Florida Senate - 2020 SB 856
By Senator Pizzo
38-01037-20 2020856__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to an affordable housing tax
3 reduction; creating s. 196.1979, F.S.; defining terms;
4 providing legislative findings; providing a reduction
5 in certain property taxes to taxpayers building or
6 renovating certain affordable, elderly, or workforce
7 housing projects; providing qualifying criteria;
8 specifying the calculation of property assessments
9 over the reduction term; providing taxpayer
10 requirements for recording a certain covenant;
11 providing a requirement for the property appraiser in
12 applying reductions; specifying an annual reporting
13 requirement for taxpayers; providing a criminal
14 penalty; authorizing certain counties to limit the
15 total number of qualifying projects, subject to
16 certain requirements; specifying a taxpayer’s
17 liability for back taxes, penalties, interest, and
18 certain remedies under certain circumstances;
19 providing an effective date.
20
21 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22
23 Section 1. Section 196.1979, Florida Statutes, is created
24 to read:
25 196.1979 Affordable housing property tax reduction.—
26 (1) As used in this section, the term:
27 (a) “Affordable housing project” means a qualifying housing
28 development that receives an allocation of 4 percent low-income
29 housing tax credits from the corporation pursuant to s.
30 420.5099, receives bonds for qualifying housing developments
31 from a housing finance authority after July 1, 2020, or both.
32 (b) “Base tax” means the operating taxes remitted to a
33 project taxing authority in the tax year immediately preceding
34 the reduction term.
35 (c) “Corporation” means the Florida Housing Finance
36 Corporation.
37 (d) “Elderly housing project” means a rental housing
38 project that receives an allocation of 9 percent low-income
39 housing tax credits from the corporation pursuant to s. 420.5099
40 and that meets all of the following criteria:
41 1. It reserves at least 80 percent of the rental unit
42 occupancy in the project for the elderly.
43 2. It offers all rental units to eligible persons.
44 3. It implements the standards and processes adopted by
45 rule of the corporation to reduce barriers to elderly rental
46 housing entry.
47 (e) “Household” has the same meaning as in s. 196.075(1).
48 (f) “Operating taxes” means the nonvoted millage portion of
49 the county millage and the municipal millage as identified in s.
50 200.001(1)(a) and (2)(a), respectively.
51 (g) “Project taxing authority” means a county or
52 municipality, as those terms are defined in s. 200.001(8)(a) and
53 (b), respectively, which is authorized to levy operating taxes
54 against real property in the jurisdiction in which a qualifying
55 project is located.
56 (h) “Qualifying project” means an affordable housing
57 project, elderly housing project, or workforce housing project
58 that:
59 1. Is located in a county with a population of 825,000 or
60 more; and
61 2. Has not received an affordable housing property
62 exemption pursuant to s. 196.1978(2).
63 (i) “Reduction term” means the 25-year tax reduction period
64 beginning the year in which the qualifying project is first
65 assessed under s. 192.042(1) and certified by the county
66 property appraiser as eligible to receive a reduction in
67 operating taxes.
68 (j) “Taxpayer” has the same meaning as in s. 192.001(13).
69 (k) “Workforce housing project” means a rental housing
70 project containing four or more dwelling units for natural
71 persons and households which has not received from the
72 corporation an allocation of low-income housing tax credits
73 pursuant to s. 420.5099, a loan pursuant to s. 420.5087, or bond
74 proceeds pursuant to s. 159.612, and in which:
75 1. At least 10 percent of the rental units are set aside
76 for one or more natural persons or a family with a total annual
77 gross household income greater than 60 percent and up to 80
78 percent of the median annual income, adjusted for family size,
79 for households within the metropolitan statistical area, the
80 county, or the nonmetropolitan areas of this state, whichever is
81 greatest;
82 2. At least 20 percent of the rental units are set aside
83 for one or more natural persons or a family with a total annual
84 gross household income greater than 60 percent and up to 100
85 percent of the median annual income, adjusted for family size,
86 for households within the metropolitan statistical area, the
87 county, or the nonmetropolitan areas of this state, whichever is
88 greatest; and
89 3. Rents for the rental units set aside under subparagraphs
90 1. and 2. are set at the applicable income limitations
91 established by the corporation for the county in which the
92 rental housing project is located. For rental units within the
93 project which are not set aside under subparagraphs 1. and 2.,
94 the taxpayer may offer the units at rents it determines at its
95 sole discretion.
