Title: Department of Revenue

Summary: Extends from once every 2 years to once every 3 years the requirement that the department conduct an in-depth review of the assessment roll of each county. Provides for a study of certain classifications constituting 5 percent or more of the total assessed value of real property on the previous assessment roll. Imposes a tax on the charges for the use of coin-operated amusement machines operated on the licensed premises of a pari-mutuel facility located in certain cities or counties, etc.

Full Text:
An act relating to the Department of Revenue; amending s. 195.096, F.S.; extending from once every years to once every years the requirement that the department conduct an in-depth review of the assessment roll of each county; providing for a study of certain classifications constituting percent or more of the total assessed value of real property on the previous assessment roll; replacing assessed value with just value of all real property that the department may combine for purposes of assessment ration studies; amending s. 212.05, F.S.; imposing a tax on the charges for the use of coin-operated amusement machines operated on the licensed premises of a pari mutuel facility located in certain cities or counties; amending s. 213.69, F.S.; exempting the department from paying charges imposed by the clerks of the court for recording tax liens; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Subsection (2) and paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section 195.096, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 195.096 Review of assessment rolls.  (2) The department shall conduct, at least no less frequently than once every years, an in-depth review of the assessment rolls of each county. The department need not individually study every use-class of property set forth in s. 195.073, but shall at a minimum study the level of assessment in relation to just value of each classification specified in subsection (3) if the classification constitutes percent or more of the total assessed value of real property in a county on the previous assessment roll.Such in-depth review may include proceedings of the value adjustment board and the audit or review of procedures used by the counties to appraise property. (a) The department shall, at least days before prior to the beginning of an in-depth review in any county, notify the property appraiser in the county of the pending review. At the request of the property appraiser, the department shall consult with the property appraiser regarding the classifications and strata to be studied, in order that the review will be useful to the property appraiser in evaluating his or her procedures. (b) Every property appraiser whose upcoming roll is subject to an in-depth review shall, if requested by the department on or before January 1, deliver upon completion of the assessment roll a list of the parcel numbers of all parcels that did not appear on the assessment roll of the previous year, indicating the parcel number of the parent parcel from which each new parcel was created or  cut out.  (c) In conducting assessment ratio studies, the department shall must use all practicable steps, including stratified statistical and analytical reviews and sale-qualification studies, to maximize the representativeness or statistical reliability of samples of properties in tests of each classification, stratum, or roll made the subject of a ratio study published by it. The department shall document and retain records of the measures of representativeness of the properties studied in compliance with this section. Such documentation must include a record of findings used as the basis for the approval or disapproval of the tax roll in each county pursuant to s. 193.1142. In addition, to the greatest extent practicable, the department shall study assessment roll strata by subclassifications such as value groups and market areas for each classification or stratum to be studied, to maximize the representativeness of ratio study samples. For purposes of this section, the department shall rely primarily on an assessment to-sales-ratio study in conducting assessment ratio studies in those classifications of property specified in subsection (3) for which there are adequate market sales. The department shall compute the median and the value-weighted mean for each classification or subclassification studied and for the roll as a whole. (d) In the conduct of these reviews, the department shall adhere to all standards to which the property appraisers are required to adhere. (e) The department and each property appraiser shall cooperate in the conduct of these reviews, and each shall make available to the other all matters and records bearing on the preparation and computation of the reviews. The property appraisers shall provide any and all data requested by the department in the conduct of the studies, including electronic data processing tapes. Any and all data and samples developed or obtained by the department in the conduct of the studies shall be confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) until a presentation of the findings of the study is made to the property appraiser. After the presentation of the findings, the department shall provide any and all data requested by a property appraiser developed or obtained in the conduct of the studies, including tapes. Direct reimbursable costs of providing the data shall be borne by the party who requested it. Copies of existing data or records, whether maintained or required pursuant to law or rule, or data or records otherwise maintained, shall be submitted within days from the date requested, in the case of written or printed