CRC - 2017 P 69 By Commissioner Sprowls sprowlsc-00046-17 201769__ 1 A proposal to amend 2 Section 9 of Article VII of the State Constitution to 3 prohibit certain special districts, except ones 4 created for water management purposes, from levying ad 5 valorem taxes after January 7, 2029, or 10 years after 6 the date of voter approval for such authority, 7 whichever is later; to grant districts authority to 8 levy ad valorem taxes beyond that date under certain 9 circumstances; to authorize the grant or renewal of 10 the authority by referendum for 10-year periods if 11 certain conditions are met; to require ballot 12 proposals to include specified language; to require 13 the Legislature to dissolve, merge, consolidate, or 14 provide for appropriate disposition of special 15 districts if the referendum fails; to authorize debt 16 secured by ad valorem taxes and incurred before 17 January 7, 2019, to be refinanced under certain 18 circumstances; and to prohibit special districts from 19 pledging ad valorem tax revenue to repay or 20 restructure debt incurred after a specified date under 21 certain circumstances. 22 23 Be It Proposed by the Constitution Revision Commission of 24 Florida: 25 26 Section 9 of Article VII of the State Constitution is 27 amended to read: 28 ARTICLE VII 29 FINANCE AND TAXATION 30 SECTION 9. Local taxes.— 31 (a) Counties, school districts, and municipalities shall, 32 and special districts may, be authorized by law to levy ad 33 valorem taxes and may be authorized by general law to levy other 34 taxes, for their respective purposes, except ad valorem taxes on 35 intangible personal property and taxes prohibited by this 36 constitution. 37 (b) Ad valorem taxes, exclusive of taxes levied for the 38 payment of bonds and taxes levied for periods not longer than 39 two years when authorized by vote of the electors who are the 40 owners of freeholds therein not wholly exempt from taxation, 41 shall not be levied in excess of the following millages upon the 42 assessed value of real estate and tangible personal property: 43 for all county purposes, ten mills; for all municipal purposes, 44 ten mills; for all school purposes, ten mills; for water 45 management purposes for the northwest portion of the state lying 46 west of the line between ranges two and three east, 0.05 mill; 47 for water management purposes for the remaining portions of the 48 state, 1.0 mill; and for all other special districts a millage 49 authorized by law approved by vote of the electors who are 50 owners of freeholds therein not wholly exempt from taxation. A 51 county furnishing municipal services may, to the extent 52 authorized by law, levy additional taxes within the limits fixed 53 for municipal purposes. 54 (c)(1)a. The authority of a special district to levy ad 55 valorem taxes shall expire the later of January 7, 2029, or ten 56 years after the date of approval of such authority by vote of 57 the electors who are the owners of freeholds therein not wholly 58 exempt from taxation. 59 b. Notwithstanding subparagraph a., if debt incurred by a 60 special district prior to January 7, 2019, matures later than 61 January 7, 2029, and repayment of the debt is secured by a 62 pledge of ad valorem tax revenues, the district’s authority to 63 levy ad valorem taxes shall expire on the final maturity date of 64 the debt. Such debt may be refinanced after January 7, 2019, but 65 the final maturity date of the debt may not be extended beyond 66 the date of the original debt. 67 c. A special district may not pledge revenue from its ad 68 valorem tax authority to repay debt incurred after January 7, 69 2019, if the pledge would require or allow debt service payments 70 to be made after the earlier of ten years after issuance of the 71 debt or the date of expiration of the district’s ad valorem tax 72 authority. 73 (2)a. A special district referendum to obtain initial 74 authority to levy ad valorem taxes or to renew an existing 75 authority to levy ad valorem taxes, must include in the ballot 76 proposal the public purpose for which the authority to levy ad 77 valorem taxes is sought; the number of years, which shall not 78 exceed ten years, for which the authority will be in effect; and 79 the millage limit. 80 b. In the general election held prior to the expiration 81 date provided in subparagraph (1)a. or (1)b., the electors who 82 are the owners of freeholds within the district not wholly 83 exempt from taxation may vote to renew the authority to levy ad 84 valorem taxes for a period not to exceed ten years. There is no 85 limit to the number of times the authority to levy ad valorem 86 taxes may be renewed under this subparagraph. 87 (3) The legislature shall provide by general or special law 88 for the dissolution, merger, consolidation, or other appropriate 89 disposition of each special district for which the authority to 90 levy ad valorem taxes has expired. 91 (4) This subsection does not apply to special districts 92 created by general law for water management purposes.