Bill Text: FL S0924 | 2015 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Property Prepared for a Tax-exempt Use

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 2-1)

Status: (Failed) 2015-05-01 - Died in Appropriations [S0924 Detail]

Download: Florida-2015-S0924-Comm_Sub.html

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       Florida Senate - 2015                       CS for CS for SB 924
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Finance and Tax; and Community Affairs; and
       Senator Hays
       
       
       
       
       593-03586-15                                           2015924c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to property prepared for a tax-exempt
    3         use; creating s. 196.1955, F.S.; consolidating and
    4         revising provisions relating to obtaining an ad
    5         valorem exemption for property owned by an exempt
    6         organization, including the requirement that the owner
    7         of an exempt organization take affirmative steps to
    8         demonstrate an exempt use; authorizing the property
    9         appraiser to serve a notice of tax lien on exempt
   10         property that is not in actual exempt use after a
   11         certain time; providing that the lien attaches to any
   12         property owned by the organization identified in the
   13         notice of lien; providing that the provisions
   14         authorizing the tax lien do not apply to a house of
   15         public worship; defining the term “public worship”;
   16         amending s. 196.196, F.S.; deleting provisions
   17         relating to the exemption as it applies to public
   18         worship and affordable housing and provisions that
   19         have been moved to s. 196.1955, F.S.; amending s.
   20         196.198, F.S.; deleting provisions relating to
   21         property owned by an educational institution and used
   22         for an educational purpose that is included in s.
   23         196.1955, F.S.; providing an effective date.
   24          
   25  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   26  
   27         Section 1. Section 196.1955, Florida Statutes, is created
   28  to read:
   29         196.1955 Preparing property for educational, literary,
   30  scientific, religious, or charitable use.—
   31         (1) Property owned by an exempt organization is used for an
   32  exempt purpose if the owner has taken affirmative steps to
   33  prepare the property for an exempt educational, literary,
   34  scientific, religious, or charitable use and no portion of the
   35  property is being used for a nonexempt purpose. The term
   36  “affirmative steps” means environmental or land use permitting
   37  activities, creation of architectural plans or schematic
   38  drawings, land clearing or site preparation, construction or
   39  renovation activities, or other similar activities that
   40  demonstrate a commitment to prepare the property for an exempt
   41  use.
   42         (2)(a) If property owned by an organization granted an
   43  exemption under this section is transferred for a purpose other
   44  than an exempt use or is not in actual exempt use within 5 years
   45  after the date the organization is granted an exemption, the
   46  property appraiser making such determination shall serve upon
   47  the organization that received the exemption a notice of intent
   48  to record in the public records of the county a notice of tax
   49  lien against any property owned by that organization in the
   50  county, and such property must be identified in the notice of
   51  tax lien. The organization owning such property is subject to
   52  the taxes otherwise due and owing as a result of the failure to
   53  use the property in an exempt manner plus 15 percent interest
   54  per annum.
   55         1. The lien, when filed, attaches to any property
   56  identified in the notice of tax lien owned by the organization
   57  that received the exemption. If the organization no longer owns
   58  property in the county but owns property in any other county in
   59  the state, the property appraiser shall record in each such
   60  county a notice of tax lien identifying the property owned by
   61  the organization in each respective county, which shall become a
   62  lien against the identified property.
   63         2. Before such lien may be filed, the organization so
   64  notified must be given 30 days to pay the taxes and interest.
   65         3. If an exemption is improperly granted as a result of a
   66  clerical mistake or an omission by the property appraiser, the
   67  organization improperly receiving the exemption may not be
   68  assessed interest.
   69         4. The 5-year limitation specified in this subsection may
   70  be extended by the property appraiser if the holder of the
   71  exemption continues to take affirmative steps to develop the
   72  property for the purposes specified in this subsection.
   73         (b) This subsection does not apply to property being
   74  prepared for use as a house of public worship. The term “public
   75  worship” means religious worship services and those activities
   76  that are incidental to religious worship services, such as
   77  educational activities, parking, recreation, partaking of meals
   78  and fellowship.
   79         Section 2. Subsections (3), (4), and (5) of section
   80  196.196, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   81         196.196 Determining whether property is entitled to
   82  charitable, religious, scientific, or literary exemption.—
   83         (3) Property owned by an exempt organization is used for a
   84  religious purpose if the institution has taken affirmative steps
   85  to prepare the property for use as a house of public worship.
   86  The term “affirmative steps” means environmental or land use
   87  permitting activities, creation of architectural plans or
   88  schematic drawings, land clearing or site preparation,
   89  construction or renovation activities, or other similar
   90  activities that demonstrate a commitment of the property to a
   91  religious use as a house of public worship. For purposes of this
   92  subsection, the term “public worship” means religious worship
   93  services and those other activities that are incidental to
   94  religious worship services, such as educational activities,
   95  parking, recreation, partaking of meals, and fellowship.
   96         (3)(4) Except as otherwise provided in this section herein,
   97  property claimed as exempt for literary, scientific, religious,
   98  or charitable purposes which is used for profitmaking purposes
   99  is shall be subject to ad valorem taxation. Use of property for
  100  functions not requiring a business or occupational license
  101  conducted by the organization at its primary residence, the
  102  revenue of which is used wholly for exempt purposes, is shall
  103  not be considered profitmaking profit making. In this connection
