HB 229 2023
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hb0229-00
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to taxation of affordable housing; 2
creating s. 196.1979, F.S.; authorizing counties and 3
municipalities to adopt ordinances to grant ad valorem 4
tax exemptions to property owners whose properties are 5
used to provide affordable housing; providing 6
construction; specifying requirements for eligibility 7
for such exemptions; specifying limits on the amount 8
of such exemptions; defining the term "affordabl e"; 9
specifying requirements for ordinances granting such 10
exemptions; specifying duties of boards of county 11
commissioners and municipal governing bodies adopting 12
ordinances granting such exemptions; specifying duties 13
of property appraisers; requiring owners of property 14
that is improperly granted such exemptions to pay 15
taxes, penalties, and interest; exempting property 16
owners from payment of penalties or interest under 17
certain circumstances; providing construction; 18
providing applicability; providing an effect ive date. 19
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 21
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Section 1. Section 196.1979, Florida Statutes, is created 23
to read: 24
196.1979 County and municipal affordable housing property 25
HB 229 2023
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
exemption.— 26
(1)(a) Notwithstanding ss. 196.195 and 196.196, the board 27
of county commissioners of a county or the governing body of a 28
municipality may adopt an ordinance to grant an ad valorem 29
property tax exemption for property used to provide affordable 30
housing to persons or families meeting the extre mely-low-income, 31
very-low-income, low-income, or moderate-income limits specified 32
in s. 420.0004. Such property is considered property used for a 33
charitable purpose. To be eligible for the exemption, the 34
property must be within a multifamily project contai ning 50 or 35
more residential units, at least 10 percent of which are used to 36
provide affordable housing meeting the requirements of this 37
paragraph, and be subject to a recorded land use restriction 38
agreement in favor of the Florida Housing Finance Corporati on or 39
any other governmental or quasi -governmental jurisdiction which 40
requires that any units qualifying for the exemption be used to 41
provide affordable housing. Except as provided in paragraph (b), 42
eligible property may receive an exemption of up to 75 pe rcent 43
of the assessed value of the residential units used to provide 44
affordable housing. For purposes of this subsection, the term 45
"affordable" has the same meaning as in s. 420.0004. 46
(b) Property eligible for the exemption under paragraph 47
(a) may receive an exemption of up to 100 percent of the 48
assessed value if 100 percent of the project's residential units 49
are used to provide affordable housing. 50
HB 229 2023
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(2) An ordinance granting the exemption authorized by this 51
section must: 52
(a) Be adopted under the proced ures for adoption of a 53
nonemergency ordinance by a board of county commissioners 54
specified in chapter 125 or by a municipal governing body 55
specified in chapter 166. 56
(b) Require that a taxpayer claiming the exemption submit 57
an application to the property appraiser no later than March 1 58
of each year. The annual application must be accompanied by an 59
affidavit from the taxpayer certifying that the taxpayer has 60
verified that, at the time of application, each person or family 61
occupying an exempt residential uni t meets the household income 62
limitations specified in paragraph (1)(a). 63
(c) Specify that the exemption applies only to taxes 64
levied by the unit of government granting the exemption. 65
(d) Specify that the property may not receive an exemption 66
authorized by this section after the expiration or repeal of the 67
ordinance. 68
(e) Identify the percentage of the assessed value that may 69
be exempted, subject to the percentage limitations in subsection 70
(1). 71
(3) The board of county commissioners or municipal 72
governing body must deliver a copy of any ordinance adopted 73
under this section to the property appraiser no later than 74
December 1 of the year before the year the exemption will take 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
effect. If the ordinance is repealed, the board of county 76
commissioners or munic ipal governing body must notify the 77
property appraiser no later than December 1 of the year before 78
the year the exemption is set to expire. 79
(4) The property appraiser shall apply the exemption only 80
to those portions of property which are used to provide 81
affordable housing. Units that are vacant must be treated as 82
portions of the affordable housing property exempt under this 83
section if the use of the units is restricted to providing 84
affordable housing to persons or families described in paragraph 85
(1)(a) and a reasonable effort is made to lease the units to 86
qualifying persons or families. 87
(5) If the property appraiser determines that for any year 88
during the immediately previous 10 years a property that was not 89
entitled to an exemption under this section wa s granted such an 90
exemption, the property appraiser must serve upon the property 91
owner a notice of intent to record in the public records of the 92
county a notice of tax lien against any property owned by that 93
person in the county, and that property must be identified in 94
the notice of tax lien. Any property owned by such person and 95
situated in this state is subject to the taxes exempted by the 96
improper exemption, plus a penalty of 50 percent of the unpaid 97
taxes for each year and interest at a rate of 15 perce nt per 98
annum. If an exemption is improperly granted as a result of a 99
clerical mistake or an omission by the property appraiser, the 100
HB 229 2023
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
property owner improperly receiving the exemption may not be 101
assessed a penalty or interest. 102
(6) Eligibility criteria other than those specified in 103
paragraph (1)(a) may not be applied in determining whether 104
property qualifies for an exemption under this section. 105
Section 2. The creation by this act of s. 196.1979, 106
Florida Statutes, first applies to the 2024 tax roll. 107
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 108