Bill Text: FL S0928 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Low-income and Moderate-income Homeowners [EPSC]
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2010-04-30 - Died in Committee on Community Affairs [S0928 Detail]
Download: Florida-2010-S0928-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2010 SB 928 By Senator Wilson 33-00946-10 2010928__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to low-income and moderate-income 3 homeowners; providing for counties to establish a fund 4 for providing no-interest loans to assist low-income 5 and moderate-income homeowners in paying homeowners’ 6 insurance premiums; authorizing the governing 7 authority of a county to levy surtaxes on building 8 related permits to finance the assistance fund; 9 limiting the amount a family may receive from the fund 10 in any year; requiring that a loan be repaid if the 11 homestead is sold or refinanced; requiring that any 12 proceeds from refinancing or selling a homestead be 13 deposited back into the fund; defining the terms “low 14 income family” and “moderate-income family”; providing 15 requirements for the ordinance levying the surtax and 16 creating the fund; specifying the amount of the 17 surtaxes; providing limitations on the use of the 18 fund; providing for the program to be adopted 19 initially by the governing authority of certain 20 constitutional charter counties and for later adoption 21 in the remaining counties of the state; providing 22 effective dates. 23 24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 25 26 Section 1. Low-Income and Moderate-Income Homeowners’ 27 Insurance Premium Assistance Pilot Program.— 28 (1) The governing authority of each county may levy a 29 discretionary surtax on building-related permits for the purpose 30 of establishing and financing a Low and Moderate Income 31 Insurance Assistance Fund. This fund shall be used to make no 32 interest loans to assist low-income and moderate-income families 33 who own homestead property in paying their homeowners’ insurance 34 premiums. These loans shall be made on a first-come, first-to 35 qualify basis. Seventy-five percent of the revenue in the fund 36 in each county shall be used to provide loan assistance to low 37 income families and 25 percent of the revenue in the fund shall 38 be used to provide loan assistance to moderate-income families. 39 The maximum amount of any loan that a low-income family or 40 moderate-income family may receive from the fund is $2,000 per 41 year, and a check from the fund must be made payable to the 42 homeowner’s insurance company. When a homeowner who has received 43 a loan from the fund sells or refinances his or her homestead 44 property, that loan must be repaid from the proceeds of the sale 45 or refinancing. Repayment of a loan made from the fund may be 46 collected by the method provided for in ss. 197.3632 and 47 197.3635, Florida Statutes, for non-ad valorem assessments, and 48 may also be collected by any alternative method that is 49 authorized by law. Any proceeds of repayment must be deposited 50 into the Low and Moderate Income Insurance Assistance Fund. As 51 used in this section, “low-income family” means a family whose 52 income does not exceed 80 percent of the median income for the 53 area and “moderate-income family” means a family whose income is 54 in excess of 80 percent but less than 140 percent of the median 55 income for the area. 56 (2) The levy of the discretionary surtax and the creation 57 of a Low and Moderate Income Insurance Assistance Fund shall be 58 by an ordinance that sets forth the policies and procedures of 59 the assistance program. The discretionary surtax must be levied 60 as set forth in subsection (3). The ordinance shall be proposed 61 at a regular meeting of the governing authority at least 2 weeks 62 prior to formal adoption. Formal adoption is not effective 63 unless approved on final vote by a majority of the total 64 membership of the governing authority. The ordinance may not 65 take effect until 90 days after formal adoption. 66 (3) The county shall levy the discretionary surtax as 67 follows: 68 (a) One dollar per permit for building-related permits that 69 are less than $11. 70 (b) Two dollars per permit for building-related permits 71 that are $11 to $99.99. 72 (c) Five dollars per permit for building-related permits 73 that are $100 to $499.99. 74 (d) Twenty-five dollars per permit for building-related 75 permits that are $500 to $999.99. 76 (e) Fifty dollars per permit for building-related permits 77 that are $1,000 or more. 78 (4) The county shall deposit 90 percent of the revenues 79 from the discretionary surtax in the Low and Moderate Income 80 Insurance Assistance Fund of the county. Ten percent of the 81 revenues may be used for administrative costs. Any interest 82 earned from the fund must remain in the fund. The county shall 83 use the revenues in the fund only to offer low-income and 84 moderate-income families financial assistance with their 85 homeowners’ insurance premium payments on their homestead 86 property, to pay necessary costs of collection and enforcement 87 of the surtax, and to fund any local matching contributions 88 required pursuant to federal law for the Low-Income and 89 Moderate-Income Homeowners’ Insurance Premium Assistance Pilot 90 Program. The proceeds of the surtax may not be used for rent 91 subsidies or grants. 92 Section 2. Effective July 1, 2010, the Low-Income and 93 Moderate-Income Homeowners’ Insurance Premium Assistance Pilot 94 Program may be adopted only by the governing authority of a 95 county as defined in s. 125.011(1), Florida Statutes. Effective 96 July 1, 2011, the Low-Income and Moderate-Income Homeowners’ 97 Insurance Premium Assistance Pilot Program may be adopted by the 98 governing authorities of the remaining counties in the state. 99 Section 3. Except as otherwise expressly provided in this 100 act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2010.
