Florida Florida Statutes
§ 200.065 — Method of fixing millage
FS § 200.065Ch. 200
Statute text
View on source(1)Upon completion of the assessment of all property pursuant to s. 193.023, the property appraiser shall certify to each taxing authority the taxable value within the jurisdiction of the taxing authority. This certification shall include a copy of the statement required to be submitted under s. 195.073(3), as applicable to that taxing authority. The form on which the certification is made shall include instructions to each taxing authority describing the proper method of computing a millage rate which, exclusive of new construction, additions to structures, deletions, increases in the value of improvements that have undergone a substantial rehabilitation which increased the assessed value of such improvements by at least 100 percent, property added due to geographic boundary changes, total taxable value of tangible personal property within the jurisdiction in excess of 115 percent of the previous year's total taxable value, and any dedicated increment value, will provide the same ad valorem tax revenue for each taxing authority as was levied during the prior year less the amount, if any, paid or applied as a consequence of an obligation measured by the dedicated increment value. That millage rate shall be known as the “rolled-back rate.” The property appraiser shall also include instructions, as prescribed by the Department of Revenue, to each county and municipality, each special district dependent to a county or municipality, each municipal service taxing unit, and each independent special district describing the proper method of computing the millage rates and taxes levied as specified in subsection (5). The Department of Revenue shall prescribe the instructions and forms that are necessary to administer this subsection and subsection (5). The information provided pursuant to this subsection shall also be sent to the tax collector by the property appraiser at the time it is sent to each taxing authority.
(2)No millage shall be levied until a resolution or ordinance has been approved by the governing board of the taxing authority which resolution or ordinance must be approved by the taxing authority according to the following procedure:(a)1. Upon preparation of a tentative budget, but prior to adoption thereof, each taxing authority shall compute a proposed millage rate necessary to fund the tentative budget other than the portion of the budget to be funded from sources other than ad valorem taxes. In computing proposed or final millage rates, each taxing authority shall utilize not less than 95 percent of the taxable value certified pursuant to subsection (1). 2. The tentative budget of the county commission shall be prepared and submitted in accordance with s. 129.03. 3. The tentative budget of the school district shall be prepared and submitted in accordance with chapter 1011, provided that the date of submission shall not be later than 24 days after certification of value pursuant to subsection (1). 4. Taxing authorities other than the county and school district shall prepare and consider tentative and final budgets in accordance with this section and applicable provisions of law, including budget procedures applicable to the taxing authority, provided such procedures do not conflict with general law.
(b)Within 35 days of certification of value pursuant to subsection (1), each taxing authority shall advise the property appraiser of its proposed millage rate, of its rolled-back rate computed pursuant to subsection (1), and of the date, time, and place at which a public hearing will be held to consider the proposed millage rate and the tentative budget. The property appraiser shall utilize this information in preparing the notice of proposed property taxes pursuant to s. 200.069. The deadline for mailing the notice shall be the later of 55 days after certification of value pursuant to subsection (1) or 10 days after either the date the tax roll is approved or the interim roll procedures under s. 193.1145 are instituted. However, for counties for which a state of emergency was declared by executive order or proclamation of the Governor pursuant to chapter 252, if mailing is not possible during the state of emergency, the property appraiser may post the notice on the county's website. If the deadline for mailing the notice of proposed property taxes is 10 days after the date the tax roll is approved or the interim roll procedures are instituted, all subsequent deadlines provided in this section shall be extended. In addition, the deadline for mailing the notice may be extended for 30 days in counties for which a state of emergency was declared by executive order or proclamation of the Governor pursuant to chapter 252, and property appraisers may use alternate methods of distribution only when mailing the notice is not possible. In such event, however, property appraisers must work with county tax collectors to ensure the timely assessment and collection of taxes. The number of days by which the deadlines shall be extended shall equal the number of days by which the deadline for mailing the notice of proposed taxes is extended beyond 55 days after certification. If any taxing authority fails to provide the information required in this paragraph to the property appraiser in a timely fashion, the taxing authority shall be prohibited from levying a millage rate greater than the rolled-back rate computed pursuant to subsection (1) for the upcoming fiscal year, which rate shall be computed by the property appraiser and used in preparing the notice of proposed property taxes. Each multicounty taxing authority that levies taxes in any county that has extended the deadline for mailing the notice due to a declared state of emergency and that has noticed hearings in other counties must advertise the hearing at which it intends to adopt a tentative budget and millage rate in a newspaper of general paid circulation within each county not less than 2 days or more than 5 days before the hearing.
