Glades County v. Green

154 So. 2d 320, 1963 Fla. LEXIS 2771
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedMay 31, 1963
DocketNo. 31864
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 154 So. 2d 320 (Glades County v. Green) 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
Glades County v. Green, 154 So. 2d 320, 1963 Fla. LEXIS 2771 (Fla. 1963).

Opinion

TERRELL, Justice.

This is a mandamus proceeding brought by the Board of County Commissioners of Glades County against Ray E. Green, as Comptroller, of the State of Florida, and the Board of County Commissioners of Palm Beach County.

There is no controversy about the facts in this case. It appears from the petition that the legislature enacted Chapter 10596, Special Acts of 1925, which act purported to change the boundary between Glades County and Palm Beach County so as to enlarge Glades County by 160.88 square miles. This act was not included in the Compiled General Laws of 1927, nor was any description of Glades and Palm Beach Counties contained in the Compiled General Laws as amended.

[322]*322In 1931, the legislature enacted Chapter 156S9, Laws of Florida, imposing a fourth, fifth and sixth cent tax, otherwise called the second gasoline tax. The said act provided that the second gasoline tax be distributed to the several counties of the state pursuant to the provisions of Section 16, Article IX of the Constitution, F.S.A., and § 208.11, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., the formula for distribution therein being: One-third of the said tax to said counties on the basis of area; one-third on the basis of population, and one-third on the basis of the contribution made by said counties to the state road system prior to July 1, 1931. In 1931 when the area of the several counties of the state was computed for the purpose of determining the distribution of the said tax based on area, the Compiled General Laws of Florida, Acts of 1927, were prima facie evidence of the description of said counties and their boundaries. The description of Palm Beach County and Glades County as contained in the Compiled General Laws, Acts of 1927, was used in computing the area of the respective counties, which area was certified to the comptroller. The area so computed in 1931 for each of said counties has been used as a basis for distributing the second gas tax and other motor fuels taxes from that date to the present.

At no time from 1931 when the areas of Glades and Palm Beach Counties were certified to the comptroller, until the petitioners filed their petition in this proceeding, did Glades County or any official thereof question the computation of the area of Glades County or contend that there had been a valid change of the boundaries of Glades County by the 1025 special act.

It also appears that revenue bonds have been issued by Palm Beach County, or special road and bridge districts therein, by the Florida Development Commission, the State Board of Administration and the Florida State Improvement Commission pledging as security for the payment of said bonds the fifth and sixth cents of the second gasoline tax or the 80% surplus of the fifth and sixth cents of the gasoline tax. The area of Palm Beach County, as computed in 1931, was used by the State Board of Administration to estimate the gasoline tax to accrue and be available for servicing of these bond issues in the future which representation was made to the purchasers of the bonds. It follows that there are now six bond issues of the Florida Development Commission, the State Board of Administration, or the special road and bridge districts of the county that are outstanding and payable from the 80% surplus gasoline tax or the fifth and sixth cents of the second gasoline tax. At no time prior to the issuance and sale of said bonds now outstanding did Glades County or any official thereof make any complaint regarding the representation as to the area of Palm Beach County or contend that Chapter 10596, Special Acts of 1925, validly changed the boundaries of said counties.

Petitioners move this court for an alternative writ of mandamus requiring Ray E. Green, as comptroller, to forthwith allocate and make distribution of the proceeds of the one-third part of the aforesaid gasoline and motor fuel taxes as between Glades County and respondent Palm Beach County based on the inclusion within the area of Glades County of the aforesaid 160.88 square miles of Lake Okeechobee now being erroneously included in the area of Palm Beach County beginning with the monthly allocation of said taxes between said counties for the month of June 1962 or to show cause why he refuses to do so.

The parties are not in accord as to some of the questions raised by the answer and return to the petition and the alternative writ. The real purpose of this suit is to require Ray E. Green, as comptroller, to forthwith allocate and distribute one-third part of the second gasoline tax and motor fuel taxes as between Glades County and Palm Beach County, based on the inclusion within the area of Glades County of the 160.88 square miles of Lake Okeechobee now being erroneously included in the area of Palm Beach County beginning with the [323]*323monthly allocation of said taxes as between said counties for the month of June 1962.

When the pleadings and purpose of the suit are read together, petitioners offer the following as the first question: Are the present boundaries of Glades County and Palm Beach County, as set forth in §§ 7.22 and 7.50, Florida Statutes 1961, F.S.A. (which have been carried forward from the same sections in Florida Statutes 1941), invalid and unconstitutional in so far as they define the boundaries of Glades County as including a portion of Lake Okeechobee, because this change in boundaries was originally set forth in Chapter 10596, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1925, which was a special act ?

A great deal is said in the briefs of respondents about the unconstitutionality of Chapter 10596, Acts of 1925. This challenge is predicated on the theory that Chapter 10596 changed the boundary lines of Glades and Palm Beach Counties which, it is contended, cannot be done by local law. Palm Beach County also contends that since the change in boundaries of the two counties defined in Chapter 10596, Acts of 1925, was not included in the Compiled General Laws of 1927, the comptroller in allocating the gasoline taxes in 1931 and thereafter between the two counties was bound by Section 16, Article IX of the Florida Constitution, and § 208.11, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., later included in the Compiled General Laws of 1927.

Petitioners contend that allocation of the second gas tax by the formula in Section 16, Article IX, Florida Constitution, and § 208.11, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., was not a computation to be made once and for all in 1931, except as to the factor of the county’s aggregate contribution to state roads up to and including the year 1931, but that under the provisions of the governing constitutional and statutory provisions, such allocation and computation is to be made anew at the end of each month beginning with the effective date of the constitutional and statutory provisions in the year 1931 and continuing for the period of fifty years as provided in Section 16, Article IX of the Constitution.

Section 16, Article IX of the Florida Constitution, as pertinent, is as follows:

“(a) That beginning January 1st 1943, and for fifty (50) years thereafter, the proceeds of two (2‡)

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Related

Palm Beach County v. Green
179 So. 2d 356 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1965)

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Bluebook (online)
154 So. 2d 320, 1963 Fla. LEXIS 2771, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/glades-county-v-green-fla-1963.