CopyCited 20 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida
...This cause is before us on appeal from the Circuit Court, Broward County. In its final judgment the trial court, inter alia: 1) construed Article VII, Section 6, of the Constitution of the State of Florida, F.S.A.; [1] and, 2) passed upon the validity of Section 196.131, Florida Statutes, 1971, F.S.A., [2] giving this Court jurisdiction of the direct appeal under Article V, Section 3(b)(1), of the Constitution of the State of Florida....
...From the evidence, it is undisputed that Plaintiff taxpayer received a supplemental notice to renew his application for Homestead Exemption on or about March 21, 1972. Plaintiff inadvertently set aside the renewal application until April, 6, 1972, five (5) days after the April 1 deadline for such filing found in Section 196.131, Florida Statutes, at which time he mailed the application to the Tax Assessor....
..."Plaintiff's position is that Plaintiff has an absolute right to a Five Thousand Dollar Homestead Exemption and that the Tax Assessor may not deny an application for Homestead Exemption without prior notice and hearing under the Due Process Clauses of the United States and Florida Constitutions. "Plaintiff also alleges that Section 196.131, Florida Statutes, requiring each Homestead applicant to file no later than April 1 is arbitrary and unreasonable, and thereby in conflict with the Due Process Clauses of the United States and Florida Constitutions....
...shall be granted an exemption only `upon establishment of right thereto in the manner prescribed by law'. "2. Plaintiff failed to establish his right to Homestead Exemption for 1972 by failing to file his application by April 1, 1972, as required by Section 196.131, Florida Statutes. Furthermore, Plaintiff failed to offer any legal excuse or justification for his failure to file as required by law. "3. The April 1 filing deadline in Section 196.131, Florida Statutes, is not unconstitutional under the Due Process Clauses of the Florida or United States Constitutions....
...t held that plaintiff's 1972 application for homestead exemption had been properly denied by the Board of Tax Adjustment. It is appellant's position that the trial court erred in holding that neither the action of appellee in this case, nor Sections
196.131(1)(a) and
196.151, Florida Statutes, *199 F.S.A., deprived appellant of a property interest without due process of law, in contravention of the State and Federal Constitutions....
...Additionally, he argues that the foregoing sections of the Florida Statutes are unconstitutional, in that they failed to provide for procedural due process of law. Appellant also contends that the trial court erred in holding that the April 1 deadlines, contained in Sections
196.011,
196.131 and
196.151 of the Florida Statutes, F.S.A., do not contravene or conflict with the due process of law clauses of the State and Federal Constitutions....
CopyCited 10 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida
...1973), this Court was confronted with a question of a similar nature, specifically whether the right to a homestead exemption from taxation provided for in article VII, section 6, Florida Constitution, was an absolute right or whether it was subject to statutory conditions, specifically those contained in section 196.131, Florida Statutes (1971), mandating the completion of the exemption form by March 1 of each year....
...We held that the statutory conditions were a legitimate exercise of a legislative prerogative enacted upon the authority of that part of section 6 specifically providing for the establishment of right thereto in the manner prescribed by law. We stated that the manner prescribed by law was contained in section 196.131 and that failure to comply with its directive constituted a waiver of the right to the exemption for that year....
CopyCited 4 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 1990 WL 126327
...ppraiser's office instituted proceedings to acquaint property owners with this provision of the homestead exemption law. It is undisputed that until charges were filed against the Parrishes, no one in Leon County had been charged with a violation of section 196.131(2), Florida Statutes, [3] or with grand theft related to a charge of *464 providing false information on a homestead exemption form....
...tinue until such dwelling is physically occupied by the owner thereof; provided, however, that such abandonment of such homestead after January 1 of any year shall not affect the homestead exemption for tax purposes for that particular year; ... [3] § 196.131(2), Fla....
