Florida Senate - 2015                                    SB 7052
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and
       Domestic Security
       
       
       
       
       583-02394-15                                          20157052__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to an ad valorem tax exemption for
    3         deployed servicemembers; amending s. 196.173, F.S.;
    4         expanding the military operations that qualify a
    5         servicemember deployed in support of such an operation
    6         in the previous calendar year for an additional ad
    7         valorem tax exemption; providing an extended deadline
    8         and specifying procedures for filing an application
    9         for such tax exemption for a qualifying deployment
   10         during the 2014 calendar year; providing procedures to
   11         appeal a denial by a property appraiser of an
   12         application for such tax exemption; providing for
   13         retroactive applicability providing an effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 196.173, Florida
   18  Statutes, is amended to read:
   19         196.173 Exemption for deployed servicemembers.—
   20         (2) The exemption is available to servicemembers who were
   21  deployed during the preceding calendar year on active duty
   22  outside the continental United States, Alaska, or Hawaii in
   23  support of any of the following operations:
   24         (a) Operation Joint Guardian, which began on June 12, 1999.
   25         (b) Operation Octave Shield, which began in 2000.
   26         (c)(a) Operation Noble Eagle, which began on September 15,
   27  2001.;
   28         (d)(b) Operation Enduring Freedom, which began on October
   29  7, 2001.;
   30         (e)(c) Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began on March 19,
   31  2003, and ended on August 31, 2010.;
   32         (f) Operation Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership,
   33  which began in June 2005.
   34         (g) Operation Nomad Shadow, which began in 2007.
   35         (h) Operation U.S. Airstrikes Al Qaeda in Somalia, which
   36  began in January 2007.
   37         (i) Operation Objective Voice, which began in 2009.
   38         (j) Operation Georgia Deployment Program, which began in
   39  August 2009.
   40         (k) Operation Copper Dune, which began in 2010.
   41         (l)(d) Operation New Dawn, which began on September 1,
   42  2010, and ended on December 15, 2011.; or
   43         (m)(e) Operation Odyssey Dawn, which began on March 19,
   44  2011, and ended on October 31, 2011.
   45         (n) Operation Observant Compass, which began in October
   46  2011.
   47         (o) Operation Juniper Shield, which began in 2013.
   48         (p) Operation Inherent Resolve, which began on August 8,
   49  2014.
   50  
   51  The Department of Revenue shall notify all property appraisers
   52  and tax collectors in this state of the designated military
   53  operations.
   54         Section 2. Application deadline for additional ad valorem
   55  tax exemption under s. 196.173, Florida Statutes, for 2014
   56  qualifying deployments.—
   57         (1) Notwithstanding the application deadline in s.
   58  196.173(5), Florida Statutes, the deadline for an applicant to
   59  file an application with the property appraiser for an
   60  additional ad valorem tax exemption for a qualifying deployment
   61  during the 2014 calendar year is June 1, 2015.
   62         (2) If an application is not timely filed under subsection
   63  (1), a property appraiser may grant the exemption if:
   64         (a) The applicant files an application for the exemption on
   65  or before the 25th day after the mailing by the property
   66  appraiser during the 2015 calendar year of the notice required
   67  under s. 194.011(1), Florida Statutes;
   68         (b) The applicant is qualified for the exemption; and
   69         (c) The applicant produces sufficient evidence, as
   70  determined by the property appraiser, which demonstrates that
   71  the applicant was unable to apply for the exemption in a timely
   72  manner or otherwise demonstrates extenuating circumstances that
   73  warrant granting the exemption.
   74         (3) If the property appraiser denies an application under
   75  subsection (2), the applicant may file, pursuant to s.
   76  194.011(3), Florida Statutes, a petition with the value
   77  adjustment board which requests that the exemption be granted.
   78  Such petition must be filed on or before the 25th day after the
   79  mailing by the property appraiser during the 2015 calendar year
   80  of the notice required under s. 194.011(1), Florida Statutes.
   81  Notwithstanding s. 194.013, Florida Statutes, the eligible
   82  servicemember is not required to pay a filing fee for such
   83  petition. Upon reviewing the petition, the value adjustment
   84  board may grant the exemption if the applicant is qualified for
   85  the exemption and demonstrates extenuating circumstances, as
   86  determined by the board, that warrant granting the exemption.
   87         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law,
   88  and first applies to ad valorem tax rolls for 2015.