Okaloosa County BOCC — April 27, 2013 — reading text

Regatta Bay Master Plan)  5.3.h Packet Pg. 57 Attachment: Regatta Bay I - Sightline Compatibility (1413 : Public Hearing - Regatta Bay Master Plan) Packet Pg. 58 5.3.i Attachment: Regatta Bay MP (1413 : Public Hearing - Regatta Bay Master Plan) Packet Pg. 59 5.3.j Attachment: REgatta Bay MP Proposed (1413 : Public Hearing - Regatta Bay Master Plan) Packet Pg. 60 5.3.j Attachment: REgatta Bay MP Proposed (1413 : Public Hearing - Regatta Bay Master Plan)  5.4 BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: March 19, 2013 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: John Dowd, County Attorney SUBJECT: Public Hearing - Business Tax Receipt Ordinance Documents are attached related to proposed revisions to the County Business Tax Ordinance. Packet Pg. 61  5.4.a AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF OKALOOSA COUNTY FLORIDA; AMENDING OKALOOSA COUNTY ORDINANCE NO. 07-12, AS AMENDED, KNOWN AS THE OKALOOSA Attachment: Business Tax Ordinance (final) 3-19-13 (1523 : Public Hearing - Business Tax Receipt Ordinance) COUNTY BUSINESS TAX ORDINANCE; AMENDING AND CLARIFYING THE BUSINESS TAX SCHEDULE; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES OR PROVISIONS THEREOF IN CONFLICT HEREWITH, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF OKALOOSA COUNTY, FLORIDA: SECTION 1. Sections 12-31 through Section 12-34 of the Okaloosa County Code of Ordinances are hereby amended to read: “Sec. 12-31. - Levy. Okaloosa County hereby levies a local business tax and authorizes the issuance of business tax receipts as authorized by Chapter 205, Florida Statutes. Sec. 12-32. - Statutory classification. The classification for the measurement of the business tax shall be as authorized under the applicable provisions of Chapter 205, Florida Statutes. A business tax receipt is not a license to conduct business nor does it make any claims as to the competency or qualities of the business, occupation, or profession. Sec. 12-33. - Penalties. (a)It is unlawful for any person or other legal entity to engage in any occupation without first obtaining the business tax receipt required hereby. (b)Any person or other legal entity who violates any provision of this article shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished as provided in section 1-10 of this Code. Sec. 12-34. –Business Tax Schedule (1) The classifications as defined in Chapter 205, Florida Statutes and rates applicable for the business tax are as follows: Packet Pg. 62  5.4.a (a) Annual business tax rate for all businesses located in Okaloosa County shall be $35 (Thirty-Five dollars) per year beginning July 1, 2013. (b) Beginning July 1, 2013; Existing businesses with a business Attachment: Business Tax Ordinance (final) 3-19-13 (1523 : Public Hearing - Business Tax Receipt Ordinance) tax rate of $12.50 (Twelve dollars Fifty cents) per year, or less, will be grandfathered in to receive a business tax rate of $25 (Twenty-Five dollars). These tax rates shall be increased by 5 percent every other year until the annual rate of $35 (Thirty-Five dollars) per year is reached.” SECTION 2. This Ordinance shall take effect upon receipt of official acknowledgment from the Department of State of the State of Florida that it has been filed and does hereby repeal all Ordinances or provisions thereof in conflict herewith. PASSED AND ADOPTED in regular session on this the 19th day of March, 2013. OKALOOSA COUNTY, a political Subdivision of the State of Florida By:________________________ DON R. AMUNDS, CHAIRMAN BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS ATTEST: _____________________ DON W. HOWARD CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT Packet Pg. 63  5.4.b PUBLIC NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of County Commissioners of Okaloosa County, Florida, will hold a public hearing on March 19, 2013, at 9:00 A. M. in the Commissioners Attachment: Business Tax Ordinance - Public Notice (1523 : Public Hearing - Business Tax Receipt Ordinance) Meeting Room at the Okaloosa County Water and Sewer Administration Building, 1804 Lewis Turner Boulevard, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, to consider the adoption of a County Ordinance, the title of which is: AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF OKALOOSA COUNTY FLORIDA; AMENDING OKALOOSA COUNTY ORDINANCE NO. 07-12, AS AMENDED, KNOWN AS THE OKALOOSA COUNTY BUSINESS TAX ORDINANCE; AMENDING AND CLARIFYING THE BUSINESS TAX SCHEDULE; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES OR PROVISIONS THEREOF IN CONFLICT HEREWITH, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. The proposed classifications and rate schedule are: (a) Annual business tax rate for all businesses located in Okaloosa County