(1)(a) For the period of October 1, 2001, through September 30, 2002, there are hereby levied the following local communications services tax conversion rates on taxable sales as authorized by s. 202.19. The conversion rates take effect without any action required by the local government. The conversion rates for local governments that have not chosen to levy permit fees do not include the add-ons of up to 0.12 percent for municipalities and charter counties or of up to 0.24 percent for noncharter counties authorized pursuant to s. 337.401.

The conversion rate displayed in the rows with the name of the county in capitalized letters assigns the conversion rate for the unincorporated area. This paragraph is repealed October 1, 2002.

(b) Beginning October 1, 2002, there are hereby levied the following local communications services tax conversion rates on taxable sales as authorized by s. 202.19. The conversion rates take effect without any action required by the local government. The conversion rates for local governments that have not chosen to levy permit fees do not include the add-ons of up to 0.12 percent for municipalities and charter counties or of up to 0.24 percent for noncharter counties authorized pursuant to s. 337.401.

The conversion rate displayed in the rows with the name of the county in capitalized letters assigns the conversion rate for the unincorporated area.

(c) Notwithstanding the rates provided by paragraph (b), the following local communications services tax conversion rates shall take effect upon the expiration of existing franchise agreements which provide for fees in excess of those authorized by s. 337.401. The conversion rates for local governments that have not chosen to levy permit fees do not include the add-ons of up to 0.12 percent for municipalities and charter counties or of up to 0.24 percent for noncharter counties authorized pursuant to s. 337.401.

(2)(a)1. With respect to any local taxing jurisdiction, if, for the periods ending December 31, 2001; March 31, 2002; June 30, 2002; or September 30, 2002, the revenues received by that local government from the local communications services tax imposed under subsection (1) are less than the revenues received from the replaced revenue sources for the corresponding 2000-2001 period; plus reasonably anticipated growth in such revenues over the preceding 1-year period, based on the average growth of such revenues over the immediately preceding 5-year period; plus an amount representing the revenues from the replaced revenue sources for the 1-month period that the local taxing jurisdiction was required to forego, the governing authority may adjust the rate of the local communications services tax upward to the extent necessary to generate the entire shortfall in revenues within 1 year after the rate adjustment and by an amount necessary to generate the expected amount of revenue on an ongoing basis.

2. If complete data are not available at the time of determining whether the revenues received by a local government from the local communications services tax imposed under subsection (1) are less than the revenues received from the replaced revenue sources for the corresponding 2000-2001 period, as set forth in subparagraph 1., the local government shall use the best data available for the corresponding 2000-2001 period in making such determination. Complete data shall be deemed available to all local governments after the department audits, including the redistribution of local tax, dealers who account for no less than 80 percent of the amount of communications services tax revenues received for fiscal year 2005-2006.

3. The adjustment permitted under subparagraph 1. may be made by emergency ordinance or resolution and may be made notwithstanding the maximum rate established under s. 202.19(2) and notwithstanding any schedules or timeframes or any other limitations contained in this chapter. Beginning July 1, 2007, a local government may make such adjustment only if the department or a dealer allocates or reallocates revenues away from the local government. However, any such adjustment shall be made no later than 6 months following the date the department notifies the local governments in writing that complete data is available. The emergency ordinance or resolution shall specify an effective date for the adjusted rate, which shall be no less than 60 days after the date of adoption of the ordinance or resolution and shall be effective with respect to taxable services included on bills that are dated on the first day of a month subsequent to the expiration of the 60-day period. At the end of 1 year following the effective date of such adjusted rate, the local governing authority shall, as soon as is consistent with s. 202.21, reduce the rate by that portion of the emergency rate which was necessary to recoup the amount of revenues not received prior to the implementation of the emergency rate.

4. If, for the period October 1, 2001, through September 30, 2002, the revenues received by a local government from the local communications services tax conversion rate established under subsection (1), adjusted upward for the difference in rates between paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) or any other rate adjustments or base changes, are above the threshold of 10 percent more than the revenues received from the replaced revenue sources for the corresponding 2000-2001 period plus reasonably anticipated growth in such revenues over the preceding 1-year period, based on the average growth of such revenues over the immediately preceding 5-year period, the governing authority must adjust the rate of the local communications services tax to the extent necessary to reduce revenues to the threshold by emergency ordinance or resolution within the timeframes established in subparagraph 3. The foregoing rate adjustment requirement shall not apply to a local government that adopts a local communications services tax rate by resolution or ordinance. If complete data are not available at the time of determining whether the revenues exceed the threshold, the local government shall use the best data available for the corresponding 2000-2001 period in making such determination. This subparagraph shall not be construed as establishing a right of action for any person to enforce this subparagraph or challenge a local government’s implementation of this subparagraph.

(b) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, “replaced revenue sources,” as used in this section, means the following taxes, charges, fees, or other impositions to the extent that the respective local taxing jurisdictions were authorized to impose them prior to July 1, 2000.

1. With respect to municipalities and charter counties and the taxes authorized by s. 202.19(1):

a. The public service tax on telecommunications authorized by former s. 166.231(9).

b. Franchise fees on cable service providers as authorized by 47 U.S.C. s. 542.

c. The public service tax on prepaid calling arrangements.

d. Franchise fees on dealers of communications services which use the public roads or rights-of-way, up to the limit set forth in s. 337.401. For purposes of calculating rates under this section, it is the legislative intent that charter counties be treated as having had the same authority as municipalities to impose franchise fees on recurring local telecommunication service revenues prior to July 1, 2000. However, the Legislature recognizes that the authority of charter counties to impose such fees is in dispute, and the treatment provided in this section is not an expression of legislative intent that charter counties actually do or do not possess such authority.

e. Actual permit fees relating to placing or maintaining facilities in or on public roads or rights-of-way, collected from providers of long-distance, cable, and mobile communications services for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1999; however, if a municipality or charter county elects the option to charge permit fees pursuant to s. 337.401(3)(c), such fees shall not be included as a replaced revenue source.

2. With respect to all other counties and the taxes authorized in s. 202.19(1), franchise fees on cable service providers as authorized by 47 U.S.C. s. 542.

(3) For any county or school board that levies a discretionary surtax under s. 212.055, the rate of such tax on communications services as authorized by s. 202.19(5) shall be as follows:

The discretionary surtax conversion rate with respect to communications services reflected on bills dated on or after October 1, 2001, shall take effect without any further action by a county or school board that has levied a surtax on or before October 1, 2001. For a county or school board that levies a surtax subsequent to October 1, 2001, the discretionary surtax conversion rate with respect to communications services shall take effect upon the effective date of the surtax as provided in s. 212.054. The discretionary sales surtax rate on communications services for a county or school board levying a combined rate which is not listed in the table provided by this subsection shall be calculated by averaging or adding the appropriate rates from the table and rounding up to the nearest tenth of a percent.

History.—ss. 12, 58, ch. 2000-260; ss. 12, 38, ch. 2001-140; s. 31, ch. 2002-1; s. 12, ch. 2007-106; s. 37, ch. 2008-4; s. 1, ch. 2019-131.