Thomas v. Smith

Decision Date13 August 2004
Docket NumberNo. 2D02-4018.,2D02-4018.
Citation882 So.2d 1037
CourtFlorida District Court of Appeals
PartiesFred A. THOMAS and Joy S. Thomas, Appellants, v. Jim SMITH, in his capacity as Property Appraiser of Pinellas County, Florida; Diane Nelson, in her capacity as Tax Collector of Pinellas County, Florida; and Jim Zingale, in his capacity as Executive Director of the State of Florida, Department of Revenue, Appellees.

Michael S. Hooker and Guy P. McConnell of Glenn Rasmussen Fogarty & Hooker, P.A., Tampa, for Appellants.

Susan Churuti, County Attorney, and Sarah Richardson, Senior Assistant County Attorney, Clearwater, for Appellee Diane Nelson, in her capacity as Tax Collector of Pinellas County.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, and Mark T. Aliff, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee Jim Zingale in his capacity as Executive Director of the State of Florida, Department of Revenue.

No appearance for Appellee Jim Smith, in his capacity as Property Appraiser of Pinellas County.

WALLACE, Judge.

Fred A. Thomas and Joy S. Thomas (the Taxpayers) appeal the circuit court's order dismissing their fifth amended complaint with prejudice. The Taxpayers argue that section 196.011(1)(b), Florida Statutes (1997), which requires disclosure of the Taxpayers' social security numbers as a condition of obtaining a homestead tax exemption for their residence, violates their right to privacy under the Florida Constitution, the federal Privacy Act of 1974 (the Privacy Act), and the Equal Protection Clauses of the Florida and the United States Constitutions. We conclude that the circuit court's dismissal of the Privacy Act and equal protection claims is supported by the record, and we affirm the circuit court's order without further discussion to the extent that it dismissed those claims with prejudice. However, we agree with the Taxpayers that the circuit court erred in dismissing with prejudice their claim for an alleged violation of their right to privacy under the Florida Constitution. Therefore, we reverse the dismissal of the Taxpayers' fifth amended complaint in part, and we remand this case for further proceedings.

I. LEGAL BACKGROUND

Article VII, section 6, of the Florida Constitution establishes a homestead tax exemption for persons who maintain a permanent residence on real property located in Florida. Pursuant to article VII, section 6(a):

Every person who has the legal or equitable title to real estate and maintains thereon the permanent residence of the owner, or another legally or naturally dependent upon the owner, shall be exempt from taxation thereon, except assessments for special benefits, up to the assessed valuation of five thousand dollars, upon establishment of right thereto in the manner prescribed by law. The real estate may be held by legal or equitable title, by the entireties, jointly, in common, as a condominium, or indirectly by stock ownership or membership representing the owner's or member's proprietary interest in a corporation owning a fee or a leasehold initially in excess of ninety-eight years.

The amount of the homestead exemption is now $25,000. Art. VII, § 6(d), Fla. Const.

The acquisition of homestead status for real property also limits the amount that the property's assessed value can increase in a particular year. Pursuant to article VII, section 4(c), of the Florida Constitution, popularly known as the "Save Our Homes" amendment, the annual increase in the assessed value of homestead property cannot exceed the lesser of:

a. Three percent (3%) of the assessment for the prior year.
b. The percent change in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers, U.S. City Average, all items 1967=100, or successor reports for the preceding calendar year as initially reported by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Art. VII, § 4(c)(1)(a)-(b), Fla. Const. The Save Our Homes amendment is implemented in section 193.155, Florida Statutes (1997). See generally Richard S. Franklin & Roi E. Baugher III, Protecting and Preserving the Save Our Homes Cap, 77 Fla. B.J. 34 (Oct.2003). The owner of property recognized as homestead for tax purposes thus receives a twofold benefit: (1) a tax exemption of $25,000 and (2) a cap on the amount that the assessed value of the property can rise in a given year.1

Section 196.011(1)(b) requires applicants for the homestead tax exemption to supply their social security numbers on an application form as a condition to obtaining the exemption (the required disclosure). Pursuant to the statute, an applicant's failure to provide his or her social security number waives the exemption for the year of the application. Section 196.011(1)(b) provides, in pertinent part:

The form to apply for an exemption ... must include a space for the applicant to list the social security number of the applicant and of the applicant's spouse, if any. If an applicant files a timely and otherwise complete application, and omits the required social security numbers, the application is incomplete. In that event, the property appraiser shall contact the applicant, who may refile a complete application by April 1. Failure to file a complete application by that date constitutes a waiver of the exemption privilege for that year....

This provision was added by chapter 94-353, section 45, at 2561, Laws of Florida, which became effective June 3, 1994. Ch. 94-353, § 75, at 2576, Laws of Fla.

