AI-assisted research summary: This section requires local tax officials to exchange and follow up on unpaid tax receipts, report progress on collection, charge a 10% fee, and remit collected funds promptly.
(a)Duty of Governing Body. —It shall be the duty of the governing body of each taxing unit to require reports from the tax collector at such times as it may prescribe (but not less frequently than in connection with the tax collector’s annual settlement) concerning the efforts he has made to locate taxpayers who have removed from the taxing unit, the efforts he has made to locate personal property in other taxing units belonging to delinquent taxpayers, and the efforts he has made under the provisions of this section to collect taxes. (b)Duty to Certify Unpaid Taxes. —If a taxpayer has no personal property or real property subject to the tax lien in the taxing unit but does have personal property in some other taxing unit in this State, or if a taxpayer has removed from the taxing unit, leaving no personal property or real property subject to the tax lien there, and is known to be in some other taxing unit in this State, the tax collector shall forward the tax receipt (with a certificate stating that the taxes are unpaid) for collection to the tax collector of the taxing unit in which the taxpayer is known to have personal property or in which he is known to be. The tax collector may not, however, certify an unpaid tax receipt to another taxing unit if 10 years have elapsed since the date the unpaid taxes became due. (c)Effect of Certificate; Duty of Receiving Tax Collector. —In the hands of the tax collector receiving them, the copy of the tax receipt and the certificate of nonpayment shall have the force and effect of an unpaid tax receipt of his own taxing unit, and it shall be the receiving tax collector’s duty to proceed immediately to collect the taxes by any means by which he could lawfully collect taxes of his own taxing unit. Within 30 days after receiving such a tax receipt and certificate, the collector receiving them shall report to the tax collector that sent them that he has collected the tax, that he has begun proceedings to collect the tax, or that he is unable to collect it. If the tax collector reports that he has begun proceedings to collect the tax, he shall, not later than 90 days after so reporting, make a final report to the tax collector who certified the tax receipt stating that he has collected the tax or that he is unable to collect it. (1)In acting on a tax receipt and certificate under the provisions of this section, the tax collector receiving them shall, in addition to collecting the amount of taxes certified as due, also impose a fee equal to ten percent (10%) of the amount of taxes certified as unpaid, to be paid into the general fund of his taxing unit. (2)Within five days after making a collection under the provisions of this section, the tax collector receiving the tax receipt and certificate shall remit the funds collected, less the fee provided for in subdivision (c)(1), above, to the tax collector of the taxing unit that levied the tax. (3)If the tax collector receiving the tax receipt and certificate reports that he is unable to collect the tax, he shall make his report under oath and shall state therein that he has used due diligence and is unable to collect the tax by levy, attachment and garnishment, or any other legal means. (d)Liability on Bond. —A tax collector who receives a tax receipt and certificate from the tax collector of another taxing unit under the provisions of subsection (b), above, shall be liable on his bond to the taxing unit that levied the tax for the amount of the taxes certified if: (1)The tax collector receiving the certified tax receipt fails to make any report to the certifying tax collector within 30 days after receiving the certified tax receipt. (2)The tax collector receiving the certified tax receipt fails to swear to any report stating that he is unable to collect the certified tax. (3)Having reported that he has begun proceedings to collect a certified tax, the tax collector receiving the certified tax receipt fails to make a final report within 90 days after reporting that he has begun proceedings for collection. History: History.1939, c. 310, s. 1714; 1955, c. 909; 1963, c. 132; 1971, c. 806, s. 1; 1973, c. 231.