CopyCited 14 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 1992 WL 140998
...Dev. Auth. v. State,
427 So.2d 174 (Fla. 1983). However, if we conclude that neither is involved, then the paramount public purpose test is not applicable and "it is enough to show only that a public purpose is served." Linscott,
443 So.2d at 101. Section
298.36(1), Florida Statutes (1989), authorizes the board of supervisors of a water control district to "levy a tax" in proportion to the benefits to be derived from the works and improvements of the district....
...d maintain security structures to control the use of said roads." Ch. 89-462, § 6, Laws of Fla. Chapter 298, Florida Statutes (1989), also authorizes water control districts to issue bonds to pay for the costs of proposed improvements. See, e.g., §§
298.36(2),
298.47, Fla....
CopyCited 8 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida
...As a result of such hearing, the interlocutory order on appeal was entered on December 9, 1971 by the Circuit Court. The order dismissed the complaint primarily on two grounds. First, assessments levied by the Supervisors of Lake Howell Water and Reclamation District pursuant to Section 298.36, Florida Statutes, F.S.A....
CopyCited 6 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
...rued to include drainage assesments, as that act had no retroactive effect. City of Miami v. Board of Public Instruction, supra. Appellee has contended that legislative authorization for the instant special assessment can be found in the language of § 298.36, Fla. Stat., F.S.A., which allows an assessment or tax for drainage benefits upon "all lands in the district to which benefits have been assessed." That general authority to levy taxes on lands to which benefits have been assessed as provided for in § 298.36 was made without any reference to property of the Board of Public Instruction; and as shown by Blake v....
CopyPublished | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal
...The SFWMD decided it was exempt from
assessments imposed by Hobe. Martin came to the same conclusion and
made no further payments.
In 2018, Martin sued Hobe for judicial review of the assessments and
for declaratory relief. 3 It argued sovereign immunity prevented Hobe from
imposing taxes. It relied on section 298.36(1), Florida Statutes (2016), to
argue that Hobe could only impose assessments on state-owned lands,
and not lands owned by political subdivisions.
Section 298.36(1) states:
The benefits, and all lands in said district belonging to the
state, shall be assessed to, and the taxes thereon shall be paid
1 See https://www.sfwmd.gov/who-we-are/facts-and-figures.
2 Some land was within the Pal-Mar Water Management District (“Pal-Mar”)....
...reafter be
obtained, derived from the sale of lands belonging to the state.
Hobe moved to dismiss the complaint; the court denied the motion. The
SFWMD then intervened to protect its interests in the co-owned property.
It similarly argued section 298.36(1) did not apply to lands owned by a
water management district....
...judgment in favor of Martin and the SFWMD. The court concluded Hobe
lacked the authority to impose taxes and assessments on Martin and the
SFWMD lands. The trial court reasoned the legislature did not expressly
waive sovereign immunity for political subdivisions or special districts in
section 298.36(1) by authorizing districts to levy non-ad valorem
assessments against the state....
...(emphasis added). And section
298.54, Florida
Statutes (2016), permits a district to levy an annual maintenance tax upon
each tract within the district to maintain ditches, drains, or other
improvements.
Hobe disputes Martin and the SFWMD’s position that section
298.36(1)
bars it from levying assessments against political subdivisions like Martin
or regional water districts like the SFWMD....
...e statute
does not necessarily exclude other political subdivisions or special
districts. Because Martin and the SFWMD’s immunity derives from the
state’s immunity, the state’s waiver also applies to them.
Martin and the SFWMD respond that section 298.36(1) does not waive
a political subdivision or a special district’s sovereign immunity from
maintenance taxes....
...to be known as a
“maintenance tax.”
§
298.54, Fla. Stat. (emphasis added). Hobe argues, and we agree, that
these provisions apply to land owned by political subdivisions and water
management districts.
But Martin and the SFWMD argue section
298.36(1)’s failure to use the
terms political subdivisions and water management districts means that
they cannot be assessed....
...County v. Little River Valley
Drainage District,
119 So. 2d 323 (Fla. 3d DCA 1960), where the Third District
reached a different conclusion. There, a drainage district argued it could assess
land owned by the Board of Public Instruction, pursuant to section
298.36, which
allowed an assessment on “all lands in the district to which benefits have been
assessed.” Id. at 326. The Third District disagreed.
That general authority to levy taxes on lands to which benefits have
been assessed as provided for in §
298.36 was made without any
reference to property of the Board of Public Instruction; and as
shown by Blake v....
...2d 763, 768 (Fla. 2005).
Section
298.305(1), which more specifically relates to assessments,
requires a levy upon “on all lands in the district to which benefits have
been assessed.” §
298.305(1), Fla. Stat. (emphasis added). For sections
298.305(1) and
298.36(1) to coexist and both have meaning, logic dictates
that section
298.36(1)’s reference to the state must either necessarily
include political subdivisions and water management districts or refer to
the “state lands” for the limited purpose of explaining how assessments
against “state lands” are to be paid....
