CopyAgo (Fla. Att'y Gen. 1995).
Published | Florida Attorney General Reports
...t or current taxes that are held or owned by the county or the state on land acquired by the county for those county purposes set forth therein. While current taxes on these lands may be prorated and cancelled by other taxing authorities pursuant to section
196.29 , Florida Statutes, the Board of County Commissioners may not undertake to cancel or discharge liens for taxes owed to any taxing entity other than the county or the state pursuant to section
196.28 , Florida Statutes....
...e of the statute. 4 Further, the Legislature has made provision for proration and cancellation of taxes imposed by other governmental entities against property acquired by a county but these provisions for cancellation exist outside section
196.28 . Section
196.29 , Florida Statutes, states that: Whenever any county, school board, or community college district board of trustees of this state has heretofore acquired, or shall hereafter acquire, title to any real property, the taxes of all political subdivisions, as defined in s....
...Thus, the Legislature has made provision for the proration and cancellation of current taxes imposed by all political subdivisions on land acquired by a county. 5 A method for guaranteeing that the taxes on property will be collected for the period prior to the transfer of ownership to a governmental unit is set forth in section 196.295 , Florida Statutes. In the event that land is transferred to an exempt entity, such as the county, section 196.295 (2), Florida Statutes, mandates taxpayer liability for those taxes due from prior years on such property....
...In sum, it is my opinion that section
196.28 , Florida Statutes, authorizes the Lee County Board of County Commissioners to cancel and discharge liens for either delinquent or current taxes that may be held by the county or by the state upon lands acquired by the county for the public purposes set forth therein. Section
196.29 , Florida Statutes, authorizes the proration 6 of taxes levied by all political subdivisions 7 against property acquired by a county during that portion of the year prior to such acquisition and the cancellation of the remainder of such taxes for that year....
...Sea Isle Hotel,
56 So.2d 341 , 342 (Fla. 1952); Biddle v. State Beverage Department,
187 So.2d 65 , 67 (Fla. 4th DCA 1966), for the proposition that where a statute sets forth exceptions, no others may be implied to be intended. 5 Cf., Op. Att'y Gen. 71-291, in which this office read section
196.29 , Fla....
...(1971), strictly to allow the cancellation or proration of taxes for that tax year upon government-owned lands only when such lands were owned by those governmental entities set forth in the statute (at that time only the county or school board were set forth therein). 6 Section 196.295 (1), Florida Statutes, provides that: In the event fee title to property is acquired between January 1 and November 1 of any year by a governmental unit exempt under this chapter by any means except condemnation or is acquired by any...
...This fund shall be used to pay any ad valorem taxes due, and the remainder of taxes which would otherwise have been due for that current year shall stand canceled. 7 The term "political subdivisions" is defined in section
1.01 , Fla. Stat., and that definition is adopted by s.
196.29 , Fla....
