Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...lorida Statutes. 4 Since this particular section was not relied on in the motion for summary judgment, we express no opinion on the validity of such an argument. Much argument on appeal has been directed to appellee’s potential tax exemption under section 196.1975, Florida Statutes....

...In 1984 the legislature passed chapter 84-138, section 1, Laws of Florida, which provides that life care communities financed through health facilities authority bonds are not exempt pursuant to section 154.2331 (formerly 154.233), but are exempt only in accordance with the provisions of section 196.1975, Florida Statutes....

...University Village is a retirement center which enters into “Life-Care Residency and Care Agreements” with its numerous residents. These agreements are continuing care contracts under chapter 651, Florida Statutes. University Village operates for profit. Cf. § 196.1975, Fla.Stat....

...Gen., Tallahassee, for appellant Miller. John Radey and M. David Alexander, III, and Elizabeth McArthur of Holland & Knight, Tallahassee, for appellee. COBB, Judge. In this appeal we are asked to review the constitutionality vel non of section *351 196.1975, Florida Statutes (1979), a tax exemption statute. [1] The relevant provisions of that statute provide: § 196.1975 Additional provisions for exempting property used by homes for the aged....

...Subsequently, the Board brought an action against the State Department of Revenue, the Marion County Property Appraiser and Tax Collector (hereinafter Department) challenging the 1980 tax assessment against the property by attacking the constitutionality of section 196.1975, Florida Statutes (1979)....

...The trial court conducted a hearing and rendered a final judgment in favor of the Board. In the final judgment, the court: (1) found the statute unconstitutional insofar as it treats foreign corporations differently from Florida corporations; (2) ordered the property appraiser to grant to the Board the section 196.1975 exemption; and (3) ordered the tax collector to refund to the Board the amount it paid in excess of the ad valorem taxes otherwise due if it had been granted the exemption....

...e language of the statute and the homestead exemption provisions set forth in section 196.031, Florida Statutes (1979), to the extent that both types of benefits are expressly tied to age and duration of residency. [3] The Department's argument that section 196.1975, Florida Statutes (1979), is intended as "an indirect homestead exemption" to Florida residents living in the home loses its force when considered in view of section 1 of that statute, which requires the owner to be a Florida corporation....

...No rational basis exists to deny these residents this "indirect homestead exemption." Moreover, the Department assumes that the owner will pass the benefits of the tax break on to the residents of the home, a dubious assumption at best. If, in fact, the legislative purpose of section 196.1975, Florida Statutes (1979), is to provide an "indirect homestead exemption," there is no rational basis between that purpose and the disparate treatment of non-Florida corporations....

...eceive the exemption. The language at issue in the final judgment is as follows: 2. The property appraiser of Marion County, Florida, the defendant, Rudy Muckenfuss, is ordered and directed to grant to the Board of Pensions the exemption provided in section 196.1975, Florida Statutes, for the years 1980 and 1981 and for such years thereafter as the Board of Pensions applies for the exemption and the exemption would otherwise be granted if the Board of Pensions were a Florida corporation....

...ction of "permanent home," and Ch. 82-133 § 1, Laws of Florida, deleted subsection (7)(b), which provided for an increase under the exemption under this section. [3] We do not address the constitutionality of the durational residency requirement of section 196.1975, Florida Statutes (1979), because the issue was not presented to the lower court.

shall be exempt from ad valorem taxes." (e.s.) Section 196.1975, Florida Statutes, allows an exemption for

...charitable exemption for the tax years 1979, 1980 and 1981. We dispose of the cross-appeal first. Appellee/cross-appellant attacked the denial of its claimed charitable exemptions on the basis of a constitutional challenge to section 196.012(6) and section 196.1975, Florida Statutes (1979)....

...Tower." What occurs is that the resident receives a "license" to occupy a residential unit during the remainder of his life. The medical/nursing facility of appellee has been granted a charitable exemption from taxes pursuant to sections 196.012 and 196.1975....

PER CURIAM. The trial court found that the “income test” in section 196.1975(4), Florida Statutes (1985), was constitutional....

...030(a)(2)(A)(v), Fla.R. App.P, we certify the following question to be of great public importance: Does the Court’s ruling in Presbyterian Homes v. Wood, 297 So.2d 556 (Fla.1974), continue to have vitality and, if so, does the “income test” in section 196.1975(4), Florida Statutes (1985), pass constitutional muster? GLICKSTEIN and HURLEY, JJ., and GODERICH, MARIO P., Associate Judge, concur.

ADKINS, Justice (Ret.). We have for review Evangelical Covenant Church of America v. Bauer, 482 So.2d 551 (Fla 4th DCA 1986), in which the Fourth District found the “income test” set forth in section 196.1975(4), Florida Statutes (1985), unconstitutional and certified the following question to this Court as one of great public importance: Does the Court’s ruling in Presbyterian Homes v. Wood, 297 So.2d 556 (Fla.1974), continue to have vitality and, if so, does the “income test” in section 196.1975(4), Florida Statutes (1985), pass constitutional muster? 482 So.2d at 552 ....

