FL S0740

Hospital districts must obtain voter approval via referendum to levy any property tax, with a maximum tax rate of 2 mills.

Hospital districts with existing taxing authority must hold a reauthorization referendum every 10 years on or before July 1, beginning in 2017, with the first deadline being July 1, 2017.

If a reauthorization referendum fails, the district's taxing authority terminates effective January 1 of the following year; the governing board may then maintain the district without taxing authority or dissolve it.

Tax revenues from hospital districts must be distributed to all hospitals within the district based on a funding formula tied to the number of indigent patients treated, regardless of whether hospitals are publicly or privately operated.

Hospital districts cannot establish new health care facilities outside their geographic boundaries without voter approval via county referendum, and counties must publish independent appraisals and economic analyses for public hospitals that have not been profitable for 3 of 5 consecutive years.