96 (2) The Legislature finds that property used to provide
97 affordable, elderly, and workforce housing to natural persons
98 and households that meet the low-income or moderate-income
99 limits is a charitable purpose. Notwithstanding s. 196.195(4), a
100 taxpayer who builds or renovates a qualifying project after July
101 1, 2020, may receive a reduction in operating taxes that would
102 otherwise be assessed, if both of the following criteria are
103 met:
104 (a) The taxpayer timely files an application for the tax
105 reduction with the property appraiser no later than March 1 of
106 the year immediately after the year in which the qualifying
107 project is first assessed under s. 192.042(1).
108 (b) The taxpayer records a covenant running with the land
109 which restricts the rents of units within the qualifying project
110 in accordance with the criteria under paragraph (1)(a),
111 paragraph (1)(d), or paragraph (1)(k), as applicable.
112 (3) For the first 16 years of the reduction term, a
113 qualifying project shall be assessed operating taxes in an
114 amount equal to the base tax, subject to an annual adjustment
115 equal to 2.5 percent beginning in year 2 of the reduction term
116 or the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for the
117 county in which the qualifying project is located, whichever is
118 less. After the first 16 years of the reduction term, the
119 qualifying project shall be assessed as follows:
120
121 Year of Tax Reduction Affordable Housing Reduction PercentageWorkforce Housing Reduction Percentage
122 1-16 100 percent 100 percent
123 17 90 percent 100 percent
124 18 80 percent 90 percent
125 19 70 percent 85 percent
126 20 60 percent 75 percent
127 21 50 percent 60 percent
128 22 40 percent 50 percent
129 23 30 percent 40 percent
130 24 20 percent 25 percent
131 25 10 percent 15 percent
132 (4) If the property appraiser approves the application, the
133 taxpayer must submit the covenant under paragraph (2)(b) for
134 recording. The property appraiser shall apply the authorized tax
135 reductions beginning in the same tax year. The taxpayer
136 submitting the application is responsible for the cost of
137 recording the covenant.
138 (5) A taxpayer who receives a tax reduction is required to
139 submit a report annually to the property appraiser confirming
140 his or her compliance with the rent restrictions required for
141 the receipt of the reduction. The report must be executed by the
142 taxpayer or an authorized representative of the taxpayer and
143 must include the written declaration set forth in s. 92.525(2).
144 A taxpayer who falsifies the written declaration commits a
145 felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s.
146 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
147 (6) Each county described in s. 420.5087(1)(a) where a
148 qualifying project may be located may, by the adoption of an
149 ordinance and after conducting a public hearing noticed in a
150 newspaper of general circulation, limit the total number of
151 qualifying projects the property appraiser may approve annually,
152 upon a finding supported by competent substantial evidence that
153 such a limitation is necessary in order to avoid a substantial
154 impairment of the taxing authority’s ability to meet its
155 financial obligations to fund other public services that are
156 necessary to ensure the public safety and welfare.
157 (7)(a) If the property appraiser determines that a
158 qualifying project that was granted a tax reduction failed to
159 offer rents as required in the recorded covenant and as set
160 forth in this section, the taxpayer is liable for the payment of
161 any back taxes, penalties, and interest, as well as any other
162 remedies authorized pursuant to s. 193.092.
163 (b) If a property appraiser improperly grants a tax
164 reduction as a result of a clerical mistake or an omission, the
165 taxpayer improperly receiving the reduction shall not be
166 assessed back taxes, penalties, or interest, or liable for any
167 other remedies authorized under s. 193.092.
168 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.