Florida Senate - 2011                                     SB 880
       
       
       
       By Senator Garcia
       
       
       
       
       40-01002-11                                            2011880__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to value adjustment boards; requiring
    3         a petitioner challenging ad valorem taxes before the
    4         value adjustment board to pay a specified percentage
    5         of the taxes by a certain date; requiring the board to
    6         deny the petition if the required amount of taxes is
    7         not timely paid; amending s. 197.162, F.S.; deleting a
    8         provision providing for a discount for ad valorem
    9         taxes paid within 30 days after the mailing of a tax
   10         notice resulting from the action of the value
   11         adjustment board; providing an effective date.
   12  
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. Partial payment of ad valorem taxes; proceedings
   16  before value adjustment board.—
   17         (1) A petitioner before the value adjustment board who
   18  challenges an assessment of property or the denial of a
   19  classification or an exemption must pay all of the non-ad
   20  valorem assessments and make a partial payment of at least 75
   21  percent of the ad valorem taxes before April 1 of the year in
   22  which the payment is due, less the applicable discount under s.
   23  197.162, Florida Statutes. The value adjustment board must deny
   24  the petition if the required payment is not made by that date.
   25         (2) If the value adjustment board determines that the
   26  petitioner owes ad valorem taxes in excess of the amounts paid,
   27  the unpaid amount accrues interest at the rate of 12 percent per
   28  year from April 1.
   29         Section 2. Section 197.162, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   30  read:
   31         197.162 Discounts; amount and time.—On all taxes assessed
   32  on the county tax rolls and collected by the county tax
   33  collector, discounts for early payment thereof shall be at the
   34  rate of 4 percent in the month of November or at any time within
   35  30 days after the mailing of the original tax notice; 3 percent
   36  in the month of December; 2 percent in the following month of
   37  January; 1 percent in the following month of February; and zero
   38  percent in the following month of March or within 30 days prior
   39  to the date of delinquency if the date of delinquency is after
   40  April 1. When a taxpayer makes a request to have the original
   41  tax notice corrected, the discount rate for early payment
   42  applicable at the time the request for correction is made shall
   43  apply for 30 days after the mailing of the corrected tax notice.
   44  A discount shall apply at the rate of 4 percent for 30 days
   45  after the mailing of a tax notice resulting from the action of a
   46  value adjustment board. Thereafter, the regular discount periods
   47  shall apply. For the purposes of this section, when a discount
   48  period ends on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the
   49  discount period shall be extended to the next working day, if
   50  payment is delivered to a designated collection office of the
   51  tax collector.
   52         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.