Bystrom v. Valencia Center, Inc.

432 So. 2d 108
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedApril 26, 1983
Docket82-1924
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 432 So. 2d 108 (Bystrom v. Valencia Center, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bystrom v. Valencia Center, Inc., 432 So. 2d 108 (Fla. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

432 So.2d 108 (1983)

Franklin B. BYSTROM, Dade County Property Appraiser, Appellant,
v.
VALENCIA CENTER, INC., Appellee.

No. 82-1924.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

April 26, 1983.
Rehearing Denied June 15, 1983.

*109 Robert A. Ginsburg, County Atty., and Stephen J. Keating, Asst. County Atty., for appellant.

Crofton, Holland, Starling, Harris & Severs and Charles Harris Titusville, for appellee.

Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., FERGUSON, J., and GOMEZ, HELIO, Associate Judge.

GOMEZ, HELIO, Associate Judge.

The Dade County Property Appraiser's 1980 ad valorem tax assessment on a parcel of Coral Gables property owned by Valencia Center, Inc. was reduced by the Property Appraisal Adjustment Board "PAAB", following the recommendations of a Special Master. The reduction was from $4,581,730.00 to $3,907,000.00, a reduction of more than ten percent.

The parcel of real property comprises one whole city block, of over three acres, extending from Andalusia Avenue to Valencia Avenue, and from Lejeune Road to Salzedo. It contains a Publix Supermarket, a number of other smaller stores, and parking for one hundred and seventy-seven vehicles. The property encompasses forty-eight (48) standard Coral Gables lots 25 feet wide, is zoned for commercial or highrise office up to 13 story buildings, and is under one single ownership; that of plaintiff/appellee, Valencia Center, Inc. "Valencia". The chief tenant, under a twenty-year-old lease very beneficial to itself, is Publix.

The Property Appraiser filed suit, pursuant to the requirement of Section 194.032(6)(a)(2), Florida Statutes (1979), which requires that suit be filed by the taxing official if the PAAB reduces the assessment by more than ten percent. The Property Appraiser at trial presented a prima facie case that the reduction produced a value below the "just value" required by the Article VII, Section 4, Constitution of the State of Florida (1968).

Defendant, Valencia, counterclaimed under Section 194.171, Florida Statutes (1979), claiming that the reduced assessment was still greater than "just value".

The State of Florida Department of Revenue was joined as a party defendant pursuant to Section 194.181(5), Florida Statutes (1979), and later moved to realign itself as a party plaintiff because it agreed with the Property Appraiser's position. Leave to realign itself was granted.

Trial was had, non-jury, and the court heard the testimony of experts for both sides. The court then rendered judgment in a manner which is challenged by both sides.

*110 Certain facts were not in dispute. Witnesses for both sides agreed that the supermarket and small stores (all one-story) and the parking lot constitute an underutilization and not the highest and best use of the property. The chief disagreement is whether Section 193.011(2), Florida Statutes (1979), requires the Property Appraiser to assess the property on the basis of its current use, even though the current use is not the highest and best use. The property owner, Valencia, also contends that the existence of a long-term lease should be considered in deciding what the highest and best use is, in terms of the cited statute, whereas the Property Appraiser contends that the existence vel non of a lease is irrelevant to the valuation of the fee simple plus improvements, which must be valued as though unencumbered.

A primary issue in this case is that Article VII, Section 4, Constitution of the State of Florida (1968) requires all property to be assessed at "just value". Just value, a legal term, is synonymous with "fair market value". Walter v. Schuler, 176 So.2d 81 (Fla. 1965). Fair market value is also a legal concept related precisely to the appraisal concept of "market value". No one in this case disputes this.

One of the problems raised in this case is the meaning and effect of Section 193.011(2), Florida Statutes (1979). That statute, entitled "Factors to consider in deriving just value," states:

In arriving at just valuation as required under § 4, Art. VII, of the State Constitution, the Property Appraiser shall take into consideration the following factors: ... (2) the highest and best use to which the property can be expected to be put in the immediate future and the present use of the property.. .

If the Property Appraiser must not only consider, but also use the current use of the property as the highest and best use, there is an inevitable conflict with "fair market value" on all properties on which there is an underimprovement.

