McKinney v. Hunt

251 So. 2d 6
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedAugust 3, 1971
DocketN-444
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 251 So. 2d 6 (McKinney v. Hunt) 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
McKinney v. Hunt, 251 So. 2d 6 (Fla. Ct. App. 1971).

Opinion

251 So.2d 6 (1971)

Shellie E. McKINNEY, As Tax Collector for Alachua County, Florida et al., Appellants,
v.
Alpha L. HUNT and Elizabeth S. Hunt, His Wife, Appellees.

No. N-444.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

August 3, 1971.

Chandler, O'Neal, Carlisle, Avera, Gray & Lang, Gainesville, for appellants.

Richard J. Wilson, Gainesville, for appellees.

*7 GOODFRIEND, SAM, Associate Judge.

Appellant seeks review of a final judgment rendered May 13, 1970, in the Circuit Court of Alachua County, holding that Appellees' lands were entitled to agricultural tax treatment under the provisions of Section 193.201, as amended by Chapter 67-117, Acts Florida Statutes, as amended and renumbered Section 193.461, Florida Statutes, F.S.A.

Plaintiff-appellees are the owners of 15 acres of land in Alachua County, Florida. In 1969, appellees' land was assessed by the appellants-defendants at fair market value rather than as agricultural land. Appellees' complaint sought a declaration that the assessment was illegal and to have the 1969 taxes declared void, discriminatory and illegal for the reasons that said property was being used for bona fide agricultural purposes, and was entitled to the tax benefits on January 1st, 1969, as provided for under Section 193.461, Florida Statutes, F.S.A. Appellees contended that the property was so classified for tax purposes in 1968.

The Trial Judge, the Honorable George L. Patten, adjudged that the assessment of appellees' property was nonagricultural property is unlawful and invalid and ordered and directed the defendants-appellants herein to assess said property as agricultural land.

The land in question consists of fifteen acres, owned by plaintiff-appellees since 1935. The fifteen acres consist of 11 acres of improved pasture, 2 1/2 acres of field crops and 1 1/2 acres on which appellees' home is situated. Appellees occasionally sold a cow, but the crops are raised primarily for appellees' own use. The appellee works forty hours a week as a maintenance man, off the land, and cares for the crops and cows during his spare time with the use of some farm equipment. The appellees have lived on and used the property since 1935 for such purposes and the agricultural use of their land increased slightly from 1968 and 1969. The Trial Court found:

"1. The above described land was properly assessed as agricultural lands within 193.201 Florida Statutes, F.S.A. for the tax year 1968.

"2. There has been no change in the use of said land since the year 1968, except that the agricultural use has been more intensified.

"3. That said lands were being used as agricultural lands on January 1, 1969, and entitled to be assessed as agricultural lands and taxed accordingly."

and adjudged in part as follows:

"The assessment of the property described herein by the Defendants as nonagricultural property is unlawful and invalid and the Defendants are ordered and directed to assess said property as agricultural lands * * *"

According to stipulation of the parties, testimony of an Alachua County Commissioner, who was also a member of the Alachua County Zoning Board, was presented by appellants showing the reason for appellees' land being zoned agricultural in 1968 was namely because of insufficient facts, the volume of applications for agricultural zoning, and 1968 was the first year the zoning board operated.

Appellants presented testimony from a county agent, other members of the Alachua County Commission, and the Agricultural Zoning Board which described appellees' operation as a garden rather than a farm, and that a farm provides food and fiber for the community.

The appellants claim the Circuit Court erred in finding the Plaintiff entitled to an agricultural assessment within the meaning and intent of Section 193.201, now renumbered 193.461, Florida Statutes, F.S.A., and the assessment of defendant as nonagricultural to be unlawful.

The finding that the 1968 assessment was valid as agricultural and cannot be *8 changed to nonagricultural in successive tax years without a substantial change in the use and character of the lands is consistent with the Statute which provides that said land may be reclassified to another use on ceasing to be used for agricultural purposes.

Florida Statutes Section 193.201, as amended by Chapter 67-117, Acts of 1967, now renumbered as 193.461, provides in part:

(1) * * *
(2) The county agricultural zoning board, in order to promote and assist a more orderly growth and expansion of urban and metropolitan areas, shall on an annual basis zone all lands within the county as either agricultural or non-agricultural.
(3) No lands shall be zoned as agricultural lands unless a return is made as required by law which shall state that said lands on January 1 of that year were used primarily for agricultural purposes, and the board, before so zoning said lands, may require the taxpayer or his representative to furnish the board such information as may reasonably be required to establish that said lands were actually used for a bona fide agricultural purpose. All lands which are used primarily for bona fide agricultural purposes shall be zoned agricultural. The maintenance of a dwelling on part of the lands used for agricultural purposes shall not affect the right to have such lands zoned as agricultural lands.
(4) (a) When property which is zoned as agricultural is diverted to another use or ceases to be used for agricultural purposes, the board shall reclassify such property as nonagricultural.
(b) The board may also reclassify lands zoned as agricultural as nonagricultural when there is contiguous urban or metropolitan development on two or more sides and when the board finds that the continued use of such lands for agricultural purposes will act as a deterrent to the timely and orderly expansion of the community.
(5) For the purpose of this section, "agricultural lands" shall include horticulture, floriculture, viticulture, forestry, dairy, livestock, poultry, bee, pisciculture where the land is used principally for the production of tropical fish and all forms of farm products and farm production.
(6) The county tax assessor in assessing such lands so zoned and primarily used for agricultural purposes as described and listed shall consider no factors other than those relative to such use. The tax assessor in assessing land within this class shall take into consideration the following use factors only:
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) * * *.

The definition of a farmer, in part, as contended by the appellants, is "* * * one who resides on a farm with his family, cultivating such farm and mainly deriving his support from it; * * * one who cultivates a farm either as owner or lessee * * *" The appellants contend that there must be something more than raising vegetables and cows for oneself or personal use. That it was the intention of the legislature to protect the bona fide farmer from the urban sprawl and tax assessments on a basis other than fair market value without being limited to its agricultural use, should require the meaning of the word "farmer" be given major consideration in determining whether or not the lands were being bona fide used for agricultural purposes.

There are three main thrusts of the appellants' contentions for lands to be taxed agricultural in lieu of fair market value, namely:

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Bluebook (online)
251 So. 2d 6, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mckinney-v-hunt-fladistctapp-1971.