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.