CRC - 2017 P 100
By Commissioner Kruppenbacher
kruppenbf-00118A-17 2017100__
1 A proposal to amend
2 Section 3 of Article VII of the State Constitution to
3 provide that a nonprofit organization or a corporation
4 that compensates an individual employee over a
5 specified amount, adjusted annually for inflation, is
6 not eligible for any exemption from ad valorem
7 taxation.
8
9 Be It Proposed by the Constitution Revision Commission of
10 Florida:
11
12 Section 3 of Article VII of the State Constitution is
13 amended to read:
14 ARTICLE VII
15 FINANCE AND TAXATION
16 SECTION 3. Taxes; exemptions.—
17 (a) All property owned by a municipality and used
18 exclusively by it for municipal or public purposes shall be
19 exempt from taxation. A municipality, owning property outside
20 the municipality, may be required by general law to make payment
21 to the taxing unit in which the property is located. Such
22 portions of property as are used predominantly for educational,
23 literary, scientific, religious or charitable purposes may be
24 exempted by general law from taxation.
25 (b) There shall be exempt from taxation, cumulatively, to
26 every head of a family residing in this state, household goods
27 and personal effects to the value fixed by general law, not less
28 than one thousand dollars, and to every widow or widower or
29 person who is blind or totally and permanently disabled,
30 property to the value fixed by general law not less than five
31 hundred dollars.
32 (c) Any county or municipality may, for the purpose of its
33 respective tax levy and subject to the provisions of this
34 subsection and general law, grant community and economic
35 development ad valorem tax exemptions to new businesses and
36 expansions of existing businesses, as defined by general law.
37 Such an exemption may be granted only by ordinance of the county
38 or municipality, and only after the electors of the county or
39 municipality voting on such question in a referendum authorize
40 the county or municipality to adopt such ordinances. An
41 exemption so granted shall apply to improvements to real
42 property made by or for the use of a new business and
43 improvements to real property related to the expansion of an
44 existing business and shall also apply to tangible personal
45 property of such new business and tangible personal property
46 related to the expansion of an existing business. The amount or
47 limits of the amount of such exemption shall be specified by
48 general law. The period of time for which such exemption may be
49 granted to a new business or expansion of an existing business
50 shall be determined by general law. The authority to grant such
51 exemption shall expire ten years from the date of approval by
52 the electors of the county or municipality, and may be renewable
53 by referendum as provided by general law.
54 (d) Any county or municipality may, for the purpose of its
55 respective tax levy and subject to the provisions of this
56 subsection and general law, grant historic preservation ad
57 valorem tax exemptions to owners of historic properties. This
58 exemption may be granted only by ordinance of the county or
59 municipality. The amount or limits of the amount of this
60 exemption and the requirements for eligible properties must be
61 specified by general law. The period of time for which this
62 exemption may be granted to a property owner shall be determined
63 by general law.
64 (e) By general law and subject to conditions specified
65 therein:
66 (1) Twenty-five thousand dollars of the assessed value of
67 property subject to tangible personal property tax shall be
68 exempt from ad valorem taxation.
69 (2) The assessed value of solar devices or renewable energy
70 source devices subject to tangible personal property tax may be
71 exempt from ad valorem taxation, subject to limitations provided
72 by general law.
73 (f) There shall be granted an ad valorem tax exemption for
74 real property dedicated in perpetuity for conservation purposes,
75 including real property encumbered by perpetual conservation
76 easements or by other perpetual conservation protections, as
77 defined by general law.
78 (g) By general law and subject to the conditions specified
79 therein, each person who receives a homestead exemption as
80 provided in section 6 of this article; who was a member of the
81 United States military or military reserves, the United States
82 Coast Guard or its reserves, or the Florida National Guard; and
83 who was deployed during the preceding calendar year on active
84 duty outside the continental United States, Alaska, or Hawaii in
85 support of military operations designated by the legislature
86 shall receive an additional exemption equal to a percentage of
87 the taxable value of his or her homestead property. The
88 applicable percentage shall be calculated as the number of days
89 during the preceding calendar year the person was deployed on
90 active duty outside the continental United States, Alaska, or
91 Hawaii in support of military operations designated by the
92 legislature divided by the number of days in that year.
93 (h) A nonprofit organization or a corporation that
94 compensates an individual employee at a rate that exceeds
95 $300,000 annually is not eligible for any exemption from ad
96 valorem taxation. Each September 30th, the Department of Revenue
97 or its successor agency shall adjust the limitation annually for
98 inflation using the consumer price index for urban wage earners
99 and clerical workers, CPI-W, or a successor index as calculated
100 by the United States Department of Labor. Each adjusted
101 limitation calculated shall be published and take effect on the
102 following January 1st. For purposes of this subsection, the term
103 “employee” does not include any medical professional licensed by
104 the state.