...We have jurisdiction, Article V, section 3(b)(4), Florida Constitution, and approve the decision of the district court. We therefore affirm the validity of our prior decision of Presbyterian Homes and once again strike as unconstitutional the “income test” set forth in section 196.1975(4)....

...We find these changes superficial rather than meaningful and substantive. None of the amendments change the constitutionally impermissible character of the income test previously noted in Presbyterian Homes . We therefore now utilize section *1241 196.1976, Florida Statutes (1985), which declares any portions of section 196.1975 found to be invalid severable, and order stricken as unconstitutional paragraph (4) of section 196.1975, Florida Statutes (1985)....

LETTS, Judge. The trial court found that certain residential units in a retirement village were exempt from 1986 ad valorem taxation, to the extent of $25,000 of the assessed value of each unit, under section 196.1975(8)(a), Florida Statutes (1985)....

...Further, the occupants must, in good faith, reside in said units with the intention of making them their permanent homes. As was said in Miller v. Board of Pensions of the United Presbyterian Church in United States of America, 431 So.2d 350 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983), section 196.1975 is an indirect homestead exemption for the aged....

...in the units with the intention of making them a permanent home and are required to put up a deposit. Inevitably, the agreement is a form of long-term rental contract. In sum, we believe these individual units qualify for the exemption set forth in section 196.1975(8)(a)....

...Raymond McIntyre, Highlands County property appraiser, of Fairhaven’s property and denying Fairhaven’s application for tax exemption for the years 1996, 1997, and 1998. We reverse. *111 Fairhaven operates a nonprofit home for the aged who meet qualifications specified in section 196.1975, Florida Statutes (1995)....

...Fairhaven presented evidence that for the years 1996, 1997, and 1998, its home was exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Fairhaven also introduced in evidence affidavits of its residents that accompanied its applications for exemption under section 196.1975....

...The trial court upheld McIntyre’s denial of Fairhaven’s applications for tax exemption on the ground that Fairhaven failed to establish that its property was used for a charitable purpose. Fairhaven contends that as a nonprofit home for the aged it satisfied the requirements of section 196.1975 and was therefore entitled to the exemption provided for in that statute....

...Homestead exemptions.— [[Image here]] (e) By general law and subject to conditions specified therein, the Legislature may provide to renters, who are permanent residents, ad valorem tax relief on all ad valorem tax levies. Such ad valo-rem tax relief shall be in the form and amount established by general law. Section 196.1975 provides that nonprofit homes for the aged are tax exempt if they qualify as not-for-profit corporations under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and at least seventy-five percent of their residents are over the age of sixty-two or are totally or permanently disabled. It is clear that Fairhaven met these requirements and thus qualified for the homestead exemption. See Markham v. John Knox Village of Fla., Inc., 547 So.2d 1044 (Fla. 4th DCA 1989) (holding that section 196.1975 is an indirect homestead exemption for the aged). McIntyre contends that in addition to the criteria set forth in section 196.1975, Fairhaven must also meet the requirements of section 196.195 (determining the profit or nonprofit status of an applicant) and section 196.196 (determining whether property is entitled to charitable, religious, scientific, or literary exemption), which are provisions of the Florida Statutes related *112 to article VII, section 3(a), of the Florida Constitution. We disagree. The legislative history of section 196.1975 indicates that prior to 1987, the exemption of a nonprofit home for the aged was based on article VII, section 3(a), of the Florida Constitution, requiring that the property be predominantly used for educational, literary, scientific, religious, or charitable purposes. Markham v. Evangelical Covenant Church of Am., 502 So.2d 1239 (Fla.1987); Presbyterian Homes v. Wood, 297 So.2d 556 (Fla.1974). The legislature has currently continued these classifications by the provisions of section 196.1975, but under section 6(e) of article VII of the Florida Constitution, which provides tax relief to renters who are permanent residents. Markham v. John Knox Village of Fla., Inc., 547 So.2d at 1044 . Section 196.1975(7) provides: It is hereby declared to be the intent of the Legislature that subsection (3) implements the ad valorem tax exemption authorized in the third sentence of s....

...VII, State Constitution, and the remaining subsections implement s. 6(e), Art. VII, State Constitution, for purposes of granting such exemption to homes for the aged. Because Fairhaven qualified as a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) and met the requirements of section 196.1975(1) and (2), it was entitled to the homestead exemption relief sought for the years 1996, 1997, and 1998, without regard to the “charitable” use of the property. Therefore, the trial court’s consideration of section 196.195(4), and its finding that this section of the statute was unconstitutional, was error. 1 The trial court’s inquiry should have been based solely on the application of section 196.1975....