Florida Administrative Code
12 - DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
12D - Property Tax Oversight Program
Chapter 12D-2 - ASSESSMENT OF THE PROPERTY OF RAILROADS, RAILROAD TERMINAL COMPANIES, PRIVATE CAR, FREIGHT LINE AND EQUIPMENT COMPANIES BY THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
Section 12D-2.006 - Determination of Assessment and Allocation of Just Value to This State

(a) The Department shall examine the returns required by these regulations and such other information as the Department may obtain and shall determine the just value of the railroad and railroad terminal company's entire operating system, whether located entirely within this state or partially within this state. Just value shall be determined by application of the unit rule method of valuation.

(b) In application of the unit rule method of valuation, the Department shall consider the value indications obtained from three approaches to the system value, i.e., (1) cost approach, (2) market or stock and debt approach, (3) capitalized earnings or income approach, assuming there is enough conclusive evidence within the respective approach to render it a valid indicator of value. If the Department feels that there is not enough data available to render one or more of the approaches reliable, the Department shall base its decision on that information which it determines is conclusive enough to indicate just value.

(c) The Department shall allocate that portion of the total system value of railroad and railroad terminal companies to this state based on factors which are representative of the ratio that the company's property, activity, and productiveness in this state bears to the company's property, activity, and productiveness everywhere. Such factors include:

(a) The Department shall examine the returns required by these rules and such other information as the Department may obtain concerning the just value of the rolling stock belonging to a private car or freight line and equipment company operating in or through this state, and shall determine the average just value per car for each of the company's cars operating in this state.

(b) The product of the average just value per car and the "average number of cars habitually present within Florida" shall constitute the just value of the average number of cars habitually present within Florida.

(c) The "average number of cars habitually present within Florida, " for purposes of ad valorem taxation, may be based upon the number of such cars present in this state during the twelve months preceding the year of assessment. However, if the basis for this determination is not representative of the average number of cars habitually present within Florida in the year of assessment, the Department shall rely on the best information available to it.

(d) In making its determination of the "average number of cars habitually present within Florida, " the Department shall rely on the best information available to it, and in lieu of acceptable evidence to the contrary, the determination shall be based upon the quotient of the average daily mileage traveled in Florida by all of the company's cars divided by the average miles traveled per day in Florida by a car of that company. The "average daily mileage traveled in Florida" shall be the quotient of total mileage traveled in Florida for the year divided by 365 or such lesser period for which operations have actually existed. Unless proven otherwise by substantial evidence, the average miles traveled per day in Florida by a company's car shall be presumed to be the average miles traveled per day by a company's car everywhere that operations exist. The average miles traveled per day by a company's car everywhere shall be the quotient of the company's average daily mileage divided by the total number of cars in its fleet, including all idle cars.

(e) When reliable information is available, and it can be substantiated that a more accurate value results, the "average number of cars habitually present within Florida" may be determined by the product of the total number of cars in a company's rolling stock, including all idle cars, and the quotient of the actual time spent by those cars within Florida as opposed to time spent elsewhere.