Bill Text: FL S0160 | 2016 | Regular Session | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Ad Valorem Tax Exemption for Deployed Servicemembers

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 2-1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2016-02-11 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see HB 7023 (Ch. 2016-26) [S0160 Detail]

Download: Florida-2016-S0160-Engrossed.html

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       CS for CS for SB 160                             First Engrossed
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       2016160e1
       
    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         revising the military operations or deployments that
    5         qualify a servicemember deployed in support of such an
    6         operation or deployment in the previous calendar year
    7         for an additional ad valorem tax exemption; providing
    8         an extended deadline and specifying procedures for
    9         filing an application for such tax exemption for a
   10         qualifying deployment during the 2014 and 2015
   11         calendar years; providing procedures to appeal a
   12         denial by a property appraiser of an application for
   13         such tax exemption; providing refund procedures for
   14         servicemembers who were on qualifying deployments for
   15         more than 365 days during the 2014 and 2015 calendar
   16         years; providing for retroactive applicability;
   17         providing an effective date.
   18          
   19  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   20  
   21         Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 196.173, Florida
   22  Statutes, is amended, present subsections (3) through (7) of
   23  that section are renumbered as subsections (4) through (8),
   24  respectively, and a new subsection (3) is added to that section,
   25  to read:
   26         196.173 Exemption for deployed servicemembers.—
   27         (2) The exemption is available to servicemembers who were
   28  deployed during the preceding calendar year on active duty
   29  outside the continental United States, Alaska, or Hawaii in
   30  support of any of the following operations:
   31         (a) Operation Joint Task Force Bravo, which began in 1995.
   32         (b) Operation Joint Guardian, which began on June 12, 1999.
   33         (c)(a) Operation Noble Eagle, which began on September 15,
   34  2001.;
   35         (d)(b) Operation Enduring Freedom, which began on October
   36  7, 2001.;
   37         (c) Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began on March 19, 2003,
   38  and ended on August 31, 2010;
   39         (e) Operations in the Balkans, which began in 2004.
   40         (f) Operation Nomad Shadow, which began in 2007.
   41         (g) Operation U.S. Airstrikes Al Qaeda in Somalia, which
   42  began in January 2007.
   43         (h) Operation Copper Dune, which began in 2009.
   44         (i) Operation Georgia Deployment Program, which began in
   45  August 2009.
   46         (j)(d) Operation New Dawn, which began on September 1,
   47  2010, and ended on December 15, 2011.; or
   48         (k)(e) Operation Odyssey Dawn, which began on March 19,
   49  2011, and ended on October 31, 2011.
   50         (l) Operation Spartan Shield, which began in June 2011.
   51         (m) Operation Observant Compass, which began in October
   52  2011.
   53         (n) Operation Inherent Resolve, which began on August 8,
   54  2014.
   55         (o) Operation Atlantic Resolve, which began in April 2014.
   56         (p) Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, which began on January 1,
   57  2015.
   58         (q) Operation Resolute Support, which began in January
   59  2015.
   60  
   61  The Department of Revenue shall notify all property appraisers
   62  and tax collectors in this state of the designated military
   63  operations.
   64         (3) The exemption is also available to servicemembers who
   65  were deployed during the preceding calendar year on active duty
   66  outside the continental United States, Alaska, or Hawaii in
   67  support of a subordinate operation to a main operation
   68  designated in subsection (2).
   69         Section 2. (1) Notwithstanding provisions in s. 196.173,
   70  Florida Statutes, to the contrary:
   71         (a) The deadline for an applicant to file an application
   72  with the property appraiser for an additional ad valorem tax
   73  exemption under s. 196.173, Florida Statutes, for the 2016 year
   74  is June 1, 2016.
   75         (b) For purposes of calculating the 2016 exemption for
   76  operations added by this act, a servicemember may include the
   77  number of days he or she was on qualifying deployments during
   78  the 2014 and 2015 calendar years as days he or she was on a
   79  qualifying deployment in the preceding calendar year.
   80         (2) If an application is not timely filed under subsection
   81  (1), a property appraiser may grant the exemption if:
   82         (a) The applicant files an application for the exemption on
   83  or before the 25th day after the mailing by the property
   84  appraiser during the 2016 calendar year of the notice required
   85  under s. 194.011(1), Florida Statutes;
   86         (b) The applicant is qualified for the exemption; and
   87         (c) The applicant produces sufficient evidence, as
   88  determined by the property appraiser, which demonstrates that
   89  the applicant was unable to apply for the exemption in a timely
   90  manner or otherwise demonstrates extenuating circumstances that
   91  warrant granting the exemption.
   92         (3) If the property appraiser denies an application under
   93  subsection (2), the applicant may file, pursuant to s.
   94  194.011(3), Florida Statutes, a petition with the value
   95  adjustment board which requests that the exemption be granted.
   96  Such petition must be filed on or before the 25th day after the
   97  mailing by the property appraiser during the 2016 calendar year
   98  of the notice required under s. 194.011(1), Florida Statutes.
   99  Notwithstanding s. 194.013, Florida Statutes, the eligible
  100  servicemember is not required to pay a filing fee for such
  101  petition. Upon review of the petition, the value adjustment
  102  board may grant the exemption if the applicant is qualified for
  103  the exemption and demonstrates extenuating circumstances, as
  104  determined by the board, which warrant granting the exemption.
  105         (4) A servicemember may receive a refund of taxes paid for
  106  the 2015 tax year if he or she was on qualifying deployments
  107  during the 2014 and 2015 calendar years for more than 365 days.
  108  The amount of the refund is equal to the taxes paid on the
  109  servicemember’s homestead in 2015 multiplied by the number of
  110  days in excess of 365 that the servicemember was on qualifying
  111  deployments during the 2014 and 2015 calendar years, divided by
  112  365.
  113         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law,
  114  and first applies to ad valorem tax rolls for 2016.