Payment in lieu of taxes for lands acquired for water management district purposes.

(1) Beginning July 1, 1999, funds shall be reserved annually by a governing board, during the development of its annual operating budget, for payments in lieu of taxes for all actual ad valorem tax losses incurred as a result of all governing board acquisitions for water management district purposes.

(2) Payment in lieu of taxes shall be available:

(a) To all counties that have a population of 150,000 or fewer. Population levels shall be determined pursuant to s. 186.901. The population estimates published April 1 and used in the revenue-sharing formula pursuant to s. 186.901 shall be used to determine eligibility under this subsection and shall apply to payments made for the subsequent fiscal year.

(b) To all local governments located in eligible counties and whose lands are bought and taken off the tax rolls.

For properties acquired after January 1, 2000, in the event that such properties otherwise eligible for payment in lieu of taxes under this subsection are leased or reserved and remain subject to ad valorem taxes, payments in lieu of taxes shall commence or recommence upon the expiration or termination of the lease or reservation. If the lease is terminated for only a portion of the lands at any time, the annual payments shall be made for that portion only commencing the year after such termination, without limiting the requirement that annual payments shall be made on the remaining portion or portions of the land as the lease on each expires. For the purposes of this subsection, “local government” includes municipalities and the county school board.

(3) If sufficient funds are unavailable in any year to make full payments to all qualifying counties and local governments, such counties and local governments shall receive a pro rata share of the moneys available.

(4) The payment amount shall be based on the average amount of actual ad valorem taxes paid on the property for the 3 years preceding acquisition. Applications for payment in lieu of taxes shall be made no later than May 31 of the year for which payment is sought. No payment in lieu of taxes shall be made for properties which were exempt from ad valorem taxation for the year immediately preceding acquisition.

(5) If property that was subject to ad valorem taxation was acquired by a tax-exempt entity for ultimate conveyance to the state under this chapter, payment in lieu of taxes shall be made for such property based upon the average amount of ad valorem taxes paid on the property for the 3 years prior to its being removed from the tax rolls. The water management districts shall certify to the Department of Revenue those properties that may be eligible under this provision. Once eligibility has been established, that governmental entity shall receive annual payments for each tax loss until the qualifying governmental entity exceeds the population threshold pursuant to subsection (2).

(6) Payment in lieu of taxes pursuant to this section shall be made annually to qualifying counties and local governments after certification by the Department of Revenue that the amounts applied for are reasonably appropriate, based on the amount of actual ad valorem taxes paid on the eligible property, and after the water management districts have provided supporting documents to the Chief Financial Officer and have requested that payment be made in accordance with the requirements of this section. With the assistance of the local government requesting payment in lieu of taxes, the water management district that acquired the land is responsible for preparing and submitting application requests for payment to the Department of Revenue for certification.

(7) If a water management district conveys to a county or local government title to any land owned by the district, any payments in lieu of taxes on the land made to the county or local government shall be discontinued as of the date of the conveyance.