shall be $35 (Thirty-Five dollars) per year beginning July 1, 2013. (b) Beginning July 1, 2013; Existing businesses with a business tax rate of $12.50 (Twelve dollars Fifty cents) per year, or less, will be grandfathered in to receive a business tax rate of $25 (Twenty-Five dollars). These tax rates shall be increased by 5 percent every other year until the annual rate of $35 (Thirty-Five dollars) per year is reached. Copies of the proposed Ordinance may be inspected by the public at the office of Gary Stanford, Deputy Clerk of Circuit Court, at the Okaloosa County Courthouse, Crestview, Florida, and at the Clerk of Circuit Court's office, Okaloosa County Courthouse Annex, Shalimar, Florida. Interested parties may appear at the meeting and be heard with respect to the proposed Ordinance. If a person decides to appeal any decision made with respect to any matter considered at such meeting, such person will need a record of the proceeding and, for such purpose, such person may need to insure that a verbatim record of the proceeding is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be based. Packet Pg. 64  5.4.b If a written request is made by a physically handicapped person at least 48 hours prior to said meeting, accommodations will be made by the Chairman of the Board for access of said person to the meeting. Attachment: Business Tax Ordinance - Public Notice (1523 : Public Hearing - Business Tax Receipt Ordinance) BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OKALOOSA COUNTY, FLORIDA By: DON W. HOWARD Clerk of Circuit Court TO BE PUB: February 28, 2013 Packet Pg. 65  5.4.c From: Jim Curry To: Karen Rossi Subject: March 19: FW: Business Tax Ordinance Date: Monday, March 11, 2013 9:27:57 AM Attachments: Bus Tax Ord Draft.docx Sec 1-10 General Penalty.docx Importance: High Attachment: Business Tax Ordinance Parisot email (1523 : Public Hearing - Business Tax Receipt Ordinance) Karen - The commissioner wants to include the below email and the attachments for this agenda item. -----Original Message----- From: Dave Parisot Sent: Monday, March 11, 2013 6:48 AM To: John Dowd Cc: Jim Curry Subject: BCC Agenda Item for March 19: FW: Business Tax Ordinance Importance: High Mr. Dowd: I respectfully request that this email (to include the attachments hereto) and the two emails dated Feb. 21 in this "string" be included in the Agenda Packet for the Public Hearing scheduled for March 19, 2013. The following is my reply to Mr. Anderson's letter of Feb. 20, 2013: 1. In regard to Mr. anderson's accusation that I "blatantly" disregarded the Equity Study Commission's in regard to an Itinerant Business Tax, that is not true. The draft of the proposal for an Itinerant Business Tax that was rejected by the Equity Study Commission was quite different than the draft I proposed in the revision of our current County Ordinance on business taxes. In fact, during taped discussions of this topic at the Equity Study Commission meeting on June 26, 2012, Mr. Anderson and Mr. Allen commmented that they would prefer that these mobile or itinerrant businesses who come to Okaloosa County periodically for festivals, shows, etc., be charged the same business tax of $35.00 per year as any local businesses. This was also approved in discussion by members of the Equity Study Commission, i.e., to treat the itinerant businesses the same as a local business with a permanent address in Okaloosa County. Without addressing this in our proposed Ordinance revision, it seems to me that a business tax cannot be charged to such itinerrant businesses. 2. In the draft (See attachement to this email) of the Business Tax Ordinance I emailed to you on Feb. 15, 2013, in order to make the County Ordinance more of a "stand-alone" document, I incorporated many of the provisions of Chapter 205, Florida Statutes.    A. Sec. 12-33 (Dates due,delinquencies, and penalties) is a quote from para. 205.053 of F.S. 205. However, on the "penalty" section, I proposed fine amounts lower than what is in the F.S. 205 which authorizes penalties up to $250.   As we have previously discussed many times, the penalty section of our County Ordinances, i.e., Sec. 1-10 (see attachment 2) makes just about everything a misdemeanor or felony, with fines up to $500 and/or up to 60 days in the county jail, and the Courts must get involved to actually assess the penalty for each instance. In addition, since this is a Public Hearing, I assumed the dollar amounts for any fines would be discussed and adjusted if desired by the Board at the Public Hearing. In fact, these fine amounts are what were recommended by Mr. Josh Allen of the Tax Collector office at a meeting I had with him in June 2012 when he highlighted the high number of delinquencies his office was experiencing in payment of or late applications for the