information, and within days from the date requested, in the case of computerized information. (f) Within days following the receipt of a county assessment roll by the executive director of the department pursuant to s. 193.1142(1), or within days after approval of the assessment roll, whichever is later, the department shall complete the review for that county and forward its findings, including a statement of the confidence interval for the median and such other measures as may be appropriate for each classification or subclassification studied and for the roll as a whole, employing a 95-percent level of confidence, and related statistical and analytical details to the Senate and the House of Representatives committees with oversight responsibilities for taxation, and the appropriate property appraiser. Upon releasing its findings, the department shall notify the chairperson of the appropriate county commission or the corresponding official under a consolidated charter that the department s findings are available upon request. The department shall, within days after receiving a written request from the chairperson of the appropriate county commission or the corresponding official under a consolidated charter, forward a copy of its findings, including the confidence interval for the median and such other measures of each classification or subclassification studied and for all the roll as a whole, and related statistical and analytical details, to the requesting party. (3)(a) Upon completion of review pursuant to paragraph (2)(f), the department shall publish the results of reviews conducted under this section. The results must include all statistical and analytical measures computed under this section for the real property assessment roll as a whole, the personal property assessment roll as a whole, and independently for the following real property classes whenever the classes constituted percent or more of the total assessed value of real property in a county on the previous tax roll: 1. Residential property that consists of one primary living unit, including, but not limited to, single-family residences, condominiums, cooperatives, and mobile homes. 2. Residential property that consists of two or more primary living units. 3. Agricultural, high-water recharge, historic property used for commercial or certain nonprofit purposes, and other use-valued property. 4. Vacant lots. 5. Nonagricultural acreage and other undeveloped parcels. 6. Improved commercial and industrial property. 7. Taxable institutional or governmental, utility, locally assessed railroad, oil, gas and mineral land, subsurface rights, and other real property. When one of the above classes constituted less than percent of the total just assessed value of all real property in a county on the previous assessment roll, the department may combine it with one or more other classes of real property for purposes of assessment ratio studies or use the weighted average of the other classes for purposes of calculating the level of assessment for all real property in a county. The department shall also publish such results for any subclassifications of the classes or assessment rolls it may have chosen to study. Section 2. Paragraph (h) of subsection (1) of section 212.05, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 212.05 Sales, storage, use tax. It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent that every person is exercising a taxable privilege who engages in the business of selling tangible personal property at retail in this state, including the business of making mail order sales, or who rents or furnishes any of the things or services taxable under this chapter, or who stores for use or consumption in this state any item or article of tangible personal property as defined herein and who leases or rents such property within the state. (1) For the exercise of such privilege, a tax is levied on each taxable transaction or incident, which tax is due and payable as follows: (h)1. a.   Except as provided in subparagraph b., a tax is imposed at the rate of percent on the charges for the use of coin-operated amusement machines. The tax shall be calculated by dividing the gross receipts from such charges for the applicable reporting period by a divisor, determined as provided in this subparagraph, to compute gross taxable sales, and then subtracting gross taxable sales from gross receipts to arrive at the amount of tax due. For counties that do not impose a discretionary sales surtax, the divisor is equal to 1.04; for counties that impose a 0.5 percent discretionary sales surtax, the divisor is equal to 1.045; for counties that impose a percent discretionary sales surtax, the divisor is equal to 1.050; and for counties that impose a percent sales surtax, the divisor is equal to 1.060. If a county imposes a discretionary sales surtax that is not listed in this subparagraph, the department shall make the applicable divisor available in an electronic format or otherwise. Additional divisors shall bear the same mathematical relationship to the next higher and next lower divisors as the new surtax rate bears to the next higher and next lower surtax rates for which divisors have been established. When a machine is activated by a slug, token, coupon, or any similar device which has been purchased, the tax is on the price paid by the user of the device for such device. b. A tax is imposed at the rate of percent on the charges for the use of coin-operated amusement machines operated on the licensed premises of a pari-mutuel facility located in a city or county that chooses to license the use of such machines and imposes an additional licensing fee or other fees on the operator or the