Florida Senate - 2015 SB 1508
By Senator Margolis
35-01122-15 20151508__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to taxation; amending s. 196.141,
3 F.S.; authorizing property appraisers to contract for
4 the examination and audit of homestead exemption
5 claims; authorizing a property appraiser’s fee and
6 specifying payment for such contracted services;
7 amending s. 196.161, F.S.; authorizing taxpayers who
8 improperly receive a homestead exemption to enter into
9 payment plans for the payment of taxes, interest, and
10 penalties due; authorizing tax collectors to impose
11 service charges to offset the processing costs of
12 payment plans; specifying that certain unpaid tax
13 liens be included in the next assessment roll;
14 amending s. 213.30, F.S.; deleting a provision that
15 restricted governmental entities from contracting for
16 certain services regarding the collection of unpaid
17 taxes; providing an effective date.
18
19 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
20
21 Section 1. Section 196.141, Florida Statutes, is amended to
22 read:
23 196.141 Homestead exemptions; duty of property appraiser.—
24 (1) The property appraiser shall examine each claim for
25 exemption filed with or referred to him or her and shall allow
26 the exemption same, if found to be in accordance with law, by
27 marking the exemption same approved and by making the proper
28 deductions on the tax books.
29 (2) The property appraiser may contract for services to
30 examine or audit tax exemptions claimed on assessment rolls.
31 Agreements for such contracted services must provide that
32 compensation will consist solely of the penalties collected on
33 the assessments resulting from the examination or audit and the
34 removal of exemptions from previous and current year assessment
35 rolls. A property appraiser contracting for such services is
36 entitled to a fee of $25 per removal as a result of
37 administering the examination or audit, to be paid out of the
38 interest assessed on previous and current year’s assessment
39 rolls. After distributing the compensation for such contracted
40 services and the property appraiser’s fee, the tax collector
41 shall distribute the remainder of the interest and any back
42 taxes collected under chapter 197.
43 Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) and subsection
44 (2) of section 196.161, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
45 196.161 Homestead exemptions; lien imposed on property of
46 person claiming exemption although not a permanent resident.—
47 (1)
48 (b) In addition, upon determination by the property
49 appraiser that for any year or years within the prior 10 years a
50 person who was not entitled to a homestead exemption was granted
51 a homestead exemption from ad valorem taxes, it shall be the
52 duty of the property appraiser making such determination shall
53 to serve upon the owner a notice of intent to record in the
54 public records of the county a notice of tax lien against any
55 property owned by that person in the county, and such property
56 shall be identified in the notice of tax lien. Such property
57 which is situated in this state shall be subject to the taxes
58 exempted thereby, plus a penalty of 50 percent of the unpaid
59 taxes for each year and 15 percent interest per annum. However,
60 if a homestead exemption is improperly granted as a result of a
61 clerical mistake or an omission by the property appraiser, the
62 person improperly receiving the exemption shall not be assessed
63 penalty and interest. Before any such lien may be filed, the
64 owner so notified must be given 30 days to pay the taxes,
65 penalties, and interest or to enter into a written monthly
66 payment plan not to exceed 18 months for the payment of the
67 taxes, penalties, and interest. To offset the processing costs
68 associated with such payment plans, the tax collector may impose
69 a per-month service charge of $5 or a one-time service charge of
70 $25 at the inception of the payment plan.
71 (2) A tax lien created by this section that is not paid in
72 full or in compliance with a written payment plan pursuant to
73 paragraph (1)(b) shall be included in the next assessment roll
74 and shall be collected in the same manner as, and in addition
75 to, the current ad valorem taxes under chapter 197. The
76 collection of the taxes provided in this section shall be in the
77 same manner as existing ad valorem taxes, and the above
78 procedure of recapturing such taxes shall be supplemental to any
79 existing provision under the laws of this state.
80 Section 3. Subsection (3) of section 213.30, Florida
81 Statutes, is amended to read:
82 213.30 Compensation for information relating to a violation
83 of the tax laws.—
84 (3) Unless otherwise authorized by law Notwithstanding any
85 other provision of law, this section is the sole means by which
86 any person may seek or obtain any moneys as the result of, in
87 relation to, or founded upon the failure by another person to
88 comply with the tax laws of this state. A person’s use of any
89 other law to seek or obtain moneys for such failure is in
90 derogation of this section and conflicts with the state’s duty
91 to administer the tax laws.
92 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.