Folks v. Marion County

Decision Date26 September 1935
Citation121 Fla. 17,163 So. 298
PartiesFOLKS et al. v. MARION COUNTY.
CourtFlorida Supreme Court
En Banc.

Suit by the County of Marion against T. F. Folks and the State of Florida, wherein T. F. Folks intervened. Decree for plaintiff, and defendant and intervener appeal.

Affirmed.

BROWN and BUFORD, JJ., dissenting in part. Appeal from Circuit Court, Marion County; W. S. Bullock, judge.

COUNSEL

A. P Buie, of Ocala, for appellants.

Norris F. Baskin, or Ocala, for appellant intervener.

Wallace E. Sturgis, of Ocala, for appellee.

OPINION

BROWN Justice.

This is an appeal from a decree of the circuit court for Marion county rendered on March 25, 1935, validating an issue of county refunding bonds.

The question involved on this appeal, stated in general terms, is whether or not 'homesteads,' as defined by article 10, § 7, of the Constitution, being the constitutional amendment adopted on November 6, 1934, are subject to taxation for the payment of county refunding bonds authorized and issued after the adoption of said homestead exemption amendment; such refunding bonds being in renewal or extension of the obligation evidenced by county bonds issued prior to the adoption of said amendment, at a time when 'homesteads,' as so defined, were subject to taxation for the payment of such original obligation.

The petition for validation shows that on February 19, 1935, the board of county commissioners of Marion county adopted a resolution authorizing the issuance of $110,000 of Refunding Road Bonds, Serics B, to be dated July 1, 1935, bearing interest at 5 per cent. per annum, to refund 50 per cent. of $220,000 of road bonds issued in July, 1920, and falling due July 1, 1935. The resolution states that the county will not have on hand when the original bonds mature sufficient funds to pay more than one half the amount then falling due; hence the necessity for issuing the refunding bonds, under authority of chapter 15772, Laws of 1931, Ex Sess. to take care of the other half.

The form of the refunding bonds, as provided in the resolution reads in part as follows:

'The County of Marion, in the State of Florida, is justly indebted and for value received hereby promises to pay to the bearer, or, if this bond be registered, to the registered owner hereof, on the first day of July, 1935, the principal sum of Five Hundred Dollars, together with interest thereon at the rate of five per cent. per annum, payable semiannually on the first days of January and July of each year upon the presentation and surrender of the annexed interest coupons as they severally become due. Both principal and interest of this bond are payable in lawful money of the United States at the Central Hanover Bank & Trust Company in the City of New York. For the prompt payment hereof and the interest hereon as the same shall fall due, the full faith, credit and taxing power of said County of Marion are hereby irrevocably pledged to the same extent and with like force and effect as the same were pledged for the payment of the indebtedness refunded hereby.
'This bond is issued by said County under the authority of and in full compliance with the General Refunding Act of 1931, being Chapter 15772, General Laws of Florida, 1931, and pursuant to a resolution duly adopted by the Board of County Commissioners of said County, and is issued for the purpose of refunding a like face amount of valid subsisting bonded indebtedness of said County, outstanding at the date of the passage of said Act and consisting of fifty per cent. of the indebtedness evidenced by a $1,000 5% Road Bond of said County, dated July 1, 1920, and maturing July 1, 1935.'

There is a provision in the bonds giving the county the option to redeem on any interest date upon notice given. Then follows a paragraph which contains this clause.

'That provision has been made for the levy and collection of a direct annual tax upon all property within said County, except only such property as would be exempt from taxation under the provisions of the laws and Constitution of Florida which were in force and effect at the time of the creation of the indebtedness refunded hereby, sufficient to pay the principal and interest of this bond as the same shall fall due.'

The resolution provides for a sinking fund to pay the bonds at maturity, requiring prescribed payments into such fund annually commencing in 1945. Paragraph 7 reads as follows:

'Section 7. In each year while any of said refunding bonds shall be outstanding, there shall be levied upon all property within the County of Marion, except only such property as would be exempt from taxation under the provisions of the laws and Constitution of Florida which were in force and effect at the time of the creation of the indebtedness refunded, a tax sufficient to pay the interest upon such bonds as the same shall fall due and to make the sinking fund payments required by this resolution; provided, however, that when there shall be in the funds provided for said interest and sinking funds amounts exceeding the amounts at that time required for such funds, the tax required by this section for the then current fiscal year may be reduced by the amount of such excess.'

Section 10 of the resolution reads as follows:

'Section 10. Said Refunding Road Bonds, Series B, shall be issued to refund a like face amount of bonded indebtedness of said County, consisting of fifty per centum (50%) of the indebtedness evidenced by the Road Bonds described in Section 1 of this resolution which mature on July 1, 1935. And upon the due execution of said Refunding Road Bonds, Series B, they shall be deposited by the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners, at one time or from time to time, together with a sum equal to the face amount of the bonds so deposited, with a bank or trust company chosen by said Clerk, with instructions to said bank or trust company that upon the surrender of each $1,000. maturing bond to be refunded there be paid thereon to the holder thereof the sum of $500 and that there be delivered to such holder one $500 Refunding Road Bond, Series B, and that the maturing bonds so surrendered be cancelled by perforation and forwarded to the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall be deemed to prevent the Board of County Commissioners from hereafter ordering the sale of any bonds herein authorized in the manner provided by said General Refunding Act of 1931.' (Italics supplied.)

