Dade County v. Miami Herald Pub. Co.
| Decision Date | 02 October 1973 |
| Docket Number | No. 72-1464,72-1464 |
| Parties | DADE COUNTY, a political subdivision of the State of Florida, et al., Appellants, v. The MIAMI HERALD PUBLISHING COMPANY, a Florida Corporation, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Stuart Simon, Co. Atty., and R. A. Cuevar, Jr., Asst. Co. Atty., for appellants.
McCarthy, Steel, Hector & Davis, Miami, for appellee.
Before PEARSON and HENDRY, JJ. and SPECTOR, Associate Judge.
Appellant, defendant in the trial court, seeks review of a final judgment following a non-jury trial which declared invalid and reduced the 1970 ad valorem tax assessment on plaintiff's building.
The Miami Herald building, constructed in 1963, consists of two interconnected structures, an office type structure and a warehouse type structure. The Herald building was placed on the 1970 tax roll at $21,689,163, and appellee-plaintiff challenged this assessment in the trial court.
Each party relied on testimony and a written report of a qualified real estate appraiser. Both appraisers agreed that the maximum useful life of the newspaper plant is forty (40) years. Testimony revealed that all other newspaper buildings in Dade County have been converted to office building uses, and because the county can support only one major newspaper plant, no real market exists for a building devoted to newspaper use. However, a market for office facilities does exist.
Appellee's appraiser employed the three basic appraisal approaches in arriving at his valuation-cost approach, market or sales comparison approach, and the income approach. Appellee's witness took into account in determining the 1970 fair market value that the highest and best use of the Herald building would be as office facilities. He determined a fair market value as of January 1, 1970 to be $12,000,000.
Appellant's appraisal expert, on the other hand, relied exclusively on the cost approach and based his appraisal on the Herald building as a newspaper plant. He estimated the 1970 fair market value at $18,726,000.
On this conflicting valuation evidence, the trial court accorded greater weight to appellee's assessment.
The fundamental question presented for our consideration is whether or not the trial judge's findings on the issue of fair market value are supported by competent substantial evidence. We think they are, and accordingly affirm.
'Fair market value' means the amount of money which a purchaser willing but not obligated to buy, would pay to one willing but not obligated to sell. City of Tampa v. Colgan, 121 Fla. 218, 163 So. 577; Southern Realty and Utilities Corp. v. Gettleman, Fla.App.1967, 197 So.2d 30; Williams v. Simpson, Fla.App.1968, 209 So.2d 262. This court has previously held that testimony of potential future use is speculative and conjectural and incompetent as proof of fair market value. Bal Harbour Club, Inc. v. Dade County (Fla.App.1969), 222 So.2d 428; see also Williams v. Simpson, supra, R-C-B-S Corporation v. Walter, ...
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