Board of County Com'rs of St. Johns County v. Beard, 91-2290

• Decision Date: 05 June 1992
• Docket Number: No. 91-2290,91-2290
• Citation: 601 So.2d 590
• Parties: BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF ST. JOHNS COUNTY, and the St. Johns County Water and Sewer Authority, Appellants, v. Thomas M. BEARD, Chairman, and Thomas M. Beard, Betty Easley, Michael Wilson, and J. Terry Deason, Commissioners, as and constituting the Florida Public Service Commission, and Jacksonville Suburban Utilities Corporation, Appellees. 601 So.2d 590, 17 Fla. L. Week. D1425
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 590

601 So.2d 590

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF ST. JOHNS COUNTY, and the

St. Johns County Water and Sewer Authority, Appellants, v. Thomas M. BEARD, Chairman, and Thomas M. Beard, Betty

Easley, Michael Wilson, and J. Terry Deason, Commissioners,

as and constituting the Florida Public Service Commission,

and Jacksonville Suburban Utilities Corporation, Appellees.

No. 91-2290.

601 So.2d 590, 17 Fla. L. Week. D1425

District Court of Appeal of Florida,

First District.

June 5, 1992.

David G. Conn of Conn & Christine, P.A., St. Augustine, for appellants.

James L. Ade and Scott G. Schildberg of Martin, Ade, Birchfield & Mickler, P.A., Jacksonville, for appellee/Jacksonville Suburban Utilities Corp.

Robert D. Vandiver, General Counsel; William E. Wyrough, Jr., Associate General Counsel, Florida Public Service Comn., Tallahassee, for appellee/Public Service Comn.

PER CURIAM.

Appellant, St. Johns County, challenges an order of the Public Service Commission (PSC) declaring that the PSC, not appellant, had exclusive jurisdiction over water and wastewater services provided by appellee, Jacksonville Suburban Utilities Corp. (JSUC), within St. Johns County. We affirm.

In July 1985, the Board of County Commissioners of St. Johns County adopted a resolution giving the PSC jurisdiction over private water and wastewater utilities located within the County. In September 1989, the County exercised its statutory right to rescind its resolution and thereby exclude its private utilities from PSC jurisdiction. See Sec. 367.171(1), Fla.Stat. (1985). The County passed an ordinance placing regulatory authority in the newly created St. Johns County Water and Sewer Authority and, thereafter, the PSC issued an order acknowledging the County's assumption of jurisdiction. A portion of the PSC order stated: "We further acknowledge that our jurisdiction over privately owned water and sewer utilities whose systems are located exclusively within said county is rescinded effective September 26, 1989." (Emphasis added).

When the County resumed jurisdiction, two of its private water and sewer utilities had cases pending before the PSC. In these cases, two small utilities sought PSC approval of their sale of assets and transfer of water and sewer certificates to JSUC. Pursuant to subsection 367.171(5), Florida Statutes (1989), the PSC retained jurisdiction over these cases, eventually approving the transfers. Thereafter, JSUC obtained certificates from the County authorizing JSUC to provide water and sewer service within St. Johns County.

In January 1991, JSUC petitioned the PSC for a declaratory statement as to whether the PSC had exclusive jurisdiction over JSUC's water and sewer facilities located in Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties. In addition to identifying itself as a provider of water and wastewater utility service in the three neighboring counties of Duval, Nassau and St. Johns, JSUC indicated that it provided such service through numerous facilities located within the counties. JSUC argued that all of its facilities were part of "a single water and wastewater system" which must come under PSC jurisdiction according to the following language in subsection 367.171(7), Florida Statutes (Supp.1990):

Notwithstanding anything in this section to the contrary, the commission shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all utility systems whose service transverses county boundaries, whether the counties involved are jurisdictional or nonjurisdictional....

(Emphasis added). In support of its assertion, JSUC noted that all of its facilities, wherever located, were managed from a central office in Duval County, and shared the same manager, officers, engineers, accountants, maintenance personnel, customer service representatives and testing laboratories. JSUC performed purchasing, budgeting, planning and staffing functions on a system-wide basis. According to JSUC, inefficiency and higher costs would result if St. Johns County were deemed to have jurisdiction over a portion of the utility's operations.

St. Johns County intervened, arguing that it should retain jurisdiction over that portion of JSUC's operations within the County. According to the County, JSUC should not be deemed a "system transversing county boundaries" simply due to managerial and administrative interconnectedness. Under the County's interpretation of subsection 367.171(7), facilities and land in one county must be functionally related to, and physically connected with, facilities and land in another county to invoke the exclusive jurisdiction of the PSC. Because there was no physical connection crossing county...