{"id":26151,"date":"2023-07-17T18:48:26","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T18:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=26151"},"modified":"2023-07-17T18:48:28","modified_gmt":"2023-07-17T18:48:28","slug":"florida-court-of-appeal-rejects-county-assessors-attempt-to-tax-fixed-base-operators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/state-news\/florida\/florida-court-of-appeal-rejects-county-assessors-attempt-to-tax-fixed-base-operators\/%20","title":{"rendered":"Florida Court of Appeal Rejects County Assessor\u2019s Attempt to Tax Fixed Base Operators"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On July 7, 2023, the Florida Court of Appeal handed down a significant ruling<\/a> in favor of Fixed Base Operators (FBOs) providing aviation support services at municipal airports in Hillsborough County, Florida. The Court struck down a lower court ruling that subjected FBOs to ad valorem property taxes on leasehold interests at regional airports in the county. The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) filed an amicus (\u2018friend of the court\u201d) brief<\/a> arguing that the imposition of ad valorem taxes on FBOs was contrary to Florida law and harmful to the general aviation economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Court of Appeal\u2019s July 7 ruling correctly determined\nthat FBOs are exempt from property tax under Florida law thereby ensuring\ncontinued vitality and efficiency in the local general aviation space. The\nCourt wrote \u201c[t]he lessees\u2019 uses of the property are unique in that they must\noccur at the airport, and their uses are essential to airport operations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NATA President and CEO Curt Castagna stated, \u201cThe Court\u2019s\nruling removes a significant burden to general aviation operations in Florida\nand represents a resounding victory for economic efficiency and growth in our\nindustry. Our members around the country should be reassured that the\nlegislature and court system in Florida recognize the vital role that FBOs play\nin facilitating general aviation operations which contribute mightily to our\neconomy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Privately owned and operated FBOs provide aviation support\nservices such as tie-down and hangar service, refueling, ramp service,\nmaintenance, and flight training at thousands of general aviation airports\naround the country. These services are integral to the efficient operation of\nthe aviation ecosystem. While airport sponsors (e.g., municipal governments,\nstates, etc.) provide FBO services at many airports, approximately 55% of U.S.\nairports lease facilities to privately operated FBOs to provide aviation\nservices, products, and facilities. In these instances, privately operated FBOs\nperform functions that are \u201cgovernmental\u201d in nature and under Florida law are\nexempt from property taxes on their leasehold interests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019 the Hillsborough County assessor attempted to impose\nproperty taxes on FBOs operating under municipal leases at three general\naviation airports and Tampa International Airport. The imposition of these\ntaxes would have burdened the general aviation community and subjected airport\nusers to higher costs in comparison to surrounding areas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On July 7, 2023, the Florida Court of Appeal handed down a significant ruling in favor of Fixed Base Operators (FBOs) providing aviation support services at municipal airports in Hillsborough County, Florida. The Court struck down a lower court ruling that subjected FBOs to ad valorem property taxes on leasehold interests at regional airports in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-florida"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26151"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26152,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26151\/revisions\/26152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}