City of Clearwater v. SCH. BD. OF PINELLAS

905 So. 2d 1051, 2005 Fla. App. LEXIS 11030, 2005 WL 1677935
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJuly 20, 2005
Docket2D04-3260
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 905 So. 2d 1051 (City of Clearwater v. SCH. BD. OF PINELLAS) 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
City of Clearwater v. SCH. BD. OF PINELLAS, 905 So. 2d 1051, 2005 Fla. App. LEXIS 11030, 2005 WL 1677935 (Fla. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

905 So.2d 1051 (2005)

CITY OF CLEARWATER, Appellant,
v.
SCHOOL BOARD OF PINELLAS COUNTY, Florida, Appellee.

No. 2D04-3260.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

July 20, 2005.

*1053 Paul Richard Hull, Assistant City Attorney, Clearwater, for Appellant.

Dennis R. Pemberton and J. Bruce Harper, Clearwater, for Appellee.

Alan S. Zimmet and Stephanie R. Bolton, Clearwater, for Amicus Curiae the City of Largo, Florida.

WALLACE, Judge.

The City of Clearwater (the City) appeals a judgment declaring that the School Board of Pinellas County (the School Board) is exempt under sections 235.26 and 235.34, Florida Statutes (1999),[1] from payment of the stormwater management utility fee imposed by the City and a money judgment in favor of the School Board for the amount of the fees collected from November 1995 through April 1998, plus interest. The City also challenges an adverse ruling on its counterclaim that sought judgment against the School Board for unpaid stormwater utility fees, plus interest. The circuit court found that the stormwater utility fee was a user fee, not a special assessment. Because the School Board is not exempt under sections 235.26 and 235.34 from the payment of user fees for traditional utility services such as stormwater management, we reverse the judgment, and we remand this case to the circuit court for further proceedings.

THE FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In 1990, the City adopted an ordinance establishing a stormwater management utility in accordance with section 403.0893(1), Florida Statutes (1989). The utility is responsible for the management of the City's stormwater management system. The ordinance imposes a stormwater management fee against all developed property in the City. The fee is billed and collected with the monthly utility bills for all parcels of land utilizing any other of the City's utilities.

The School Board owns developed property within the City. In accordance with the ordinance, the City billed and collected stormwater utility fees from the School Board for several years. The School Board stopped paying the fees in 1998.

In November 1999, the School Board filed an action for a declaratory judgment and damages against the City. In its complaint, the School Board sought a declaratory judgment that the City was not entitled to charge it for the stormwater utility fee. The School Board also demanded a money judgment against the City for the amount of the fees it had previously paid under protest. The City filed a counterclaim for the unpaid fees.

The School Board eventually moved for a partial judgment on liability. Citing the decision in Sarasota County v. Sarasota Church of Christ, Inc., 667 So.2d 180 (Fla. *1054 1995), the School Board contended in its motion that the City's stormwater utility fee was a special assessment and that the School Board was "immune and/or exempt" from the payment of special assessments under section 235.26, Florida Statutes (1999). The School Board contended further that it was immune and exempt from payment of the fees under section 235.34 because it had not entered into any contract or agreement with the City providing for the payment of the fee.

The circuit court held a hearing on the School Board's motion. The documents relating to the City's stormwater management ordinance that were before the circuit court at the hearing were limited to (1) Article VI, Stormwater Management, consisting of sections 32.241 through 32.247, and (2) a portion of Article III, Service and Charges, consisting of sections 32.069 through 32.073. Section 32.244(1) of the City's stormwater ordinance provides as follows: "There is hereby imposed a stormwater management utility fee against all developed property in the city, as set forth in appendix A to this Code." (Emphasis added.) Appendix A is apparently the schedule of fees, rates, and charges which explains in detail how the stormwater management utility fee is levied, calculated, and billed. This portion of the ordinance critical to a determination of whether the utility fee was a special assessment or a user fee was conspicuous by its absence from the materials before the circuit court at the hearing.

After the hearing, the circuit court entered a partial summary judgment on liability in favor of the School Board. In its judgment, the circuit court made the following findings:

1. The City's ordinance imposes a utility/user fee.
2. The School Board did not enter into any contract or agreement to pay such utility/user fees and denied any obligation for those fees in the pleadings.
3. The Florida Statutes in effect at the time, sections 235.26 (now 1013.371) and 235.34 (now 1013.51) exempted the School Board from liability for such utility/user fees.

Based on these findings, the circuit court entered a partial summary judgment declaring that the School Board was not obligated to pay the stormwater utility fee to the City and that it was entitled to reimbursement for the fees it had previously paid. The circuit court also ruled — at least by implication — that the City would take nothing on its counterclaim for the unpaid fees. In accordance with the partial summary judgment on liability, the circuit court subsequently entered a summary final judgment in favor of the School Board and against the City for the amount of the stormwater utility fees paid from November 1995 through April 1998, plus interest. The judgment was for $197,295.36 principal and $135,807.32 interest, for a total sum of $333,102.68. From this summary final judgment, the City appeals.

THE STANDARD OF REVIEW

A final order granting a summary judgment is subject to de novo review. Volusia County v. Aberdeen at Ormond Beach, L.P., 760 So.2d 126, 130 (Fla.2000). Our task in reviewing the summary judgment in this case is to determine whether the circuit court correctly ruled as a matter of law that sections 235.26 and 235.34 exempt the School Board from the payment of the City's stormwater utility fee.

DISCUSSION

A. School Districts and Fees for Stormwater Management Programs

Sections 235.26 and 235.34, Florida Statutes (1999), provide, in pertinent part, as follows:

*1055 235.26. State Uniform Building Code for Public Educational Facilities Construction. — ....
(1) UNIFORM BUILDING CODE. —
(a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b), all public educational and ancillary plants constructed by a district school board ... must conform to the State Uniform Building Code for Public Educational Facilities Construction, and such plants are exempt from all other state, county, district, municipal, or local building codes, interpretations, building permits, and assessments of fees for building permits, ordinances, road closures, and impact fees or service availability fees....
....
235.34. Expenditures authorized. —
(1)(a) Subject to exemption from the assessment of fees pursuant to s. 235.26(1), school boards ... may expend funds, separately or collectively, by contract or agreement, for ... sanitary sewer, water, stormwater, and utility improvements upon, or contiguous to ... any existing or proposed educational plant.
....
(c).... Payment by a board for any improvement set forth in this section shall be authorized in any amounts agreed to by the board.

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905 So. 2d 1051, 2005 Fla. App. LEXIS 11030, 2005 WL 1677935, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-clearwater-v-sch-bd-of-pinellas-fladistctapp-2005.