Dade County v. State

16 Fla. Supp. 126
CourtCircuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida, Miami-Dade County
DecidedJune 27, 1960
DocketNo. 60 C 4447
StatusPublished

This text of 16 Fla. Supp. 126 (Dade County v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida, Miami-Dade County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dade County v. State, 16 Fla. Supp. 126 (Fla. Super. Ct. 1960).

Opinion

ROBERT H. ANDERSON, Circuit Judge.

Opinion: This statutory proceeding instituted by Dade County under and pursuant to the provisions of chapter 75, Florida Statutes, seeks validation of $46,000,000 general obligation bonds of Dade County for highway and bridge projects particularly described in county ordinance no. 60-12, as follows —

Constructing a section of North-South Expressway extending approximately from a point at or near S. W. 32nd Road and Viscaya Art Museum to a point at or near N. W. 2nd Street, including elevated structures, terminal ramps and interchanges;
Replacement of Flagler Street Bridge over the Miami River;
Acquisition of right of way between the Expressway and Biscayne Boulevard;
Reconstruction of N. W. 7th Street extending approximately from 42nd Avenue (Be Jeune Road) to 57th Avenue (Red Road);
Reconstruction of N. W. 12th Street extending approximately from Palmetto Road By-Pass (77th Avenue) to Airport Perimeter Road;
Extension of Tamiami Canal Road extending approximately from Flagler Street to N. W. 7th Street at Red Road (57th Avenue);
Reconstruction of N. W. 6th Avenue extending approximately from N. W. 20th Street to N. W. 29th Street;
Acquisition of right of way along Collins Avenue in Miami Beach extending approximately from 48th Street to 60th Street; and
Repairing existing county arterial streets.

Answers to the petition for validation and notice and order to show cause have been filed by the state attorney and by Messrs. B. E. Hearn, Russel A. Nafe and J. H. Keathley as intervening respondents. On June 9 and 14, 1960, testimony and evidentiary exhibits and arguments of counsel for the respective parties were received, heard and considered. Briefs have been submitted.

The issues in statutory bond validation proceedings of this character are limited to determination of the right and authority of the county to issue the bonds sought to be validated, and determination as to the regularity of the steps taken to issue the bonds involved. State v. City of Miami, Fla. 1958, 103 So.2d 185; State v. City of Tampa, Fla. 1957, 95 So.2d 409; and State v. City of Miami, Fla. 1949, 41 So.2d 888. In such statutory proceedings, the court may consider whether the county commission observed the proper procedure in the exercise of its powers to issue general obligation bonds, whether the particular bond issue is authorized by law, and whether the issuance of the bonds in[128]*128volved conforms to the requirements of the Florida constitution. Ft. Myers v. State, 95 Fla. 704, 117 So. 97; State v. Citrus County, 116 Fla. 676, 157 So. 4; and State v. Belleair, 125 Fla. 669, 170 So. 434.

As for the right of the county to issue these bonds, it cannot be doubted that Dade County is vested with full power and authority to issue general obligation bonds for the purpose of constructing highways and bridges. Section 130.01, Florida Statutes, provides — “Whenever the board of county commissioners of any county shall deem it expedient, or to the best interests of such county, to issue the county bonds of their county, for the purpose of constructing paved, macadamized, or other hard-surfaced highways, . . . they shall determine by resolution to be entered in their records, what amount of bonds is required for such purpose, the rate of interest to be paid thereon, and the time when the principal and interest of such bonds shall be due and when payable.”

Section 1.01 A (1) of the Home Rule Charter grants to the county commission the power to — “Provide . . . arterial, toll, and other roads, bridges, tunnels, and related facilities; eliminate grade crossings . . . and develop . . . master plans for the control of traffic and parking.”

The condition precedent imposed by the Florida constitution for the issuance of general obligation bonds has been fully complied with in respect to the bonds here involved. Article IX, section 6, provides — “ . . . the counties ... of the State of Florida shall have power to issue bonds only after the same shall have been approved by a majority of the votes cast in an election in which a majority of the freeholders who are qualified electors residing in such counties . . . shall participate, to be held in the manner to be prescribed by law ...”

The record in this cause establishes that at the special bond election held on May 3,1960, in conjunction with the first primary election, there were 133,049 qualified freeholder electors entitled to vote on the bond issue question submitted at such election. Of the 133,049 eligible freeholders, 105,112 (or 79 percent) participated in the bond election, by voting for or against the bond issue. And of the 105,112 freeholder electors participating in the election, 65,531 (or more than 62 percent) voted in favor of the bond issue; only 39,581 (or 38 percent) voted against the bond issue. Nearly 50 percent of all the eligible freeholders voted in favor of the bond issue. 25,950 more freeholders voted for the bond issue, than voted against it. Thus, the bond issue was carried by an overwhelming majority.

[129]*129It is also apparent from the record, which includes, inter alia, documentary evidence totaling 35 exhibits, that all procedural requirements of law in respect to the issuance of the bonds were strictly complied with and adhered to in every particular.

The intervening respondents, however, have opposed the validation of these bonds upon two principal grounds —

1. That section 97.081, Florida Statutes, and section 100.241, Florida Statutes (portions of the “Election Code of 1951” involved herein) are unconstitutional.

2. That numerous persons, of a sufficient number to affect the election, voted illegally.

So for the first ground of objection raised by intervenors, the question of the constitutionality of section 97.081, Florida Statutes, has been heretofore determined and resolved by the Supreme Court of Florida. In State v. County of Sarasota, Fla. 1953, 62 So.2d 708, the Supreme Court said —

The first question posed by appellant is whether the re-registration of the freeholders of Sarasota County, pursuant to Section 97.081, F.S.A., was a valid and lawful basis for determining that a majority of the qualified electors in Sarasota County who were freeholders residing in said County participated in said election as required by Section 6 of Article IX of the Florida Constitution.
# * *
We find nothing in the organic law of this State which prohibits periodic re-registration of voters as a presequisite to participation in elections, so long as the machinery set up for such re-registration affords a reasonable opportunity to the citizens to register. We think periodic registration greatly facilitates a correct determination of the number of freeholders entitled to participate in a bond election. (Emphasis supplied.)
* * *
We, therefore, hold that Section 97.081, F.S.A., is a constitutional enactment . . .

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41 So. 2d 888 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1949)
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170 So. 736 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1936)
City of Fort Myers v. State of Florida
117 So. 97 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1928)
State v. County of Citrus
157 So. 4 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1934)
Holmer v. State Ex Rel. Stewart
28 So. 2d 586 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1947)
State Ex Rel. Whitley v. Rinehart
192 So. 819 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1939)
State v. Town of Belleair
170 So. 434 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1936)
City of Fort Myers v. State
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State v. County of Sarasota
62 So. 2d 708 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1953)
State v. City of Tampa
95 So. 2d 409 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1957)

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Bluebook (online)
16 Fla. Supp. 126, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dade-county-v-state-flacirct11mia-1960.