Section 15 reads thus:

'Section 15. For the prompt payment of the principal and interest of the Refunding Road Bonds, Series B, as the same shall fall due, issued pursuant to this resolution, the full faith, credit and taxing power of said County of Marion are hereby irrevocably pledged to the same extent and with like force and effect as the same was heretofore pledged for the payment of the indebtedness refunded by said bonds.'

It will be noticed that the italicized portion of section 10 would permit the board of county commissioners to order the sale of any of said bonds 'in the manner provided by said General Refunding Act of 1931,' which is said chapter 15772.

The Refunding Act of 1931, referred to, is quite broad and comprehensive in its terms, and in section 8 thereof provides that the refunding bonds issued thereunder 'may be exchanged for not less than an equal principal amount and/or accrued interest of indebtedness to be retired thereby, including indebtedness not yet due, if the same be then redeemable or if the holders thereof be willing to surrender the same for retirement, but otherwise shall be sold and the proceeds thereof shall be applied to the payment of such indebtedness and/or accrued interest due or redeemable which may be so surrendered. ' (Italics supplied.) We will discuss the effect of this section later on.

Section 22 of said act provides that: 'In each year while any of the bonds shall be outstanding there shall be levied by or under the authority of the governing board upon all taxable property in the unit, an ad valorem tax sufficient to pay the interest and principal of such refunding bonds,' etc. (Italics supplied.) Does this language limit the levying 'in each year' of a tax to pay the refunding bonds to a tax on all property which is taxable under the laws existing at the time the levy is made, or may the words 'all taxable property' be reasonably construed to mean all property which is lawfully and properly taxable for the payment of the refunding bonds, including, if it may be done, all property which was taxable for the payment of the original bonds thus refunded? The answer to this question evidently turns upon the answer to the main question in this case, which concerns what property is 'taxable property' for the payment of refunding bonds, of the kind authorized by the act and provided for by the resolution adopted by the county commissioners in this instance.

The language used in section 23 of said Refunding Act is somewhat different from that used in section 22, but as that section is limited to bonds issued by municipalities, it does not affect the provisions of section 22 above pointed out.

The petition for validation was resisted in the court below, both by the state through its state attorney, A. P. Buie, and by T. F. Folks, a citizen, taxpayer, and homestead owner of Marion county. Each denied that chapter 15772 authorized the issuance of the refunding bonds in the manner proposed, and alleged that the resolution, and the issuance of the bonds thereunder, would violate the homestead exemption amendment of November 6, 1934, which amendment exempts 'from all taxation, other than special assessments for benefits' the homestead as defined in article 10 of...

To continue reading

Request your trial
40 cases
  • State Ex Rel. Harrington v. City of Pompano
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • December 1, 1938
    ... ... of Charles E. Harrington and others, as trustees of Broward ... County Bondholders' Association, against the City of ... Pompano, to compel municipal taxation of all ... Fla. 736] Casey, Walton & Spain, of Miami, for relator ... W ... Marion Walton, of Pompano, and J. H. Lathero and McCune, ... Hiaasen & Fleming, all of Fort Lauderdale, ... 234; ... State v. Citrus County, 116 Fla. 676, 157 So. 4, 97 ... A.L.R. 431; Folks v. Marion County, 121 Fla. 17, 163 ... So. 298, 102 A.L.R. 659; Board of Public Instruction v ... ...
  • State Ex Rel. Woman's Ben. Ass'n v. Port of Palm Beach Dist.
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • November 25, 1935
    ... ... Y. Byrd, Doyle W. Croker, and John ... Prince are the duly qualified and acting county commissioners ... of Palm [121 Fla. 749] Beach county, and the said James M ... Owens, Jr., the ... Thomas, 292 U.S ... 426, 54 S.Ct. 816, 78 L.Ed. 1344, 93 A.L.R. 173; Folks et ... al. v. County of Marion (Fla.) 163 So. 298, decided this ... term of the Court ... ...
  • State Ex Rel. Sovereign Camp, W.O.w. v. Boring
    • United States
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • November 27, 1935
    ...ex rel. v. St. Petersburg, 106 Fla. 742, 144 So. 313, 671, 145 So. 175; Gray v. Moss, supra; Gray v. Winthrop, supra; Folks v. County of Marion (Fla.) 163 So. 298; State ex rel. v. Port of Palm Beach District et (Fla.) 164 So. 851, decided at this term; also County Commissioners of Columbia......
  • Bryson City Bank v. Town of Bryson City
    • United States
    • North Carolina Supreme Court
    • March 2, 1938
    ... ...          Appeal ... from Superior Court, Swain County; H. Hoyle Sink, Judge ...          Action ... by the Bryson City Bank against the Town ... Kearzey, supra; Keeney v ... Kanawha County Court, 115 W.Va. 243, 175 S.E. 60, 61; ... Folks v. County of Marion, 121 Fla. 17, 163 So. 298, ... 102 A.L.R. 659; W. B. Worthen Co. ex rel. Board ... ...
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT