Item # 7 (Attachment: FS 194.035) Select Year: 2018 • Go
The 2018 Florida Statutes
Title XIV Chapter 194 View Entire
TAXATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL REVIEW OF PROPERTY Chapter
FINANCE TAXES
194.035 Special magistrates; property evaluators.—
(1) In counties having a population of more than 75,000, the board shall appoint special magistrates for the
purpose of taking testimony and making recommendations to the board, which recommendations the board may
act upon without further hearing. These special magistrates may not be elected or appointed officials or
employees of the county but shall be selected from a list of those qualified individuals who are willing to serve as
special magistrates. Employees and elected or appointed officials of a taxing jurisdiction or of the state may not
serve as special magistrates. The clerk of the board shall annually notify such individuals or their professional
associations to make known to them that opportunities to serve as special magistrates exist. The Department of
Revenue shall provide a list of qualified special magistrates to any county with a population of 75,000 or less.
Subject to appropriation, the department shall reimburse counties with a population of 75,000 or less for payments
made to special magistrates appointed for the purpose of taking testimony and making recommendations to the
value adjustment board pursuant to this section. The department shall establish a reasonable range for payments
per case to special magistrates based on such payments in other counties. Requests for reimbursement of payments
outside this range shall be justified by the county. If the total of all requests for reimbursement in any year
exceeds the amount available pursuant to this section, payments to all counties shall be prorated accordingly. If a
county having a population less than 75,000 does not appoint a special magistrate to hear each petition, the person
or persons designated to hear petitions before the value adjustment board or the attorney appointed to advise the
value adjustment board shall attend the training provided pursuant to subsection (3), regardless of whether the
person would otherwise be required to attend, but shall not be required to pay the tuition fee specified in
subsection (3). A special magistrate appointed to hear issues of exemptions, classifications, and determinations
that a change of ownership, a change of ownership or control, or a qualifying improvement has occurred shall be a
member of The Florida Bar with no less than 5 years' experience in the area of ad valorem taxation. A special
magistrate appointed to hear issues regarding the valuation of real estate shall be a state certified real estate
appraiser with not less than 5 years' experience in real property valuation. A special magistrate appointed to hear
issues regarding the valuation of tangible personal property shall be a designated member of a nationally
recognized appraiser's organization with not less than 5 years' experience in tangible personal property valuation.
A special magistrate need not be a resident of the county in which he or she serves. A special magistrate may not
represent a person before the board in any tax year during which he or she has served that board as a special
magistrate. Before appointing a special magistrate, a value adjustment board shall verify the special magistrate's
qualifications. The value adjustment board shall ensure that the selection of special magistrates is based solely
upon the experience and qualifications of the special magistrate and is not influenced by the property appraiser.
The special magistrate shall accurately and completely preserve all testimony and, in making recommendations to
the value adjustment board, shall include proposed findings of fact, conclusions of law, and reasons for upholding
or overturning the determination of the property appraiser. The expense of hearings before magistrates and any
compensation of special magistrates shall be borne three-fifths by the board of county commissioners and two-
fifths by the school board. When appointing special magistrates or when scheduling special magistrates for specific
hearings, the board, the board attorney, and the board clerk may not consider the dollar amount or percentage of
any assessment reductions recommended by any special magistrate in the current year or in any previous year.
(2) The value adjustment board of each county may employ qualified property appraisers or evaluators to
appear before the value adjustment board at that meeting of the board which is held for the purpose of hearing
complaints. Such property appraisers or evaluators shall present testimony as to the just value of any property the
value of which is contested before the board and shall submit to examination by the board, the taxpayer, and the
property appraiser.
(3) The department shall provide and conduct training for special magistrates at least once each state fiscal
year in at least five locations throughout the state. Such training shall emphasize the department's standard
measures of value, including the guidelines for real and tangible personal property. Notwithstanding subsection (1),
a person who has 3 years of relevant experience and who has completed the training provided by the department
under this subsection may be appointed as a special magistrate. The training shall be open to the public. The
department shall charge tuition fees to any person attending this training in an amount sufficient to fund the
department's costs to conduct all aspects of the training. The department shall deposit the fees collected into the
Certification Program Trust Fund pursuant to s. 195.002(2).
History.—s. 22, ch. 83-204; s. 148, ch. 91-112; s. 981, ch. 95-147; s. 4, ch. 2002-18; s. 72, ch. 2004-11; s. 5, ch. 2008-197; s. 12, ch.
2016-128.
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