Citizens Advocating Responsible Environmental Solutions, Inc. v. City of Marco Island

959 So. 2d 203, 32 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 283, 2007 Fla. LEXIS 959, 2007 WL 1556689
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedMay 31, 2007
DocketNo. SC06-1577
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 959 So. 2d 203 (Citizens Advocating Responsible Environmental Solutions, Inc. v. City of Marco Island) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Citizens Advocating Responsible Environmental Solutions, Inc. v. City of Marco Island, 959 So. 2d 203, 32 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 283, 2007 Fla. LEXIS 959, 2007 WL 1556689 (Fla. 2007).

Opinion

PARIENTE, J.

This case is before the Court on appeal from a circuit court judgment validating two bond issuances proposed by the City of Marco Island. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(2), Fla. Const.; § 75.08, Fla. Stat. (2006). The purpose of the bonds is to finance the expansion of the City’s wastewater collection and treatment system in order to provide wastewater collection and treatment for users not currently served by the system. The sole [205]*205issue raised in this appeal is whether the special assessments, which will be used to pay the debt service on the two bond issuances, are equitably apportioned when imposed only on new users rather than on all users of the system. Because the expansion of the wastewater treatment and collection system confers a special benefit on the new users, the special assessments are not arbitrary or inequitable. Accordingly, we conclude that the bond issuances comply with the requirements of law and affirm the trial court’s judgment validating the bonds.

BACKGROUND

The City of Marco Island (City) acquired the utility assets located on Marco Island in 2003 and thereafter embarked on a study to create a ten-year utility master plan for expansion of the wastewater collection and treatment system. The master plan recommended expansion of the waste-water utility system to all areas of the City where centralized sewer service is not available and properties are relying on septic tanks and cess pits. Under the master plan, expansion of capacity and construction of collection facilities are planned for the current wastewater treatment system. The capacity will be expanded from 3.5 million gallons to 5 million gallons and the wastewater collection system will be extended to accommodate the new users. The City estimated the cost of the project to be $38 million for all of the assessment districts within the City’s septic tank replacement program.1 The City further estimated that the pro rata costs for the two districts in this first phase of the expansion project would be $1,500,000 for the South Barfield district and $3,500,000 for the Tigertail district.

In order to fund the initial phase of the expansion, the City proposed two non-ad valorem revenue bond issuances, identified as “not to exceed $1,500,000 Special Assessment Revenue Bond, Series 2006” and “not to exceed $3,500,000 Special Assessment Revenue Bond, Series 2006.” The revenue bonds were proposed to fund the phased construction costs for extension of the City’s wastewater collection and transmission facilities and the expansion of wastewater treatment capacity. Debt service on the bonds will be paid with revenue received from special assessments from the two districts.

These proposed bond issuances were the result of the City’s adoption of a series of assessment and bond resolutions.2 After public hearings, the City determined that new users in both the South Barfield and the Tigertail districts will fund their proportionate share of the extension of the collection improvements and the expansion of capacity in the existing facility through special assessments,3 which will in turn [206]*206pay debt service on the two bond issu-ances. The bond resolutions expressly pledge the assessments for the repayment of the bonds and mandate that the proceeds of the bond issuances be deposited into a project fund to be used to pay the project costs described in the assessment resolutions.

The City sought circuit court validation of these special assessment bonds. Citizens Advocating Responsible Environmental Solutions, Inc., and Douglas Enman and Frances Enman (collectively, “Citizens”) challenged the validity of the bond issuances, primarily arguing that the special assessments upon new users of the system were arbitrary and not equitably apportioned because existing users, as well as the entire community, will benefit from expansion of the wastewater treatment system. Citizens also contended that existing users should be assessed for the project because the bond monies might be spent to make repairs and modifications to the wastewater treatment facility that would have been required even absent an expansion plan.

After a bench trial, during which extensive testimony was taken and documents were received into evidence, the trial court entered a final judgment finding the bond issuances valid and the assessments equitably apportioned.

ANALYSIS

This Court performs expedited review in bond validation cases to “facilitate[ ] an adjudication as to the validity of bonds so as to provide assurance of the marketability of the bonds.” City of Oldsmar v. State, 790 So.2d 1042, 1050 (Fla.2001). Our review authority in these cases is “circumscribed in scope and purpose,” id. at 1049, and is generally limited to three issues: (1) whether the public body has the authority to issue bonds; (2) whether the purpose of the obligation is legal; and (3) whether the bond issuance complies with the requirements of law. See Keys Citizens for Responsible Gov’t, Inc. v. Fla. Keys Aqueduct Auth., 795 So.2d 940, 944 (Fla.2001); State v. Osceola County, 752 So.2d 530, 533 (Fla.1999). However, where, as here, a bond issuance is funded by special assessments, we will apply an additional two-pronged test to evaluate whether those special assessments meet the requirements of the law. The Court in City of Winter Springs v. State, 776 So.2d 255 (Fla.2001), explained:

To comply with the requirements of the law, a special assessment funding a bond issuance must satisfy the following two-prong test: (1) the property burdened by the assessment must derive a special benefit from the service provided by the assessment; and (2) the assessment for the services must be properly apportioned among the properties receiving the benefit. See Lake County v. Water Oak Management Corp., 695 So.2d 667, 668 (Fla.1997) (citing City of Boca Raton v. State, 595 So.2d 25, 30 (Fla.1992)).

Id. at 257.

The trial court’s final judgment of validation comes to this Court clothed with a presumption of correctness. Osceola County, 752 So.2d at 533. We review the trial court’s factual findings for competent, substantial evidence and its conclusions of law de novo. City of Gainesville v. State, 863 So.2d 138, 143 (Fla.2003). The City’s legislative findings, namely that the service to be provided by the special assessment confers a special benefit on the land burdened by the assessment, and that the costs are properly apportioned among the properties receiving the benefit, are [207]*207also entitled to .a presumption of correctness and will be upheld unless the determination is arbitrary. See City of Winter Springs, 776 So.2d at 258; Sarasota County v. Sarasota Church of Christ, Inc., 667 So.2d 180, 184 (Fla.1995).

Citizens does not dispute the authority of the City to issue the bonds or the legality of the purpose of the bonds. Their challenge is directed to whether the special assessments that will pay debt service on the bond issuances comply with the requirements of law. Citizens’ main contention is that the assessments will be used to make needed improvements to the existing plant which are already required, and therefore existing users should also be assessed for those costs. 'There is no support for that proposition in the record.

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959 So. 2d 203, 32 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 283, 2007 Fla. LEXIS 959, 2007 WL 1556689, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/citizens-advocating-responsible-environmental-solutions-inc-v-city-of-fla-2007.