-- |
| 39 | (d)1.a. At least 50 percent of the proceeds of the surtax |
| 40 | authorized by this subsection and any interest accrued thereto |
| 41 | shall be expended by the school district or within the county |
| 42 | and municipalities within the county, or, in the case of a |
| 43 | negotiated joint county agreement, within another county, to |
| 44 | finance, plan, and construct infrastructure and to acquire land |
| 45 | for public recreation or conservation or protection of natural |
| 46 | resources and to finance the closure of county-owned or |
| 47 | municipally owned solid waste landfills that are already closed |
| 48 | or are required to close by order of the Department of |
| 49 | Environmental Protection. Any use of such proceeds or interest |
| 50 | for purposes of landfill closure prior to July 1, 1993, is |
| 51 | ratified. Neither the proceeds nor any interest accrued thereto |
| 52 | shall be used for operational expenses of any infrastructure, |
| 53 | except that Any county with a population of less than 75,000 |
| 54 | that is required to close a landfill by order of the Department |
| 55 | of Environmental Protection may use the proceeds or any interest |
| 56 | accrued thereto for long-term maintenance costs associated with |
| 57 | landfill closure. Counties, as defined in s. 125.011(1), and |
| 58 | charter counties may, in addition, use the proceeds and any |
| 59 | interest accrued thereto to retire or service indebtedness |
| 60 | incurred for bonds issued prior to July 1, 1987, for |
| 61 | infrastructure purposes, and for bonds subsequently issued to |
| 62 | refund such bonds. Any use of such proceeds or interest for |
| 63 | purposes of retiring or servicing indebtedness incurred for such |
| 64 | refunding bonds prior to July 1, 1999, is ratified. |
| 65 | b.2. For the purposes of this subparagraph paragraph, |
| 66 | "infrastructure" means: |
| 67 | (I)a. Any fixed capital expenditure or fixed capital |
| 68 | outlay associated with the construction, reconstruction, or |
| 69 | improvement of public facilities which have a life expectancy of |
| 70 | 5 or more years and any land acquisition, land improvement, |
| 71 | design, and engineering costs related thereto. |
| 72 | (II)b. A fire department vehicle, an emergency medical |
| 73 | service vehicle, a sheriff's office vehicle, a police department |
| 74 | vehicle, or any other vehicle, and such equipment necessary to |
| 75 | outfit the vehicle for its official use or equipment that has a |
| 76 | life expectancy of at least 5 years. |
| 77 | (III)c. Any expenditure for the construction, lease, or |
| 78 | maintenance of, or provision of utilities or security for, |
| 79 | facilities as defined in s. 29.008. |
| 80 | c.3. Notwithstanding any other provision of this |
| 81 | subsection, a discretionary sales surtax imposed or extended |
| 82 | after the effective date of this act may provide for an amount |
| 83 | not to exceed 15 percent of the local option sales surtax |
| 84 | proceeds to be allocated for deposit to a trust fund within the |
| 85 | county's accounts created for the purpose of funding economic |
| 86 | development projects of a general public purpose targeted to |
| 87 | improve local economies, including the funding of operational |
| 88 | costs and incentives related to such economic development. The |
| 89 | ballot statement must indicate the intention to make an |
| 90 | allocation under the authority of this sub-subparagraph |
| 91 | subparagraph. |
| 92 | 2. Subject to any obligation to retire or service |
| 93 | indebtedness incurred by the taxing authority under this |
| 94 | subsection for bonds issued by the taxing authority prior to |
| 95 | July 1, 2004, and notwithstanding any other provision of this |
| 96 | subsection, a taxing authority receiving proceeds of the surtax |
| 97 | and any interest on such proceeds pursuant to this subsection |
| 98 | may use up to 35 percent of such proceeds and interest to reduce |
| 99 | property taxes and may use up to 15 percent of such proceeds and |
| 100 | interest for operational expenses; however, the percentage used |
| 101 | for operational expenses may not exceed the percentage used to |
| 102 | reduce property taxes. In the first year following the year in |
| 103 | which the taxing authority elects to use such proceeds and |
| 104 | interest for the reduction of property taxes, the taxing |
| 105 | authority shall levy a millage rate which, exclusive of new |
| 106 | construction, additions to structures, deletions, increases in |
| 107 | the value of improvements that have undergone a substantial |
| 108 | rehabilitation which increased the assessed value of such |
| 109 | improvements by at least 100 percent, and property added due to |
| 110 | geographic boundary changes, will provide ad valorem tax revenue |
| 111 | which, when added to the proceeds and interest being used for |
| 112 | property tax reduction, will not exceed the ad valorem tax |
| 113 | revenue as levied during the prior year. |
| 114 | (e) School districts, counties, and municipalities |
| 115 | receiving proceeds under the provisions of this subsection may |
| 116 | pledge such proceeds for the purpose of servicing new bond |
| 117 | indebtedness incurred pursuant to law. Local governments may use |
| 118 | the services of the Division of Bond Finance of the State Board |
| 119 | of Administration pursuant to the State Bond Act to issue any |
| 120 | bonds through the provisions of this subsection. In no case may |
| 121 | a jurisdiction issue bonds pursuant to this subsection more |
| 122 | frequently than once per year. Counties and municipalities may |
| 123 | join together for the issuance of bonds authorized by this |
| 124 | subsection. |
| 125 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004. |