FL H7087

Hurricane Disaster Relief: Provides ad valorem tax abatement for residential homestead properties rendered uninhabitable for 30+ days by Hurricanes Hermine, Matthew, or Irma (application deadline March 1, 2019); grants retroactive sales tax exemptions for farm fencing materials, nonresidential farm building repair materials, and fuel used for agricultural shipment following Hurricane Irma; exempts citrus packing/processing equipment from taxes beyond salvage value for the 2018 tax roll due to Hurricane Irma or citrus greening; and appropriates funds to offset revenue losses for Monroe County and fiscally constrained counties.

Sales Tax Holidays and Exemptions: Establishes a back-to-school sales tax holiday (August 3–5, 2018) for clothing at $60 or less, school supplies at $15 or less, and qualifying bags; creates a disaster preparedness supplies holiday (June 1–7, 2018) covering generators ($750 or less), batteries, tarps, portable radios, and other emergency items; and exempts emergency electric energy generation equipment for nursing homes and assisted living facilities (up to $15,000 in tax per facility) through December 31, 2018.

Commercial Lease and Business Tax Changes: Reduces the sales tax rate on commercial real property leases from 5.8% to 5.7% effective January 1, 2019; expands local business tax exemptions to cover honorably discharged veterans and their spouses, spouses of active-duty military with permanent change of station orders, public assistance recipients, and households below 130% of the federal poverty level.

Tourist Development Tax Expansion: Authorizes use of tourist development tax revenues for channel, estuary, or lagoon improvements and beach groin construction; permits counties collecting at least $10 million annually to fund public facilities (transportation, sewer, drainage, potable water, pedestrian infrastructure) with a two-thirds governing board vote, capped at 70% of project cost, and requiring at least 40% of total revenues be spent on tourism promotion.

Community Contribution and Contaminated Site Tax Credits: Revises community contribution tax credit caps to $12.5 million (FY 2018-19), $13.5 million (FY 2019-20), and $10.5 million thereafter for housing projects, plus $3.5 million annually for other projects, applicable across sales tax, corporate income tax, and insurance premium tax programs; sets contaminated site rehabilitation credits at $18.5 million for FY 2018-19 and $10 million per year thereafter.

Agricultural and Aquaculture Provisions: Expands the definition of "agricultural purposes" to explicitly include aquaculture and algaculture; creates new sales tax exemptions for industrial machinery used in aquaculture, liquefied petroleum gas for aquacultural production, and electricity used in packinghouses for fish packing; protects agricultural land classification through December 31, 2022, for lands not in production due to a 2017 hurricane.

Taxpayers' Rights Advocate Reform: Transfers appointment and removal authority for the taxpayers' rights advocate from the Department of Revenue's executive director to the Chief Inspector General; requires an annual report by January 1 to the Governor, legislative leaders, and the Chief Inspector General detailing complaints, resolutions, and legislative recommendations.

Marketplace Platform Independent Contractor Classification: Establishes that marketplace contractors providing temporary household services through online platforms are independent contractors for all state and local law purposes—including workers' compensation and unemployment compensation—provided platforms do not prescribe hours, prohibit use of competing platforms, or restrict other employment, and a written agreement exists; applies retroactively to services performed before July 1, 2018.

Multiple Parcel Buildings and Property Tax Administration: Creates a framework for buildings containing vertically stacked separate parcels on the same land, requiring land value allocation proportional to each parcel's improvement value, separate tax folio numbers, and provisions ensuring recorded instruments and easements survive tax sales; applies beginning with 2018 assessments.

Natural Gas Fuel Tax Delay and Other Revenue Measures: Delays natural gas fuel tax implementation from January 1, 2019 to January 1, 2024; creates a 1.42 cents-per-gallon aviation fuel tax refund for qualifying air carriers (effective July 1, 2019); requires discretionary sales surtax referenda to be preceded by independent performance audits completed at least 60 days before the vote; and adds a $25 marriage license fee split equally between the General Revenue Fund and State Courts Revenue Trust Fund effective January 1, 2019.