04-1476 Legislative Policy - Laserfiche WebLink

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201.1 201.2 201.3 201.4 201.5 201.6 201.7 201.8 simplifies and enhances the efficiency for the collection and remittance of municipal insurance premium tax revenues, while avoiding immediate financial hardships for municipalities, or adverse impacts on pub- lic safety pension benefits. proposes a constitutional amendment that would provide that all municipal-owned property is treated the same as general- purpose government-owned property with respect to ad valorem taxes. Allows the general revenue service charge revenues on local option gas taxes to be distributed directly to the local govern- ments. Repeals the fuel adjustment charge exemp- tion from the public service tax. Provides municipalities' the appropriate au- thority to enforce the local occupational li- cense tax. Eliminates the restrictions on the fee struc- ture of local occupational license taxes. Provides for a hold harmless mechanism when distributing revenues transferred from the Half-Cent Sales Tax Program to the Rev- enue Sharing Trust Fund for Municipalities. Authorizes a municipality or group of local governments to levy a local option sales and use tax within their respective boundaries to fund capital and operational expenses related to public safety, infrastructure and homeland security provided each local gov- ernment reduces its revenues from property taxes by an amount equal to 50 percent of the revenues generated from the local op- tion sales tax in the first years. State and Local Tax Reform 202 The Florida League of Cities will support leg- islation that simplifies and stabilizes Florida's state and local revenue structure in a man- her that is revenue neutral, is competitively neutral and provides tax fairness for both businesses and citizens of our state. The structure of Florida's state and local rev- enues will face a variety of new challenges in the new millennium. The expansion of technology, which will accelerate the inte- gration of national, state and local econo- roles, will have a significant impact on the revenue sources on which the state and Io- cai governments have traditionally relied. Additionally, the deregulation of major in- dustries, such as the telecommunications, banking and electric industries, will force the simplification and streamlining of ex- isting tax structures to assure competitive neutrality, continued growth and tax fair- ness for businesses and citizens. It is there- fore essential that Florida revise its state and local tax structure to encourage a stronger partnership between state and local gov- ernment, to assure municipalities are ac- corded greater flexibility to address chang- lng citizen demands and to eliminate un- necessary fiscal restrictions. The Florida League that: 202.10 of Cities will support legislation 202.1 Preserves the authority of municipalities to generate revenue through municipal elec- tric utility franchise fees and public service taxes. 202.2 Authorizes municipalities to levy a consump- tion-based tax on liquefied and natural gas consumed within their boundaries and eliminates the tax inequities between in- state and out-of-state sales of natural gas 202.3 Changes the Public Service Tax to a sales and use=based tax. 202.4 Provides a tax structure that is equitable and fair for consumers and is competitively neu- tral for businesses. 202.5 Provides uniform definitions of taxable goods and services. 202.6 Requires all tax exemptions to be tied to measurable benefits and to be subject to periodic sunset review. 202.7 Corrects the inequalities caused by the double taxation of municipal citizens, as originally intended by the framers of the Florida Constitution. 202.8 Promotes property tax equity by permitting taxing authorities to assess new construc- tion on a partial-year basis, subject to ap- propriate exemptions. 202.9 Provides state funding for a Small Local Gov- emment Financial Technical Assistance Pro- gram that would provide training and tech~ nical assistance to small municipalities, in- cluding training assistance in the areas of financial emergencies, contemporary fiscal practices and the evaluation of the costs and benefits associated with land-use decisions. Permits municipalities to share in the com- munication systems surcharges levied by counties for intergovernmental radio com- munication systems.