Ditchmen • NUCA of Florida Ditchmen • May 2017 | Page 18

and represented a major component of the budget agreement struck between the Chambers. Limitations on Property Tax Assessments: SJR 21 by Burton This joint resolution proposes an amendment to the Florida Constitution to remove the scheduled January 1, 2019, repeal of the 10-percent assessment limitation on non- homestead property. If approved by the electors, this provision will take effect January 1, 2019. Tax Cut Package: HB 7109 by Boyd The 2017 Tax Relief package which amounts to approximately $75 million in savings for Floridians was approved in the final week of session. A major component of the measure was a reduction of the sales tax on commercial rental property which has long been sought by the business community. Florida is the only state in the nation with this tax in place. The bill permanently lowers the tax on commercial leases from six to 5.8 percent, effective January 1, 2018. Other provisions include: • Establishing two sales tax holidays: 18 DITCHMEN • MAY 2017 • Three days (August 4-6) for clothing and footwear costing $60 or less, school supplies costing less than $15, and for the first $750 of the cost of a personal computer; and, • Three days (June 2-4) for disaster preparedness supplies including flashlights and lanterns costing $20 and less; radios and tarps costing $50 and under; coolers and first-aid kits for $30 and under and generators priced at $750 and less. • Creating a sales tax exemption for: • A single parcel, limited to $10,000, for building materials, pest control services, and tangible personal property rentals used in new construction for Rural Areas of Opportunity (RAO); • Data center property purchased, rented or leased by the center’s owners and tenants; • Fingerprint services associated with a concealed weapons and firearms application; • Livestock, poultry, and aquaculture health products; • Certain purchases by municipally-owned golf course operators; and, • Feminine hygiene products, effective January 1, 2018. • Expanding authority for counties to use revenue derived from local option tourist development taxes for publicly-owned auditoriums operated by 501(c)(3) organizations; • Making permanent the Community Contribution Tax Credit with a limit of $14 million in credits per fiscal year; • Expanding the annual tax credit limit from $5 to $10 million for the Contaminated Site Rehabilitation Tax Credit program; • Increasing the Research and Development Corporate Tax Credit limit from $9 to $18 million for calendar year 2018; • Providing a property tax exemption for 501(c) (3) assisted living facilities (ALFs) beginning in 2017, effective upon the act becoming law; • Extending the time for a charter school to apply for a property tax exemption to August 1, 2017, if it was leased in 2015 and owned in 2016; • Clarifying that certain heavy construction and agricultural equipment returned under a rent- to-purchase option is considered inventory and exempt from property tax; • Outlining procedures