Every year, a roster of new laws go into effect. Here are the new 2022 Florida laws ranging from environmental issues to mortgages, septic tanks to landfills. These new 2022 Florida laws were passed by the 2022 Florida Legislature and ratified by Gov. Ron DeSantis and went into effect July 1, 2022:
Hometown Heroes – The 2022-2023 fiscal year budget (HB 5001) includes $100 million to fund the Hometown Hero Housing Program. This is a program that was backed strongly by Florida Realtors®. The revolving loan program helps with upfront homeownership costs for qualified firefighters, law enforcement officers, teachers, nurses and other hometown hero professions when they become homeowners. The program offers zero-interest loans which will help with down payments as well as closing costs. When the home is sold, rented or refinanced, the loan is repaid and other essential workers can benefit from the funds.
Home hardening initiative and other tax breaks for Floridians – HB 7071 includes the “home hardening” initiative. This was a 2022 Florida Realtors’ legislative priority. The bill provides sales tax relief to homeowners who harden or improve their homes from storms and storm damage. There’s also an abatement of all property taxes for the collapsed Surfside condo owners as well as pro-rated refunds of property taxes on residential properties rendered uninhabitable by a catastrophic event for at least 30 days. Furthermore, the bill offers a sales tax reduction on new manufactured homes as well as it provides several sales tax holidays
Flooding and sea level rise resilience – HB 7053 establishes the Statewide Office of Resilience with a minimum of $100 million in funding to be identified annually in a comprehensive and ranked list of resilience projects to help combat sea level rise in Florida.
Private property rights – HB 518 is an important addition to the new 2022 Florida laws for property owners who want to prune, trim and remove trees that present a danger to their property. This bill reinforces a 2019 law that prohibited local governments from requiring permits in order to take out “dangerous” trees on residential property.
Everglades –The 2022-2023 fiscal year budget (HB 5001) included funds for the Everglades Restoration ($425 million), Lake Okeechobee Watershed Restoration ($450 million), springs restoration ($75 million), beaches ($50 million), Biscayne Bay ($20 million), the Wastewater Grant Program ($125 million) and the Resilient Florida Grant Program ($470 million). Our green spaces and wetlands are a priority to manage and we’re happy to see that they’re addressed in the new 2022 Florida laws.
There are more laws that went into effect in July but these were just some of the highlights of the new 2022 Florida laws.
