Havill v. Scripps Howard Cable Co.

742 So. 2d 210, 1998 WL 190509
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedApril 23, 1998
Docket87,357, 87,381
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 742 So. 2d 210 (Havill v. Scripps Howard Cable Co.) 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
Havill v. Scripps Howard Cable Co., 742 So. 2d 210, 1998 WL 190509 (Fla. 1998).

Opinion

742 So.2d 210 (1998)

Ed HAVILL, etc., et al., Petitioners,
v.
SCRIPPS HOWARD CABLE COMPANY, etc., Respondent.
Department of Revenue, Petitioner,
v.
Scripps Howard Cable Company, etc., Respondent.

Nos. 87,357, 87,381.

Supreme Court of Florida.

April 23, 1998.
Rehearing and Clarification Denied June 10, 1999.

Gaylord A. Wood, Jr. of the Law Offices of Wood & Stuart, P.A., DeLand, and Robert Butterworth, Attorney General, and Joseph C. Mellichamp III, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Petitioners.

*211 Denis L. Durkin, Jerry R. Linscott, and Lea Ann Banks of Baker & Hostetler, Orlando, for Respondent.

Robert K. Robinson and John C. Dent of Dent & Cook, P.A., Sarasota, for John W. Mikos, Property Appraiser of Sarasota County.

John P. Harllee, III of Harllee, Porges, Hamlin & Hamrick, P.A., Bradenton, and Charles F. Dudley, General Counsel, Tallahassee, for Florida Cable Telecommunications Association, Inc., Amicus Curiae.

John R. Hargrove of Heinrich, Gordon, Hargrove, Weihe & James, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, Robert G. Beatty of BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc., Miami, James W. McBride and Anne M. Stolee of Baker, Donelson, Bearman & Caldwell, Washington, DC, and Richard W. Bell of BellSouth Corporation, Atlanta, GA, for BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc., Amicus Curiae.

HARDING, Justice.

We have for review Scripps Howard Cable Co. v. Havill, 665 So.2d 1071 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995), which certified the following question to be of great public importance:

IS THE INCOME/UNIT RULE METHOD OF APPRAISAL AN APPROPRIATE METHOD OF ASSESSING THE TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY OF TELEVISION CABLE COMPANIES?

Scripps Howard, 665 So.2d at 1079. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. We answer the certified question in the negative and approve the decision of the Fifth District Court of appeal.

Facts

Scripps Howard Cable Company d/b/a Lake County Cablevision (Scripps Howard), owns a cable television business in Leesburg, Florida, which serves customers in Lake, Marion, and Volusia Counties. Scripps Howard employs the use of an extensive network of tangible personal property in providing their customers with cable television services. Scripps Howard purchases programming services from a variety of providers, including local television stations and satellite-relayed channels. These programming services are delivered by Scripps Howard to its customers via a cable television system. Scripps Howard uses various antennae and satellite dishes to receive the broadcast signals from television stations and satellites. These signals are sent to processing centers known as "headends," then delivered to distribution points through large trunk cables. Distribution cables transport the signals from the major distribution points to the neighborhoods. Amplifiers are placed along the cables to maintain the clarity of the signal during transportation. House drops carry the signal from the distribution cable to the customer's residence or place of business. The house drops are connected by taps to the distribution cables. In addition to the equipment of the physical plant, Scripps Howard also owns associated business equipment, such as trucks and inventory.

Scripps Howard challenged in the Lake County Circuit Court the ad valorem tax assessment of its tangible personal property by Ed Havill, the Lake County Property Appraiser, for the years 1989 through 1992. The assessment for the year 1989 was a reassessment performed in mid-1990. Havill's assessments, performed by Deputy Property Appraiser Robert Ross, were based on the "income/unit-rule method of valuation." Havill has assessed the six other cable television companies located in Lake County by using the cost method of valuation. Scripps Howard and Kane Reece, an independent appraisal firm hired by Scripps Howard, each appraised Scripps Howard's tangible personal property through the use of the cost method. The following table shows the valuations of Scripps Howard's tangible personal property as determined by the separate appraisals by Havill, Scripps Howard, and Kane Reece:

*212
Year             Havill
1989             $14,999,454
1990             $17,190,856
1991             $19,170,796
1992             $21,590,700
Year             Scripps
1989             $ 8,603,400
1990             $ 8,819,700
1991             $ 8,614,169
1992             $ 9,600,284
Year             Kane Reece
1989             $10,100,837
1990             $ 9,015,630
1991             $ 8,622,564
1992             $ 8,582,560

Following the trial on this dispute, the circuit court ratified Havill's assessments. Scripps Howard appealed the final judgment and the Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed. The district court held that Havill's assessments were not entitled to the presumption of validity usually afforded such assessments because Havill failed to consider each factor under section 193.011, Florida Statutes (1993), for deriving the just value of the property. The district court also held that Havill's assessments improperly included the value of intangible items and exempt property, and that Havill lacked the authority to perform the reassessment for the 1989 tax year. The district court then certified the aforementioned question as one of great public importance. This review proceeding ensued.

Principles of Ad Valorem Taxation

Article VII, section 9, of the Florida Constitution provides that counties, municipalities, and school districts shall be authorized by law to levy ad valorem taxes on real property and tangible personal property. The Florida Legislature has authorized the levy of ad valorem taxes by these local government entities. See, e.g., §§ 125.016 (counties), 166.211 (municipalities), 236.25 (local school boards), Fla. Stat. (1997). The Florida Constitution prohibits local government entities from levying ad valorem taxes on intangible personal property. The power to tax intangible personal property is available only to the state. Art. VII, §§ 1(a), 2, 9(a), Fla. Const.

The Florida Constitution also requires a just valuation of all property for ad valorem taxation. Art. VII, § 4, Fla. Const. The property appraiser's determination of just value is an exercise of administrative discretion within the field of his or her expertise. Blake v. Xerox Corp., 447 So.2d 1348 (Fla.1984). A presumption of validity attaches to the property appraiser's assessment of property for ad valorem taxation purposes. Bystrom v. Whitman, 488 So.2d 520, 521 (Fla. 1986). Property appraisers are required under section 193.011 to take the following factors into consideration in determining just valuation: (1) the present cash value of the property; (2) the highest and best use to which the property can be expected to be put in the immediate future and the present use of the property; (3) the location of the property; (4) the quantity or size of the property; (5) the cost of the property and the replacement value of improvements on the property; (6) the condition of the property; (7) the income from the property; and (8) the net proceeds from the sale of the property. If the property appraiser does not consider each of these statutory factors, the presumption of validity of the assessment is lost. Straughn v. Tuck, 354 So.2d 368, 371 (Fla. 1978).

The Income Method of Valuation

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Bluebook (online)
742 So. 2d 210, 1998 WL 190509, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/havill-v-scripps-howard-cable-co-fla-1998.