(c)Within 80 days of the certification of value pursuant to subsection (1), but not earlier than 65 days after certification, the governing body of each taxing authority shall hold a public hearing on the tentative budget and proposed millage rate. Prior to the conclusion of the hearing, the governing body of the taxing authority shall amend the tentative budget as it sees fit, adopt the amended tentative budget, recompute its proposed millage rate, and publicly announce the percent, if any, by which the recomputed proposed millage rate exceeds the rolled-back rate computed pursuant to subsection (1). That percent shall be characterized as the percentage increase in property taxes tentatively adopted by the governing body.
(d)Within 15 days after the meeting adopting the tentative budget, the taxing authority shall advertise in a newspaper of general circulation in the county as provided in subsection (3), its intent to finally adopt a millage rate and budget. A public hearing to finalize the budget and adopt a millage rate shall be held not less than 2 days nor more than 5 days after the day that the advertisement is first published. In the event of a need to postpone or recess the final meeting due to a declared state of emergency, the taxing authority may postpone or recess the hearing for up to 7 days and shall post a prominent notice at the place of the original hearing showing the date, time, and place where the hearing will be reconvened. The posted notice shall measure not less than 8.5 by 11 inches. The taxing authority shall make every reasonable effort to provide reasonable notification of the continued hearing to the taxpayers. The information must also be posted on the taxing authority's website. During the hearing, the governing body of the taxing authority shall amend the adopted tentative budget as it sees fit, adopt a final budget, and adopt a resolution or ordinance stating the millage rate to be levied. The resolution or ordinance shall state the percent, if any, by which the millage rate to be levied exceeds the rolled-back rate computed pursuant to subsection (1), which shall be characterized as the percentage increase in property taxes adopted by the governing body. The adoption of the budget and the millage-levy resolution or ordinance shall be by separate votes. For each taxing authority levying millage, the name of the taxing authority, the rolled-back rate, the percentage increase, and the millage rate to be levied shall be publicly announced before the adoption of the millage-levy resolution or ordinance. In no event may the millage rate adopted pursuant to this paragraph exceed the millage rate tentatively adopted pursuant to paragraph (c). If the rate tentatively adopted pursuant to paragraph (c) exceeds the proposed rate provided to the property appraiser pursuant to paragraph (b), or as subsequently adjusted pursuant to subsection (11), each taxpayer within the jurisdiction of the taxing authority shall be sent notice by first-class mail of his or her taxes under the tentatively adopted millage rate and his or her taxes under the previously proposed rate. The notice must be prepared by the property appraiser, at the expense of the taxing authority, and must generally conform to the requirements of s. 200.069. If such additional notice is necessary, its mailing must precede the hearing held pursuant to this paragraph by not less than 10 days and not more than 15 days. (e)1. In the hearings required pursuant to paragraphs (c) and (d), the first substantive issue discussed shall be the percentage increase in millage over the rolled-back rate necessary to fund the budget, if any, and the specific purposes for which ad valorem tax revenues are being increased. During such discussion, the governing body shall hear comments regarding the proposed increase and explain the reasons for the proposed increase over the rolled-back rate. The general public shall be allowed to speak and to ask questions before adoption of any measures by the governing body. The governing body shall adopt its tentative or final millage rate before adopting its tentative or final budget. 2. These hearings shall be held after 5 p.m. if scheduled on a day other than Saturday. No hearing shall be held on a Sunday. The county commission shall not schedule its hearings on days scheduled for hearings by the school board. The hearing dates scheduled by the county commission and school board shall not be utilized by any other taxing authority within the county for its public hearings. However, in counties for which a state of emergency was declared by executive order or proclamation of the Governor pursuant to chapter 252 and the rescheduling of hearings on the same day is unavoidable, the county commission and school board must conduct their hearings at different times, and other taxing authorities must schedule their hearings so as not to conflict with the times of the county commission and school board hearings. A multicounty taxing authority shall make every reasonable effort to avoid scheduling