Senate Bill sb2710

    Florida Senate - 2004                                  SB 2710

    By Senator Posey





    24-1771-04                                              See HB

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the local government

  3         infrastructure surtax; amending s. 212.055,

  4         F.S.; limiting use of surtax revenues for

  5         infrastructure purposes; authorizing a portion

  6         of surtax revenues to be used for property tax

  7         reduction under certain circumstances;

  8         authorizing use of a portion of surtax revenues

  9         for operating expenses under certain

10         circumstances; providing limitations; providing

11         an effective date.

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13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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15         Section 1.  Paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section

16  212.055, Florida Statutes, as amended by section 91 of chapter

17  2003-402, Laws of Florida, is amended to read:

18         212.055  Discretionary sales surtaxes; legislative

19  intent; authorization and use of proceeds.--It is the

20  legislative intent that any authorization for imposition of a

21  discretionary sales surtax shall be published in the Florida

22  Statutes as a subsection of this section, irrespective of the

23  duration of the levy. Each enactment shall specify the types

24  of counties authorized to levy; the rate or rates which may be

25  imposed; the maximum length of time the surtax may be imposed,

26  if any; the procedure which must be followed to secure voter

27  approval, if required; the purpose for which the proceeds may

28  be expended; and such other requirements as the Legislature

29  may provide. Taxable transactions and administrative

30  procedures shall be as provided in s. 212.054.

31         (2)  LOCAL GOVERNMENT INFRASTRUCTURE SURTAX.--

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    Florida Senate - 2004                                  SB 2710
    24-1771-04                                              See HB




 1         (d)1.a.  At least 50 percent of the proceeds of the

 2  surtax authorized by this subsection and any interest accrued

 3  thereto shall be expended by the school district or within the

 4  county and municipalities within the county, or, in the case

 5  of a negotiated joint county agreement, within another county,

 6  to finance, plan, and construct infrastructure and to acquire

 7  land for public recreation or conservation or protection of

 8  natural resources and to finance the closure of county-owned

 9  or municipally owned solid waste landfills that are already

10  closed or are required to close by order of the Department of

11  Environmental Protection. Any use of such proceeds or interest

12  for purposes of landfill closure prior to July 1, 1993, is

13  ratified. Neither the proceeds nor any interest accrued

14  thereto shall be used for operational expenses of any

15  infrastructure, except that Any county with a population of

16  less than 75,000 that is required to close a landfill by order

17  of the Department of Environmental Protection may use the

18  proceeds or any interest accrued thereto for long-term

19  maintenance costs associated with landfill closure. Counties,

20  as defined in s. 125.011(1), and charter counties may, in

21  addition, use the proceeds and any interest accrued thereto to

22  retire or service indebtedness incurred for bonds issued prior

23  to July 1, 1987, for infrastructure purposes, and for bonds

24  subsequently issued to refund such bonds. Any use of such

25  proceeds or interest for purposes of retiring or servicing

26  indebtedness incurred for such refunding bonds prior to July

27  1, 1999, is ratified.

28         b.2.  For the purposes of this subparagraph paragraph,

29  "infrastructure" means:

30         (I)a.  Any fixed capital expenditure or fixed capital

31  outlay associated with the construction, reconstruction, or

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    Florida Senate - 2004                                  SB 2710
    24-1771-04                                              See HB




 1  improvement of public facilities which have a life expectancy

 2  of 5 or more years and any land acquisition, land improvement,

 3  design, and engineering costs related thereto.

 4         (II)b.  A fire department vehicle, an emergency medical

 5  service vehicle, a sheriff's office vehicle, a police

 6  department vehicle, or any other vehicle, and such equipment

 7  necessary to outfit the vehicle for its official use or

 8  equipment that has a life expectancy of at least 5 years.

 9         (III)c.  Any expenditure for the construction, lease,

10  or maintenance of, or provision of utilities or security for,

11  facilities as defined in s. 29.008.

12         c.3.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this

13  subsection, a discretionary sales surtax imposed or extended

14  after the effective date of this act may provide for an amount

15  not to exceed 15 percent of the local option sales surtax

16  proceeds to be allocated for deposit to a trust fund within

17  the county's accounts created for the purpose of funding

18  economic development projects of a general public purpose

19  targeted to improve local economies, including the funding of

20  operational costs and incentives related to such economic

21  development. The ballot statement must indicate the intention

22  to make an allocation under the authority of this

23  sub-subparagraph subparagraph.

24         2.  Subject to any obligation to retire or service

25  indebtedness incurred by the taxing authority under this

26  subsection for bonds issued by the taxing authority prior to

27  July 1, 2004, and notwithstanding any other provision of this

28  subsection, a taxing authority receiving proceeds of the

29  surtax and any interest on such proceeds pursuant to this

30  subsection may use up to 35 percent of such proceeds and

31  interest to reduce property taxes and may use up to 15 percent

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    Florida Senate - 2004                                  SB 2710
    24-1771-04                                              See HB




 1  of such proceeds and interest for operational expenses;

 2  however, the percentage used for operational expenses may not

 3  exceed the percentage used to reduce property taxes. The

 4  taxing authority may not increase property taxes for the first

 5  year following the year in which the taxing authority elected

 6  to use such proceeds and interest for operational expenses and

 7  may not increase property taxes above the rollback rate by

 8  more than 3 percent in the second and subsequent years during

 9  the period of the levy.

10         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2004.

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