| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to proposed property tax notices; amending |
| 3 | s. 200.069, F.S.; revising the form of the notice of |
| 4 | proposed property taxes to include certain millage rates; |
| 5 | amending s. 200.065, F.S.; conforming a cross-reference; |
| 6 | providing an effective date. |
| 7 |
|
| 8 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 9 |
|
| 10 | Section 1. Subsections (2), (4), and (6) of section |
| 11 | 200.069, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: |
| 12 | 200.069 Notice of proposed property taxes and non-ad |
| 13 | valorem assessments.--Pursuant to s. 200.065(2)(b), the property |
| 14 | appraiser, in the name of the taxing authorities and local |
| 15 | governing boards levying non-ad valorem assessments within his |
| 16 | or her jurisdiction and at the expense of the county, shall |
| 17 | prepare and deliver by first-class mail to each taxpayer to be |
| 18 | listed on the current year's assessment roll a notice of |
| 19 | proposed property taxes, which notice shall contain the elements |
| 20 | and use the format provided in the following form. |
| 21 | Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 195.022, no county officer |
| 22 | shall use a form other than that provided herein. The Department |
| 23 | of Revenue may adjust the spacing and placement on the form of |
| 24 | the elements listed in this section as it considers necessary |
| 25 | based on changes in conditions necessitated by various taxing |
| 26 | authorities. If the elements are in the order listed, the |
| 27 | placement of the listed columns may be varied at the discretion |
| 28 | and expense of the property appraiser, and the property |
| 29 | appraiser may use printing technology and devices to complete |
| 30 | the form, the spacing, and the placement of the information in |
| 31 | the columns. A county officer may use a form other than that |
| 32 | provided by the department for purposes of this part, but only |
| 33 | if his or her office pays the related expenses and he or she |
| 34 | obtains prior written permission from the executive director of |
| 35 | the department; however, a county officer may not use a form the |
| 36 | substantive content of which is at variance with the form |
| 37 | prescribed by the department. The county officer may continue to |
| 38 | use such an approved form until the law that specifies the form |
| 39 | is amended or repealed or until the officer receives written |
| 40 | disapproval from the executive director. |
| 41 | (2) The notice shall further contain information |
| 42 | applicable to the specific parcel in question. The information |
| 43 | shall be in columnar form. There shall be eight five column |
| 44 | headings which shall read: "Taxing Authority," "Your Property |
| 45 | Taxes Last Year," "Millage Rate Last Year," "Your Taxes This |
| 46 | Year IF PROPOSED Budget Change is Made," "Millage Rate This Year |
| 47 | IF PROPOSED Budget Change is Made," "A Public Hearing on the |
| 48 | Proposed Taxes and Budget Will be Held:", and "Your Taxes This |
| 49 | Year IF NO Budget Change is Made," and "Millage Rate IF NO |
| 50 | Budget Change is Made." |
| 51 | (4) For each entry listed in subsection (3), there shall |
| 52 | appear on the notice the following: |
| 53 | (a) In the first column, a brief, commonly used name for |
| 54 | the taxing authority or its governing body. The entry in the |
| 55 | first column for the levy required pursuant to s. 1011.60(6) |
| 56 | shall be "By State Law." The entry for other operating school |
| 57 | district levies shall be "By Local Board." Both school levy |
| 58 | entries shall be indented and preceded by the notation "Public |
| 59 | Schools:". For each voted levy for debt service, the entry shall |
| 60 | be "Voter Approved Debt Payments." |
| 61 | (b) In the second column, the gross amount of ad valorem |
| 62 | taxes levied against the parcel in the previous year. If the |
| 63 | parcel did not exist in the previous year, the second column |
| 64 | shall be blank. |
| 65 | (c) In the third column, the millage rate for ad valorem |
| 66 | taxes levied against the parcel in the previous year. If the |
| 67 | parcel did not exist in the previous year, the third column |
| 68 | shall be blank. |
| 69 | (d)(c) In the fourth third column, the gross amount of ad |
| 70 | valorem taxes proposed to be levied in the current year, which |
| 71 | amount shall be based on the proposed millage rates provided to |
| 72 | the property appraiser pursuant to s. 200.065(2)(b) or, in the |
| 73 | case of voted levies for debt service, the millage rate |
| 74 | previously authorized by referendum, and the taxable value of |
| 75 | the parcel as shown on the current year's assessment roll. |
| 76 | (e) In the fifth column, the proposed millage rate for ad |
| 77 | valorem taxes to be levied against the parcel in the current |
| 78 | year as provided in paragraph (d). |
| 79 | (f)(d) In the sixth fourth column, the date, the time, and |
| 80 | a brief description of the location of the public hearing |
| 81 | required pursuant to s. 200.065(2)(c). |
| 82 | (g)(e) In the seventh fifth column, the gross amount of ad |
| 83 | valorem taxes which would apply to the parcel in the current |
| 84 | year if each taxing authority were to levy the rolled-back rate |
| 85 | computed pursuant to s. 200.065(1) or, in the case of voted |
| 86 | levies for debt service, the amount previously authorized by |
| 87 | referendum. |
| 88 | (h) In the eighth column, the millage rate for ad valorem |
| 89 | taxes to be levied against the parcel if no budget change is |
| 90 | made. |
| 91 | (i)(f) For special assessments collected utilizing the ad |
| 92 | valorem method pursuant to s. 197.363, the previous year's |
| 93 | assessment amount shall be added to the ad valorem taxes shown |
| 94 | in the second and seventh fifth columns, and the amount proposed |
| 95 | to be imposed for the current year shall be added to the ad |
| 96 | valorem taxes shown in the fourth third column. |
| 97 | (6) Following the entries for each taxing authority, a |
| 98 | final entry shall show: in the first column, the words "Total |
| 99 | Property Taxes:" and in the second, fourth third, and seventh |
| 100 | fifth columns, the sum of the entries for each of the individual |
| 101 | taxing authorities. The second, fourth third, and seventh fifth |
| 102 | columns shall, immediately below said entries, be labeled Column |
| 103 | 1, Column 2, and Column 3, respectively. Below these labels |
| 104 | shall appear, in boldfaced type, the statement: SEE REVERSE SIDE |
| 105 | FOR EXPLANATION. |
| 106 | Section 2. Subsection (11) of section 200.065, Florida |
| 107 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 108 | 200.065 Method of fixing millage.-- |
| 109 | (11) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (2)(b) |
| 110 | and s. 200.069(4)(d)(c) to the contrary, the proposed millage |
| 111 | rates provided to the property appraiser by the taxing |
| 112 | authority, except for millage rates adopted by referendum, for |
| 113 | rates authorized by s. 1011.71, and for rates required by law to |
| 114 | be in a specified millage amount, shall be adjusted in the event |
| 115 | that a review notice is issued pursuant to s. 193.1142(4) and |
| 116 | the taxable value on the approved roll is at variance with the |
| 117 | taxable value certified pursuant to subsection (1). The |
| 118 | adjustment shall be made by the property appraiser, who shall |
| 119 | notify the taxing authorities affected by the adjustment within |
| 120 | 5 days of the date the roll is approved pursuant to s. |
| 121 | 193.1142(4). The adjustment shall be such as to provide for no |
| 122 | change in the dollar amount of taxes levied from that initially |
| 123 | proposed by the taxing authority. |
| 124 | Section 3. This act shall take effect January 1, 2009. |