Bill > SF635

Introduced Session

This bill authorizes a volunteer emergency services provider, as defined in Code section 100B.14(2), whose homestead is located in the local service area for which the provider is a volunteer and who has been a volunteer emergency services provider for five or more years, earns less than $5,000 per year for service as a volunteer emergency services provider, and is in good standing with the provider’s volunteer agency or entity, to file a petition with the county board of supervisors, requesting abatement of property taxes and special assessments assessed on the individual’s homestead and giving other information as the board may require. The bill requires the emergency service provider’s chief officer to sign and certify the petition specifying the emergency service provider is in good standing with the agency. The petition shall be filed by October 1 with the board of supervisors specifying the type of abatement sought under the bill. Following receipt of the petition, the board of supervisors shall forward a copy of the petition to the governing body of each taxing authority that levies taxes or special assessments on the homestead. If the board of supervisors determines a petitioner has satisfied all relevant criteria, the abatement shall apply to all applicable taxes and special assessments on the homestead, excluding those for which an objection by the governing body taxing authority was filed with or approved by the board of supervisors within 30 days of the board providing a copy of the petition. The bill requires the taxing authority to renew the objection each year the taxes and special assessments are abated. By December 31, the board of supervisors may order the abatement of the taxes and special assessments that are assessed against the petitioner’s homestead for the assessment year during which the petition is filed and, if specified by the board, the taxes and special assessments for one or more future years, subject to the petitioner continuing to meet the qualifications of the bill. The approved abatement shall not exceed the following: (1) for a volunteer emergency services provider that has not been a volunteer for at least 10 years, an abatement of 10 percent of all applicable taxes and special assessments imposed on the homestead, not to exceed $500; and (2) for a volunteer emergency service provider who has been a volunteer emergency service provider for 20 or more years, an abatement of 10 percent of all applicable taxes and special assessments imposed on the homestead, not to exceed $500, during the remainder of the volunteer emergency service provider’s life so long as the provider’s homestead is in the local service area of the agency or entity for which the provider was a volunteer. The bill also specifies the method of apportioning the abatement among each applicable levy and special assessment. The bill takes effect upon enactment and applies to property taxes due and payable in fiscal years beginning on or after July 1, 2026.

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Read first time, referred to Ways and Means. H.J. 1080. (on 04/30/2025)

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