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.