Rule 12D-7.001(4), Florida Administrative Code, implements section 196.011(1)(b):

Each new applicant for an exemption ... must provide his or her social security number and the social security number of his or her spouse, if any, in the applicable spaces provided on the application form, Form DR-501 (incorporated by reference in Rule 12D-16.002). Failure to provide such numbers will render the application incomplete. If an applicant omits the required social security numbers and files an otherwise complete application, the property appraiser shall contact that applicant and afford the applicant the opportunity to file a complete application on or before April 1. Failure to file a completed application on or before April 1 shall constitute a waiver of the exemption for that tax year, unless the applicant can demonstrate that failure to timely file a completed application was the result of a postal error or, upon filing a timely petition to the value adjustment board, that the failure was due to extenuating circumstances as provided in section 196.011, Florida Statutes.

Thus, pursuant to Florida's statutory and administrative requirements, a homeowner cannot obtain the benefits of the constitutional homestead tax exemption unless he or she is willing to make the required disclosure.

II. THE TAXPAYERS' APPLICATION

On February 24, 1997, the Taxpayers filed a timely application for ad valorem tax exemption with the Property Appraiser of Pinellas County, Florida (the Property Appraiser), seeking a homestead exemption for their property located in Pinellas County.2 The Taxpayers declined to make the required disclosure. In July 1997, the Property Appraiser notified the Taxpayers that their 1997 application had been denied. The reason for the Property Appraiser's denial of the 1997 application was the Taxpayers' refusal to make the required disclosure. After the denial of their homestead request, the Taxpayers filed a petition with the Pinellas County Value Adjustment Board (the Board) to seek review of the Property Appraiser's decision. After a hearing on the petition, a special master recommended that the Board deny the Taxpayers' homestead request. On October 7, 1997, the Board adopted the recommendation and affirmed the denial of the Taxpayers' 1997 application. The Board's denial of the 1997 application was based on the Taxpayers' refusal to make the required disclosure. It appears that the Taxpayers are otherwise fully qualified for a homestead exemption. The Taxpayers' property was assessed in 1997 and in each subsequent year at issue without the benefit of the homestead exemption, and they did not have the benefit of the Save Our Homes cap.

Prior to filing their initial complaint in the circuit court, the Taxpayers paid the tax assessed on their 1997 tax bill. The Taxpayers have continued to pay their assessed taxes during subsequent years. The Taxpayers claim that by reason of the assessment of taxes against the property without the benefit of the homestead tax exemption and the absence of the Save Our Homes cap, they have paid higher amounts of property taxes than they would have paid otherwise.

III. THE PROCEEDINGS IN THE CIRCUIT COURT

On October 22, 1997, the Taxpayers filed their initial complaint in the circuit court. The Taxpayers named as defendants the Property Appraiser, the Tax Collector of Pinellas County, Florida (the Tax Collector), and the Executive Director of the State of Florida, Department of Revenue (the Department).3 The Taxpayers initially sought relief only with respect to tax year 1997. As the litigation progressed, the Taxpayers amended their complaint several times to seek relief with respect to subsequent tax years. The Taxpayers' fifth amended complaint, which was ultimately dismissed by the circuit court, sought relief with respect to tax years 1997 through 2001.

The Taxpayers' fifth amended complaint sought both declaratory relief and a refund of the additional property taxes that the Taxpayers claim to have paid on account of the denial of their application for homestead tax exemption. The Taxpayers advanced three claims in support of their request for declaratory relief. First, the Taxpayers asserted that section 196.011(1)(b) and rule 12D-7.001(4) violated their constitutional right of privacy under article I, section 23, of the Florida Constitution. Second, the Taxpayers claimed that section 196.011(1)(b) and rule 12D-7.001(4) violated provisions of the Privacy Act because the homestead application forms...

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    ...regarding a pure question of law is de novo. Major League Baseball v. Morsani, 790 So.2d 1071, 1074 (Fla.2001); Thomas v. Smith, 882 So.2d 1037, 1043 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004). Here, the trial court construed Article XV of the Trust and stated in its order, "Since the Trust provided that it could ......
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    ...that infringes on the right to privacy will be invalidated unless it can survive the compelling state interest test. Thomas v. Smith, 882 So.2d 1037, 1044 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004) (internal citation see N. Fla. Women's Health & Counseling Servs., Inc. v. State, 866 So.2d 612, 620 (Fla.2003) (cour......
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    • April 1, 2022
    ...the use of the least intrusive means. Source State v. Crumbley , 143 So.3d 1059, 1068 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014). See Also Thomas v. Smith , 882 So.2d 1037, 1044 (Fla. 2d DCA 2004). §9:20.2.3 Elements of Cause of Action — 3rd DCA [No citation for this edition.] §9:20.2.4 Elements of Cause of Action......

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