hearings on days utilized by the counties or school districts within its jurisdiction. Tax levies and budgets for dependent special taxing districts shall be adopted at the hearings for the taxing authority to which such districts are dependent, following such discussion and adoption of levies and budgets for the superior taxing authority. A taxing authority may adopt the tax levies for all of its dependent special taxing districts, and may adopt the budgets for all of its dependent special taxing districts, by a single unanimous vote. However, if a member of the general public requests that the tax levy or budget of a dependent special taxing district be separately discussed and separately adopted, the taxing authority shall discuss and adopt that tax levy or budget separately. If, due to circumstances beyond the control of the taxing authority, including a state of emergency declared by executive order or proclamation of the Governor pursuant to chapter 252, the hearing provided for in paragraph (c) or paragraph (d) is recessed or postponed, the taxing authority shall publish a notice in a newspaper of general paid circulation in the county. The notice shall state the time and place for the continuation of the hearing and shall be published at least 2 days but not more than 5 days before the date the hearing will be continued. In the event of postponement or recess due to a declared state of emergency, all subsequent dates in this section shall be extended by the number of days of the postponement or recess. Notice of the postponement or recess must be in writing by the affected taxing authority to the tax collector, the property appraiser, and the Department of Revenue within 3 calendar days after the postponement or recess. In the event of such extension, the affected taxing authority must work with the county tax collector and property appraiser to ensure timely assessment and collection of taxes. (f)1. Notwithstanding any provisions of paragraph (c) to the contrary, each school district shall advertise its intent to adopt a tentative budget on a publicly accessible website pursuant to s. 7'50.0311 or in a newspaper of general circulation pursuant to subsection (3) within 29 days after certification of value pursuant to subsection (1). For the purpose of this paragraph, the term “publicly accessible website” includes a district school board's official website if the school board website satisfies the remaining requirements of s. 50.0311. Not less than 2 days or more than 5 days thereafter, the district shall hold a public hearing on the tentative budget pursuant to the applicable provisions of paragraph (c). In the event of postponement or recess due to a declared state of emergency, the school district may postpone or recess the hearing for up to 7 days and shall post a prominent notice at the place of the original hearing showing the date, time, and place where the hearing will be reconvened. The posted notice shall measure not less than 8.5 by 11 inches. The school district shall make every reasonable effort to provide reasonable notification of the continued hearing to the taxpayers. The information must also be posted on the school district's website if the district school board uses a different method of advertisement. 2. Notwithstanding any provisions of paragraph (b) to the contrary, each school district shall advise the property appraiser of its recomputed proposed millage rate within 35 days of certification of value pursuant to subsection (1). The recomputed proposed millage rate of the school district shall be considered its proposed millage rate for the purposes of paragraph (b). 3. Notwithstanding any provisions of paragraph (d) to the contrary, each school district shall hold a public hearing to finalize the budget and adopt a millage rate within 80 days of certification of value pursuant to subsection (1), but not earlier than 65 days after certification. The hearing shall be held in accordance with the applicable provisions of paragraph (d), except that a newspaper advertisement need not precede the hearing.
…
Legislative history
s. 13, ch. 73-172; s. 16, ch. 74-234; ss. 1, 2, ch. 75-68; s. 19, ch. 76-133; s. 1, ch. 77-102; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 1, ch. 78-228; ss. 2, 9, ch. 80-261; s. 25, ch. 80-274; s. 14, ch. 82-154; s. 12, ch. 82-208; ss. 4, 11, 25, 72, 80, ch. 82-226; s. 5, ch. 82-388; s. 2, ch. 82-399; s. 28, ch. 83-204; s. 61, ch. 83-217; s. 2, ch. 84-164; s. 20, ch. 84-356; s. 1, ch. 86-190; s. 12, ch. 86-300; s. 5, ch. 87-284; s. 13, ch. 88-216; s. 2, ch. 88-223; s. 14, ch. 90-241; ss. 136, 165, ch. 91-112; s. 8, ch. 91-295; s. 1, ch. 92-163; ss. 5, 15, ch. 93-132; s. 25, ch. 93-233; s. 1, ch. 93-241; s. 52, ch. 94-232; s. 4, ch. 94-344; s. 41, ch. 94-353; s. 1481, ch. 2. The purpose of each assessment must also be listed in the column listing the levying local governing board if the purpose is not clearly indicated by the name of the board. 3. Each non-ad valorem assessment for each levying local governing board must be listed separatel