machines located at pari-mutuel facilities within the jurisdiction of the county or city. The tax shall be calculated by dividing the gross receipts from such charges for the applicable reporting period by a divisor, determined as provided in this sub-subparagraph, to compute gross taxable sales, and then subtracting gross taxable sales from gross receipts to arrive at the amount of tax due. For this sub subparagraph, the divisor is equal to 1.01.2. As used in this paragraph, the term  operator  means any person who possesses a coin-operated amusement machine for the purpose of generating sales through that machine and who is responsible for removing the receipts from the machine. a. If the owner of the machine is also the operator of it, he or she shall be liable for payment of the tax without any deduction for rent or a license fee paid to a location owner for the use of any real property on which the machine is located. b. If the owner or lessee of the machine is also its operator, he or she shall be liable for payment of the tax on the purchase or lease of the machine, as well as the tax on sales generated through the machine. c. If the proprietor of the business where the machine is located does not own the machine, he or she shall be deemed to be the lessee and operator of the machine and is responsible for the payment of the tax on sales, unless such responsibility is otherwise provided for in a written agreement between him or her and the machine owner. 3.a. An operator of a coin-operated amusement machine may not operate or cause to be operated in this state any such machine until the operator has registered with the department and has conspicuously displayed an identifying certificate issued by the department. The identifying certificate shall be issued by the department upon application from the operator. The identifying certificate shall include a unique number, and the certificate shall be permanently marked with the operator s name, the operator s sales tax number, and the maximum number of machines to be operated under the certificate. An identifying certificate shall not be transferred from one operator to another. The identifying certificate must be conspicuously displayed on the premises where the coin-operated amusement machines are being operated. b. The operator of the machine must obtain an identifying certificate before the machine is first operated in the state and by July of each year thereafter. The annual fee for each certificate shall be based on the number of machines identified on the application times $30 and is due and payable upon application for the identifying device. The application shall contain the operator s name, sales tax number, business address where the machines are being operated, and the number of machines in operation at that place of business by the operator. No operator may operate more machines than are listed on the certificate. A new certificate is required if more machines are being operated at that location than are listed on the certificate. The fee for the new certificate shall be based on the number of additional machines identified on the application form times $30. c. A penalty of $250 per machine is imposed on the operator for failing to properly obtain and display the required identifying certificate. A penalty of $250 is imposed on the lessee of any machine placed in a place of business without a proper current identifying certificate. Such penalties shall apply in addition to all other applicable taxes, interest, and penalties. d. Operators of coin-operated amusement machines must obtain a separate sales and use tax certificate of registration for each county in which such machines are located. One sales and use tax certificate of registration is sufficient for all of the operator s machines within a single county. 4. The provisions of this paragraph do not apply to coin operated amusement machines owned and operated by churches or synagogues. 5. In addition to any other penalties imposed by this chapter, a person who knowingly and willfully violates any provision of this paragraph commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. 6. The department may adopt rules necessary to administer the provisions of this paragraph. Section 3. Section 213.69, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 213.69 Authority to issue warrants.  (1)  Upon a final determination of unpaid taxes, interest, or penalties due under the revenue laws of this state, the department may issue warrants for those taxes listed in s. 213.05 or placed under the control of the department by law. Such warrants may direct: (a) (1)  The sheriff of any county within the state to levy upon and sell the goods of such person which are found within the sheriff s jurisdiction for the payment of the amount of the delinquency, plus the penalties, interest, and cost of executing the warrant and conducting the sale, and to return the warrant and the money collected to the department. However, any surplus resulting from the sale after the costs, penalties, and delinquent taxes have been accounted for must be returned to the person in default; or (b) (2)  A deputy, agent, or employee of the department or of the Department of Law Enforcement, after receiving written designation by the executive director, to execute that warrant in the same manner as a sheriff. (2) The Department of Revenue is not required to pay any charge imposed by s. 28.24 in connection with recording any warrant, lien, or notice of lien issued by the department pertaining to any tax enumerated in s. 72.011,s. 213.05,or chapter 443, or any modification, amendment, satisfaction, or cancellation thereof. Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.