Florida 2024 2024 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1251 Introduced / Bill

Filed 01/04/2024

                        
    
HJR 1251  	2024 
 
 
 
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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 
 
House Joint Resolution 1 
A joint resolution proposing an amendment to Section 3 2 
of Article VII and the creation of a new section in 3 
Article XII of the State Constitution to authorize the 4 
Legislature, by general law, to exempt tangible 5 
personal property located on land classified as 6 
agricultural from ad valorem taxation and to provide 7 
an effective date. 8 
 9 
Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 10 
 11 
 That the following amendment to Section 3 of Article VII 12 
and the creation of a new section in Article XII of the State 13 
Constitution are agreed to and shall be submitted to the 14 
electors of this state for approval or rejection at the next 15 
general election or at an earlier s pecial election specifically 16 
authorized by law for that purpose: 17 
ARTICLE VII 18 
FINANCE AND TAXATION 19 
 SECTION 3.  Taxes; exemptions. — 20 
 (a)  All property owned by a municipality and used 21 
exclusively by it for municipal or public purposes shall be 22 
exempt from taxation. A municipality, owning property outside 23 
the municipality, may be required by general law to make payment 24 
to the taxing unit in which the property is located. Such 25      
    
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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 
 
portions of property as are used predominantly for educational, 26 
literary, scientific , religious or charitable purposes may be 27 
exempted by general law from taxation. 28 
 (b)  There shall be exempt from taxation, cumulatively, to 29 
every head of a family residing in this state, household goods 30 
and personal effects to the value fixed by general l aw, not less 31 
than one thousand dollars, and to every widow or widower or 32 
person who is blind or totally and permanently disabled, 33 
property to the value fixed by general law not less than five 34 
hundred dollars. 35 
 (c)  Any county or municipality may, for the p urpose of its 36 
respective tax levy and subject to the provisions of this 37 
subsection and general law, grant community and economic 38 
development ad valorem tax exemptions to new businesses and 39 
expansions of existing businesses, as defined by general law. 40 
Such an exemption may be granted only by ordinance of the county 41 
or municipality, and only after the electors of the county or 42 
municipality voting on such question in a referendum authorize 43 
the county or municipality to adopt such ordinances. An 44 
exemption so granted shall apply to improvements to real 45 
property made by or for the use of a new business and 46 
improvements to real property related to the expansion of an 47 
existing business and shall also apply to tangible personal 48 
property of such new business and tangi ble personal property 49 
related to the expansion of an existing business. The amount or 50      
    
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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 
 
limits of the amount of such exemption shall be specified by 51 
general law. The period of time for which such exemption may be 52 
granted to a new business or expansion of an existing business 53 
shall be determined by general law. The authority to grant such 54 
exemption shall expire ten years from the date of approval by 55 
the electors of the county or municipality, and may be renewable 56 
by referendum as provided by general law. 57 
 (d)  Any county or municipality may, for the purpose of its 58 
respective tax levy and subject to the provisions of this 59 
subsection and general law, grant historic preservation ad 60 
valorem tax exemptions to owners of historic properties. This 61 
exemption may be gran ted only by ordinance of the county or 62 
municipality. The amount or limits of the amount of this 63 
exemption and the requirements for eligible properties must be 64 
specified by general law. The period of time for which this 65 
exemption may be granted to a propert y owner shall be determined 66 
by general law. 67 
 (e)  By general law and subject to conditions specified 68 
therein: 69 
 (1)  Twenty-five thousand dollars of the assessed value of 70 
property subject to tangible personal property tax shall be 71 
exempt from ad valorem tax ation. 72 
 (2)  The assessed value of solar devices or renewable 73 
energy source devices subject to tangible personal property tax 74 
may be exempt from ad valorem taxation, subject to limitations 75      
    
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provided by general law. 76 
 (3)  Tangible personal property located o n property 77 
classified as agricultural land, as specified by general law, 78 
shall be exempt from ad valorem taxation. 79 
 (f)  There shall be granted an ad valorem tax exemption for 80 
real property dedicated in perpetuity for conservation purposes, 81 
including real property encumbered by perpetual conservation 82 
easements or by other perpetual conservation protections, as 83 
defined by general law. 84 
 (g)  By general law and subject to the conditions specified 85 
therein, each person who receives a homestead exemption as 86 
provided in section 6 of this article; who was a member of the 87 
United States military or military reserves, the United States 88 
Coast Guard or its reserves, or the Florida National Guard; and 89 
who was deployed during the preceding calendar year on active 90 
duty outside the continental United States, Alaska, or Hawaii in 91 
support of military operations designated by the legislature 92 
shall receive an additional exemption equal to a percentage of 93 
the taxable value of his or her homestead property. The 94 
applicable percentag e shall be calculated as the number of days 95 
during the preceding calendar year the person was deployed on 96 
active duty outside the continental United States, Alaska, or 97 
Hawaii in support of military operations designated by the 98 
legislature divided by the nu mber of days in that year. 99 
ARTICLE XII 100      
    
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SCHEDULE 101 
 Ad valorem exemption for tangible personal property on land 102 
classified as agricultural. —This section and the amendment to 103 
Section 3 of Article VII, authorizing the Legislature to provide 104 
for a tax exemption for tangible personal property located on 105 
agricultural land shall take effect January 1, 2025. 106 
 107 
 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following statement be 108 
placed on the ballot: 109 
CONSTITUTIONAL AMEND MENT 110 
ARTICLE VII, SECTION 3 111 
ARTICLE XII 112 
 AUTHORIZING THE LEGISLATURE TO EXEMPT TANGIBLE PERSONAL 113 
PROPERTY ON AGRICULTURAL LAND FROM TAXATION. —Proposing an 114 
amendment to the State Constitution to authorize the Legislature 115 
to exempt tangible personal property located on land classified 116 
as agricultural from ad valorem taxation. This amendment shall 117 
take effect January 1, 2025. 118