General American Transportation Corp. v. Askew

310 So. 2d 46, 1975 Fla. App. LEXIS 13954
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 19, 1975
DocketNo. U-19
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 310 So. 2d 46 (General American Transportation Corp. v. Askew) 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
General American Transportation Corp. v. Askew, 310 So. 2d 46, 1975 Fla. App. LEXIS 13954 (Fla. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

JOHNSON, Judge.

This is an appeal from final summary judgments which were entered in the same primary case, but applicable to separate counts of the complaint and several months in-between in rendition.

The respective counsel for the parties of this lawsuit have done a good job of prosecution, and the trial court necessarily spent much time and effort in analyzing the issues and applying the law to the facts, but we cannot agree with the contentions of appellees’ counsel, nor with the conclusions of the trial court.

We need to summarize briefly the subject of the tax in question — and also summarize briefly the history of the law applicable :

(1) The subject of the tax is the “rolling stock” of the appellant, a private car line, which has no tracks or lines or fixed real or tangible property in Florida.

(2) Did the law of Florida authorize the imposition of the subject taxes for the year 1971 by the Department of Revenue of Florida, and if it did, was the evidence sufficient to sustain the tax assessed — or was it too much?

As to the rolling stock, the appellant, a New York corporation, owned tank, refrigerator and other specialized cars which it furnished to customers and certain railroads for use in transporting various commodities throughout the United States including Florida. None of the cars were permanently located within Florida. Appellant did not own other real or personal property located in Florida and did not maintain a place of business in Florida.

For many years, prior to January 1, 1971, the old Florida Railroad Assessment Board had levied an almost nominal tax against the appellant and the same was paid without contest, either as to the legality of the tax or the amount thereof. In fact the assessment for 1970 was in the [48]*48amount of $305,182.00, as compared to the assessment for 1971, fixed by the Department at $5,089,488.00. This change within one year in the assessment of over 1700% of the previous year’s assessment brought about this lawsuit, since no relief could be obtained from the Board of Administration. In its final summary judgment on Count II of the complaint, the trial court did cut the assessment about in half, but we think, as shown hereinbelow, this was still illegal taxation.

The Florida Railroad Assessment Board was authorized to centrally assess railroad companies’ property. A reading of the law creating this Board makes it clear that the assessing was limited to resident railroad companies. There was no effort made to tax individual cars or tanks of non-resident railroad companies. In fact, from the depositions in the record taken from agents of the Department of Revenue, no tax is even now levied on the box cars of non-resident railroad companies. And while counsel for appellant has used this last statement of fact to bolster its contention that the tax in question was discriminatory, we also view it as a means of determining legislative intent.

The Florida Legislature, by Chapter 69-106, which became effective July 1, 1969, created a Department of Revenue — Chapter 69-106, section 21, and by subsection (7) the Railroad Assessment Board, created under Chapter 195, Florida Statutes, was transferred by a type three (3) transfer to the Department of Revenue. The type three (3) transfer referred to supra is described in Section 6, Chapter 69-106, which says that by such a transfer all the statutory powers, duties and functions shall be so transferred to the department (meaning the principal administrative unit within the executive branch of state government) and the board from which such powers, duties, etc., are transferred “is abolished.”

Chapter 69-55, Acts of Florida Legislature, was filed in the Office of Secretary of State on June 5, 1969. By this latter Act, the former numbers in the Florida Statutes of Sections 195.001 and 195.01, were changed to Sections 193.521 and 193.-531, Florida Statutes 1969, and apparently carried forward in the 1969 computation. A footnote at the end of Sections 193.521 and 193.531, Florida Statutes 1969, contains an Editor’s Comment to this effect: “§ 21, Ch. 69-106 abolishes the board and transfers its powers, duties and functions to the department of revenue. This section will be repealed by subsequent reviser’s bill.”

Section 193.531, F.S.1969, provided for an annual return by railroad companies, in subsection (1); subsection (2) of § 193.531 provided for assessment of such railroad properties by the “department of revenue,” if the return provided for in subsection (1) supra, was not filed by the first Monday of April.

These last two Sections of 1969 Florida Statutes, 193.521 and 193.531, provided the only authority and method whereby railroad properties could be assessed, and, as said supra, were carried forward in the 1969 Florida Statutes by Chapter 69-55, filed June 5, 1969. But, the same legislature by Chapter 69-106, filed June 19, 1969, Section 21, created the Department of Revenue. Section 193.531(2) and (3) provides for the Department of Revenue to assess the railroad properties, and for apportioning by the Department pro rata to each mile of main track, branch, switch, spur track and side track. This therefore fixed the amounts of assessments of railroad properties by using the main tracks to get the approximate pro rata of valuations. We can agree with this method of prorating, and also with the Department making the assessment, but said Sections 193.521 and 193.531, Florida Statutes, were repealed by the Legislature by Chapter 70-243 which Chapter was filed in the Office of the Secretary of State on June 30, 1970, and we do not find any substitution for the repealed methods and taxes provided in said two sections. We now wonder if Chapter 70-243 repeals the only authority [49]*49of the Department to levy taxes on any railroad property ?

Section 192.011, F.S.1971 provides that the tax assessor shall assess all property located within his county (Ch. 70-243(2)).

Section 192.032, F.S.1971, Subsection (2) provides the situs for tangible personal property for assessment purposes, to wit: that it shall be assessed in the county and municipality in which it is permanently located on January 1, or if brought into the state after January 1 and before April 1, shall be considered to have been in the state on January 1. No mention of railroad or railroad cars is made in the last two cited sections of the Florida Statutes.

The next statutory provision pertaining to railroad companies’ property is found in Section 193.052(6): “The department shall promulgate the necessary regulations to insure that all railroad and utility property is properly returned in the appropriate county.” And the next mention is in Section 193.085, F.S.1971 at subsection (4) : “The department shall promulgate such regulations as are necessary to insure that all railroad and utility property of all types is properly listed in the appropriate county.”

These last two sections of the 1971 Florida Statutes only authorize the promulgation of rules and regulations to see that “railroad” property is “returned” and “listed” in the appropriate county. This does not expressly nor impliedly authorize the levying or assessing of any tax, therefore, we must look elsewhere for authority to assess tangible personal property. We then go to Section 192.011, F.S.1971 for authority to assess, wherein it is said the assessor shall assess all property in his county, and to Section 192.032, F.S.1971, as to the situs of the tangible personal property for assessment purposes.

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Related

Department of Revenue v. General American Transportation Corp.
521 So. 2d 112 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1988)
Department of Revenue v. General American Transportation Corp.
382 So. 2d 316 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1979)

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Bluebook (online)
310 So. 2d 46, 1975 Fla. App. LEXIS 13954, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/general-american-transportation-corp-v-askew-fladistctapp-1975.