What a property is currently used "as" is often not the highest and best use. In the case sub judice, valuing the subject as a shopping center leads to a value less than fair market value, a fact which was agreed to even by Valencia's sole appraiser — witness, Carlton W. Cole.

Valencia's argument is that the language of Section 193.011(2), Florida Statute (1979), requires the Appraiser to apply criteria yielding a value less than fair market value. That desired result would interpret the statute as explicitly unconstitutional. Section 193.011(2), Florida Statute, must be read in harmony with Article VII, Section 4, Constitution of the State of Florida (1968).

The issue is not new. The testimony of the Appraiser was based on market evidence. Mr. Perez, the Land Division Supervisor, testified that he used a range of comparable sales, of similarly-zoned properties, and after considering all applicable methods of appraisal, he came to the conclusion that the income capitalization method was inappropriate for the subject property. The present highest and best use of the property, as evidenced by vacant land sales was as a site for highrise office development.

The guidelines set forth in Section 193.011, Florida Statute (1979), are of use especially to Property Appraisers where there is a lack of, or where there is inadequate market evidence. (This "market" evidence could be sales or income data.) Where there are sales, however, of comparable properties, the Appraiser must perform a standard appraisal using normal techniques. By doing this, he necessarily considers all, and uses some, of the factors set forth in Section 193.011, Florida Statutes, (1979). This "harmonizes" the statute with Article VII, Section 4, Constitution of the State of Florida (1968) and explains the applications of the otherwise "unconstitutional" statute.

Valencia goes further, though, and claims that the current lease between Valencia and Publix extends several years into the future and therefore, the highest and best use in "the immediate future" is as it is at present.

*111 This argument overlooks two things. First, the property assessed is the unencumbered fee simple. Although Valencia Center, the lessor, is the taxpayer, the assessment must include the interest of all the lessees; the whole "bundle of rights" in the real property. Homer v. Dadeland Shopping Center, Inc., 229 So.2d 834 (Fla. 1970); McNayr v. Claughton, 198 So.2d 366 (Fla. App. 1967). See also Staninger v. Jacksonville Expressway Authority, 182 So.2d 483 (Fla. 1st DCA 1966); Arnow v. Tax Assessor, 32 Fla. Supp. 106 (11th Cir.1968).

Secondly, if the lessor's interest in the property is reduced by virtue of a lease which is now disadvantageous to itself, it follows that the lessees' interests are all the more valuable.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Florida E. Coast Ry. Co. v. Dept. of Rev.
620 So. 2d 1051 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1993)
City & County of Denver v. Board of Assessment Appeals
848 P.2d 355 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1993)
Robbins v. Mori
44 Fla. Supp. 2d 64 (Florida Circuit Courts, 1990)
Schultz v. TM FLORIDA-OHIO REALTY LTD. P'SHIP
553 So. 2d 1203 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1989)
Valencia Center, Inc. v. Bystrom
526 So. 2d 707 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1988)
Oyster Pointe Resort Condo. v. Nolte
524 So. 2d 415 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1988)
Hotelerama Associates, Ltd. v. Bystrom
24 Fla. Supp. 2d 76 (Florida Circuit Courts, 1987)
Bystrom v. Bal Harbour 101 Condominium Ass'n
502 So. 2d 1312 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1987)
Spanish River Resort Corp. v. Walker
497 So. 2d 1299 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1986)
Holland v. Walker
492 So. 2d 1093 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1986)
Florida Rock Industries v. Bystrom
485 So. 2d 442 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1986)
Florida Rock Industries, Inc. v. Bystrom
15 Fla. Supp. 2d 27 (Florida Circuit Courts, 1985)
Vero Beach Shores, Inc. v. Nolte
467 So. 2d 1041 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1985)
Valencia Ctr. v. Publix Super Mkt.
464 So. 2d 1267 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1985)
Farrand Corp. v. Bystrom
456 So. 2d 973 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1984)
Century Village v. Walker
449 So. 2d 378 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1984)
Contos v. Lipsky
433 So. 2d 1242 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1983)
Bystrom v. Farrand Corp.
432 So. 2d 606 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1983)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
432 So. 2d 108, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bystrom-v-valencia-center-inc-fladistctapp-1983.