  104  the playing of bingo on such property is shall not be considered
  105  as using such property in such a manner as would impair its
  106  exempt status.
  107         (5)(a) Property owned by an exempt organization qualified
  108  as charitable under s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code is
  109  used for a charitable purpose if the organization has taken
  110  affirmative steps to prepare the property to provide affordable
  111  housing to persons or families that meet the extremely-low
  112  income, very-low-income, low-income, or moderate-income limits,
  113  as specified in s. 420.0004. The term “affirmative steps” means
  114  environmental or land use permitting activities, creation of
  115  architectural plans or schematic drawings, land clearing or site
  116  preparation, construction or renovation activities, or other
  117  similar activities that demonstrate a commitment of the property
  118  to providing affordable housing.
  119         (b)1. If property owned by an organization granted an
  120  exemption under this subsection is transferred for a purpose
  121  other than directly providing affordable homeownership or rental
  122  housing to persons or families who meet the extremely-low
  123  income, very-low-income, low-income, or moderate-income limits,
  124  as specified in s. 420.0004, or is not in actual use to provide
  125  such affordable housing within 5 years after the date the
  126  organization is granted the exemption, the property appraiser
  127  making such determination shall serve upon the organization that
  128  illegally or improperly received the exemption a notice of
  129  intent to record in the public records of the county a notice of
  130  tax lien against any property owned by that organization in the
  131  county, and such property shall be identified in the notice of
  132  tax lien. The organization owning such property is subject to
  133  the taxes otherwise due and owing as a result of the failure to
  134  use the property to provide affordable housing plus 15 percent
  135  interest per annum and a penalty of 50 percent of the taxes
  136  owed.
  137         2. Such lien, when filed, attaches to any property
  138  identified in the notice of tax lien owned by the organization
  139  that illegally or improperly received the exemption. If such
  140  organization no longer owns property in the county but owns
  141  property in any other county in the state, the property
  142  appraiser shall record in each such other county a notice of tax
  143  lien identifying the property owned by such organization in such
  144  county which shall become a lien against the identified
  145  property. Before any such lien may be filed, the organization so
  146  notified must be given 30 days to pay the taxes, penalties, and
  147  interest.
  148         3. If an exemption is improperly granted as a result of a
  149  clerical mistake or an omission by the property appraiser, the
  150  organization improperly receiving the exemption shall not be
  151  assessed a penalty or interest.
  152         4. The 5-year limitation specified in this subsection may
  153  be extended if the holder of the exemption continues to take
  154  affirmative steps to develop the property for the purposes
  155  specified in this subsection.
  156         Section 3. Section 196.198, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  157  read:
  158         196.198 Educational property exemption.—
  159         (1) Educational institutions within this state and their
  160  property used by them or by any other exempt entity or
  161  educational institution exclusively for educational purposes are
  162  exempt from taxation.
  163         (a) Sheltered workshops providing rehabilitation and
  164  retraining of individuals who have disabilities and exempted by
  165  a certificate under s. (d) of the federal Fair Labor Standards
  166  Act of 1938, as amended, are declared wholly educational in
  167  purpose and are exempt from certification, accreditation, and
  168  membership requirements set forth in s. 196.012.
  169         (b) Those portions of property of college fraternities and
  170  sororities certified by the president of the college or
  171  university to the appropriate property appraiser as being
  172  essential to the educational process are exempt from ad valorem
  173  taxation.
  174         (c) The use of property by public fairs and expositions
  175  chartered by chapter 616 is presumed to be an educational use of
  176  such property and is exempt from ad valorem taxation to the
  177  extent of such use.
  178         (2) Property used exclusively for educational purposes
  179  shall be deemed owned by an educational institution if the
  180  entity owning 100 percent of the educational institution is
  181  owned by the identical persons who own the property, or if the
  182  entity owning 100 percent of the educational institution and the
  183  entity owning the property are owned by the identical natural
  184  persons.
  185         (a) Land, buildings, and other improvements to real
  186  property used exclusively for educational purposes shall be
  187  deemed owned by an educational institution if the entity owning
  188  100 percent of the land is a nonprofit entity and the land is
  189  used, under a ground lease or other contractual arrangement, by
  190  an educational institution that owns the buildings and other
  191  improvements to the real property, is a nonprofit entity under
  192  s. 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and provides
  193  education limited to students in prekindergarten through grade
  194  8.
  195         (b) If legal title to property is held by a governmental
  196  agency that leases the property to a lessee, the property shall
  197  be deemed to be owned by the governmental agency and used
  198  exclusively for educational purposes if the governmental agency
  199  continues to use such property exclusively for educational
  200  purposes pursuant to a sublease or other contractual agreement
  201  with that lessee.
  202         (c) If the title to land is held by the trustee of an
  203  irrevocable inter vivos trust and if the trust grantor owns 100
  204  percent of the entity that owns an educational institution that
  205  is using the land exclusively for educational purposes, the land
  206  is deemed to be property owned by the educational institution
  207  for purposes of this exemption. Property owned by an educational
  208  institution shall be deemed to be used for an educational
  209  purpose if the institution has taken affirmative steps to
  210  prepare the property for educational use. The term “affirmative
  211  steps” means environmental or land use permitting activities,
  212  creation of architectural plans or schematic drawings, land
  213  clearing or site preparation, construction or renovation
  214  activities, or other similar activities that demonstrate
  215  commitment of the property to an educational use.
  216         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.