HB 737

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to tax benefits related to catastrophic
3	emergencies; amending s. 212.055, F.S.; defining the term
4	"public facilities" to include certain private facilities
5	used as public shelters or staging areas for emergency
6	response equipment during emergencies declared by the
7	state or local government; including such facilities as
8	infrastructure that may be financed through the local
9	government infrastructure surtax; amending s. 212.03,
10	F.S.; providing that the temporary rental or lease of
11	residential quarters to individuals who have been
12	displaced by a hurricane or other catastrophic disaster is
13	not subject to the transient rentals tax under this
14	section; providing for rulemaking by the Department of
15	Revenue; providing an effective date.
16
17	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19	Section 1.  Paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section
20	212.055, Florida Statutes, is amended to read.
21	212.055  Discretionary sales surtaxes; legislative intent;
22	authorization and use of proceeds.--It is the legislative intent
23	that any authorization for imposition of a discretionary sales
24	surtax shall be published in the Florida Statutes as a
25	subsection of this section, irrespective of the duration of the
26	levy. Each enactment shall specify the types of counties
27	authorized to levy; the rate or rates which may be imposed; the
28	maximum length of time the surtax may be imposed, if any; the
29	procedure which must be followed to secure voter approval, if
30	required; the purpose for which the proceeds may be expended;
31	and such other requirements as the Legislature may provide.
32	Taxable transactions and administrative procedures shall be as
33	provided in s. 212.054.
34	(2)  LOCAL GOVERNMENT INFRASTRUCTURE SURTAX.--
35	(d)1.  The proceeds of the surtax authorized by this
36	subsection and any interest accrued thereto shall be expended by
37	the school district or within the county and municipalities
38	within the county, or, in the case of a negotiated joint county
39	agreement, within another county, to finance, plan, and
40	construct infrastructure and to acquire land for public
41	recreation or conservation or protection of natural resources
42	and to finance the closure of county-owned or municipally owned
43	solid waste landfills that are already closed or are required to
44	close by order of the Department of Environmental Protection.
45	Any use of such proceeds or interest for purposes of landfill
46	closure prior to July 1, 1993, is ratified. Neither the proceeds
47	nor any interest accrued thereto shall be used for operational
48	expenses of any infrastructure, except that any county with a
49	population of less than 75,000 that is required to close a
50	landfill by order of the Department of Environmental Protection
51	may use the proceeds or any interest accrued thereto for long-
52	term maintenance costs associated with landfill closure.
53	Counties, as defined in s. 125.011(1), and charter counties may,
54	in addition, use the proceeds and any interest accrued thereto
55	to retire or service indebtedness incurred for bonds issued
56	prior to July 1, 1987, for infrastructure purposes, and for
57	bonds subsequently issued to refund such bonds. Any use of such
58	proceeds or interest for purposes of retiring or servicing
59	indebtedness incurred for such refunding bonds prior to July 1,
60	1999, is ratified.
61	2.  For the purposes of this paragraph, the term
62	"infrastructure" means:
63	a.  Any fixed capital expenditure or fixed capital outlay
64	associated with the construction, reconstruction, or improvement
65	of public facilities that which have a life expectancy of 5 or
66	more years and any land acquisition, land improvement, design,
67	and engineering costs related thereto. As used in this sub-
68	subparagraph, the term "public facilities" includes private
69	facilities used on a temporary basis from time to time by a
70	local government as an emergency public shelter or a staging
71	area for emergency response equipment during an emergency
72	officially declared by the state or by the local government
73	under s. 252.38.
74	b.  A fire department vehicle, an emergency medical service
75	vehicle, a sheriff's office vehicle, a police department
76	vehicle, or any other vehicle, and such equipment necessary to
77	outfit the vehicle for its official use or equipment that has a
78	life expectancy of at least 5 years.
79	c.  Any expenditure for the construction, lease, or
80	maintenance of, or provision of utilities or security for,
81	facilities as defined in s. 29.008.
82	3.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection,
83	a discretionary sales surtax imposed or extended after the
84	effective date of this act may provide for an amount not to
85	exceed 15 percent of the local option sales surtax proceeds to
86	be allocated for deposit to a trust fund within the county's
87	accounts created for the purpose of funding economic development
88	projects of a general public purpose targeted to improve local
89	economies, including the funding of operational costs and
90	incentives related to such economic development. The ballot
91	statement must indicate the intention to make an allocation
92	under the authority of this subparagraph.
93	Section 2.  Subsection (1) of section 212.03, Florida
94	Statutes, is amended to read:
95	212.03  Transient rentals tax; rate, procedure,
96	enforcement, exemptions.--
97	(1)  It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent
98	that every person is exercising a taxable privilege who engages
99	in the business of renting, leasing, letting, or granting a
100	license to use any living quarters or sleeping or housekeeping
101	accommodations in, from, or a part of, or in connection with any
102	hotel, apartment house, roominghouse, or tourist or trailer
103	camp. However, any person who rents, leases, lets, or grants a
104	license to others to use, occupy, or enter upon any living
105	quarters or sleeping or housekeeping accommodations in apartment
106	houses, roominghouses, tourist camps, or trailer camps, and who
107	exclusively enters into a bona fide written agreement for
108	continuous residence for longer than 6 months in duration at
109	such property is not exercising a taxable privilege. Moreover, a
110	person who rents, leases, lets, or grants a license to use,
111	occupy, or enter upon any living quarters or sleeping or
112	housekeeping accommodations in apartment houses, roominghouses,
113	tourist camps, or trailer camps to an individual who has been
114	displaced from his or her usual housing due to a hurricane or
115	other catastrophic disaster is not exercising a taxable
116	privilege if the displaced individual provides to his or her
117	landlord such proof as the Department of Revenue requires, by
118	rule, that such a catastrophe is the cause of the individual's
119	need for temporary housing. For the exercise of such taxable
120	privilege, a tax is hereby levied in an amount equal to 6
121	percent of and on the total rental charged for such living
122	quarters or sleeping or housekeeping accommodations by the
123	person charging or collecting the rental. Such tax shall apply
124	to hotels, apartment houses, roominghouses, or tourist or
125	trailer camps whether or not there is in connection with any of
126	the same any dining rooms, cafes, or other places where meals or
127	lunches are sold or served to guests.
128	Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.