| 1 | The Domestic Security Committee recommends the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Council/Committee Substitute |
| 4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 5 | A bill to be entitled |
| 6 | An act relating to tax benefits related to catastrophic |
| 7 | emergencies; amending s. 212.055, F.S.; including as |
| 8 | infrastructure any fixed capital expenditure or fixed |
| 9 | capital outlay associated with the improvement of certain |
| 10 | private facilities made available as public shelters or |
| 11 | staging areas for emergency response equipment during |
| 12 | emergencies declared by the state or local government; |
| 13 | limiting improvements to those necessary to meet current |
| 14 | standards for public emergency evacuation shelters; |
| 15 | requiring the owner to enter into a written contract with |
| 16 | the local government providing improvement funding; |
| 17 | providing an 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, is amended to read. |
| 23 | 212.055 Discretionary sales surtaxes; legislative intent; |
| 24 | authorization and use of proceeds.--It is the legislative intent |
| 25 | that any authorization for imposition of a discretionary sales |
| 26 | surtax shall be published in the Florida Statutes as a |
| 27 | subsection of this section, irrespective of the duration of the |
| 28 | levy. Each enactment shall specify the types of counties |
| 29 | authorized to levy; the rate or rates which may be imposed; the |
| 30 | maximum length of time the surtax may be imposed, if any; the |
| 31 | procedure which must be followed to secure voter approval, if |
| 32 | required; the purpose for which the proceeds may be expended; |
| 33 | and such other requirements as the Legislature may provide. |
| 34 | Taxable transactions and administrative procedures shall be as |
| 35 | provided in s. 212.054. |
| 36 | (2) LOCAL GOVERNMENT INFRASTRUCTURE SURTAX.-- |
| 37 | (d)1. The proceeds of the surtax authorized by this |
| 38 | subsection and any interest accrued thereto shall be expended by |
| 39 | the school district or within the county and municipalities |
| 40 | within the county, or, in the case of a negotiated joint county |
| 41 | agreement, within another county, to finance, plan, and |
| 42 | construct infrastructure and to acquire land for public |
| 43 | recreation or conservation or protection of natural resources |
| 44 | and to finance the closure of county-owned or municipally owned |
| 45 | solid waste landfills that are already closed or are required to |
| 46 | close by order of the Department of Environmental Protection. |
| 47 | Any use of such proceeds or interest for purposes of landfill |
| 48 | closure prior to July 1, 1993, is ratified. Neither the proceeds |
| 49 | nor any interest accrued thereto shall be used for operational |
| 50 | expenses of any infrastructure, except that any county with a |
| 51 | population of less than 75,000 that is required to close a |
| 52 | landfill by order of the Department of Environmental Protection |
| 53 | may use the proceeds or any interest accrued thereto for long- |
| 54 | term maintenance costs associated with landfill closure. |
| 55 | Counties, as defined in s. 125.011(1), and charter counties may, |
| 56 | in addition, use the proceeds and any interest accrued thereto |
| 57 | to retire or service indebtedness incurred for bonds issued |
| 58 | prior to July 1, 1987, for infrastructure purposes, and for |
| 59 | bonds subsequently issued to refund such bonds. Any use of such |
| 60 | proceeds or interest for purposes of retiring or servicing |
| 61 | indebtedness incurred for such refunding bonds prior to July 1, |
| 62 | 1999, is ratified. |
| 63 | 2. For the purposes of this paragraph, the term |
| 64 | "infrastructure" means: |
| 65 | a. Any fixed capital expenditure or fixed capital outlay |
| 66 | associated with the construction, reconstruction, or improvement |
| 67 | of public facilities that which have a life expectancy of 5 or |
| 68 | more years and any land acquisition, land improvement, design, |
| 69 | and engineering costs related thereto. |
| 70 | b. A fire department vehicle, an emergency medical service |
| 71 | vehicle, a sheriff's office vehicle, a police department |
| 72 | vehicle, or any other vehicle, and such equipment necessary to |
| 73 | outfit the vehicle for its official use or equipment that has a |
| 74 | life expectancy of at least 5 years. |
| 75 | c. Any expenditure for the construction, lease, or |
| 76 | maintenance of, or provision of utilities or security for, |
| 77 | facilities as defined in s. 29.008. |
| 78 | d. Any fixed capital expenditure or fixed capital outlay |
| 79 | associated with the improvement of private facilities that have |
| 80 | a life expectancy of 5 or more years and that the owner agrees |
| 81 | to make available for use on a temporary basis as needed by a |
| 82 | local government as a public emergency shelter or a staging area |
| 83 | for emergency response equipment during an emergency officially |
| 84 | declared by the state or by the local government under s. |
| 85 | 252.38. Such improvements under this sub-subparagraph are |
| 86 | limited to those necessary to comply with current standards for |
| 87 | public emergency evacuation shelters. The owner shall enter into |
| 88 | a written contract with the local government providing the |
| 89 | improvement funding to make such private facility available to |
| 90 | the public for purposes of emergency shelter at no cost to the |
| 91 | local government for a minimum period of 10 years after |
| 92 | completion of the improvement, with the provision that such |
| 93 | obligation will transfer to any subsequent owner until the end |
| 94 | of the minimum period. |
| 95 | 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, |
| 96 | a discretionary sales surtax imposed or extended after the |
| 97 | effective date of this act may provide for an amount not to |
| 98 | exceed 15 percent of the local option sales surtax proceeds to |
| 99 | be allocated for deposit to a trust fund within the county's |
| 100 | accounts created for the purpose of funding economic development |
| 101 | projects of a general public purpose targeted to improve local |
| 102 | economies, including the funding of operational costs and |
| 103 | incentives related to such economic development. The ballot |
| 104 | statement must indicate the intention to make an allocation |
| 105 | under the authority of this subparagraph. |
| 106 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006. |