Mastroianni v. Memorial Medical Center

606 So. 2d 759, 1992 WL 308638
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedOctober 23, 1992
Docket91-1936
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 606 So. 2d 759 (Mastroianni v. Memorial Medical Center) 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
Mastroianni v. Memorial Medical Center, 606 So. 2d 759, 1992 WL 308638 (Fla. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

606 So.2d 759 (1992)

Ernie MASTROIANNI, As Property Appraiser of Duval County, Florida; Lynwood Roberts, as Tax Collector of Duval County, Florida; and J. Thomas Herndon, Executive Director, State of Florida, Department of Revenue, Appellants,
v.
MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER OF JACKSONVILLE, INC., a Florida corporation; EMMCO Jacksonville, Ltd. I, a Florida limited partnership; and EMMCO Jacksonville II, a Florida limited partnership, Appellees.

No. 91-1936.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

October 23, 1992.

*760 John A. Delaney, Gen. Counsel and Lee S. Carlin, Asst. Counsel, City of Jacksonville, for appellants.

Joseph O. Stroud, Jr., and Kurt H. Dunkle of Rogers, Towers, Bailey, Jones & Gay, Jacksonville, for appellees.

ZEHMER, Judge.

Ernie Mastroianni, as Property Appraiser of Duval County, Lynwood Roberts, as Tax Collector of Duval County, Florida, and J. Thomas Herndon, as Executive Director of the State Department of Revenue, appeal a summary final judgment in favor of Memorial Medical Center of Jacksonville, Inc., EMMCO Jacksonville, Ltd. I, and EMMCO Jacksonville, Ltd. II, hereafter referred to collectively as Taxpayers. Appellants also urge error in the denial of their motion for summary judgment. The trial court ruled that the property here involved is used for hospital purposes and thus is exempt from ad valorem taxation. We hold that the property, although so used, cannot be exempted from taxation because it is now owned by a for-profit entity not exempt from federal income taxation. Accordingly, we reverse the summary final judgment for Taxpayers and remand with directions to enter summary final judgment in favor of Appellants.

The facts are undisputed. Memorial Medical Center of Jacksonville, Inc., is a Florida nonprofit corporation that operates Memorial Hospital, a major hospital in Jacksonville. Memorial possesses a valid license to operate as a hospital pursuant to chapter 395, Florida Statutes (1989), and at all material times has been exempt from federal income taxation. EMMCO Jacksonville, Ltd. I (EMMCO I), and EMMCO Jacksonville, Ltd. II (EMMCO II), two Florida limited partnerships, are for-profit entities not exempt from federal income taxation.

In 1989, Memorial conveyed title to Units 5, 6, 7, and 8[1] to EMMCO II, and EMMCO II leased these units back to Memorial. Prior to Memorial's conveyance of title to EMMCO II, these units were exempted from ad valorem property taxation pursuant to chapter 196, Florida Statutes. Both before and after this conveyance, Memorial used all of Units 5, 6, 7, and 8 as a part of the hospital operation. Also in 1989, Memorial conveyed title to Unit I to EMMCO I, and EMMCO I leased it back to Memorial. Since January 1, 1990, just over 51% of Unit 1 has been used by Memorial as part of the hospital operation.

On February 28, 1990, Memorial, EMMCO I, and EMMCO II filed applications pursuant to chapter 196, Florida Statutes (1989), with the Duval County Property Appraiser seeking full ad valorem property tax exemptions as to Units 5, 6, 7, and 8, and for a partial exemption of 51.82% of Unit 1. The property appraiser denied the applications on the ground that, although the property was being used by an exempt lessee for an exempt purpose, the owners of the property were not exempt entities. The property appraiser relied upon section 196.192, Florida Statutes (1989), for his position that the owner of the property must be an exempt entity for the property to be exempt from taxation.

Taxpayers filed suit against the property appraiser, the Duval County Tax Collector, and the State Department of Revenue, to contest the denial of the ad valorem property tax exemptions for Units 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Because no facts were in dispute, Taxpayers filed a motion for summary final judgment contending that they met the criteria for the granting of an exemption from ad valorem taxation as set forth in section 196.197, Florida Statutes (1989). Appellants filed a response thereto and a cross-motion *761 for summary final judgment disputing Taxpayers' entitlement to an exemption on the ground that, notwithstanding the lease of the property to a nonprofit corporation for use in the hospital operation (an exempt purpose), the property was owned by a nonexempt for-profit entity and for this reason did not qualify under the statute for an ad valorem tax exemption. The trial court ruled that section 196.197(2) is clear on its face and grants a specific ad valorem property tax exemption for property leased to a nonprofit corporation that provides direct medical services to patients in a nonprofit hospital and qualifies under section 196.196. Because it appeared to the court that the subject property met this test for exemption, the court overruled the property appraiser's contrary decision.

On this appeal, Appellants make two contentions that require discussion. They argue (1) that Memorial was not a proper applicant for the ad valorem tax exemption because it did not own the subject property, and (2) that the subject property is not exempt from ad valorem taxation because EMMCO I and EMMCO II, the owners, are not exempt entities as required by chapter 196. Resolution of these issues requires analysis of several sections of chapter 196, Florida Statutes (1989), that provide for and set the limits of "use exemptions."[2]

We first address whether Memorial was a proper applicant for the tax exemption and therefore had standing to object to the property appraiser's denial of exempt status to the property. Section 196.011 states in pertinent part:

(1) Every person or organization who has the legal title to real or personal property, except inventory, which is entitled by law to exemption from taxation as a result of its ownership and use shall, before March 1 of each year, file an application for exemption with the county property appraiser, listing and describing the property for which exemption is claimed and certifying its ownership and use.
* * * * * *
(5) The owner of property that received an exemption in the prior year, or a property owner who filed an original application that was denied in the prior year solely for not being timely filed, may reapply on a short form as provided by the department. The short form shall require the applicant to affirm that the use of the property and his status as a permanent resident have not changed since the initial application.
* * * * * *
(9)(a) A county may ... waive the requirement that an annual application or statement be made for exemption of property within the county after an initial application is made and the exemption granted... . Notwithstanding such waiver, refiling of an application or statement shall be required when any property granted an exemption is sold or otherwise disposed of, when the ownership changes in any manner, ... or when the status of the owner changes so as to change the exempt status of the property... . It is the duty of the owner of any property granted an exemption who is not required to file an annual application or statement to notify the property appraiser promptly whenever the use of the property or the status or condition of the owner changes so as to change the exempt status of the property... .

(Emphasis added.)

Subsection 196.011(1) clearly requires that the person or organization who holds legal title to the real or personal property and who claims entitlement to exemption from taxation

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
606 So. 2d 759, 1992 WL 308638, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mastroianni-v-memorial-medical-center-fladistctapp-1992.