Garcia v. Andonie

• Decision Date: 04 October 2012
• Docket Number: No. SC11–554.,SC11–554.
• Citation: 101 So.3d 339
• Parties: Pedro J. GARCIA, etc., et al., Appellant, v. David ANDONIE, et al., Appellee.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

101 So.3d 339

Pedro J. GARCIA, etc., et al., Appellant,

v.David ANDONIE, et al., Appellee.

No. SC11–554.

Supreme Court of Florida.

Oct. 4, 2012.

Held Unconstitutional

West's F.S.A. § 196.031(1)Robert Anthony Cuevas, Jr., County Attorney and Melinda S. Thornton, Assistant County Attorney, Miami, FL, for Appellant.

Daniel Avram Weiss of Tannebaum Weiss, PL, Miami, FL; and Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General and Joseph Capers Mellichamp, III, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, for Appellee.

Loren Eugene Levy and Ana Cristina Torres of the Levy Law Firm, Tallahassee, FL, on behalf of the Property Appraisers' Association of Florida, Inc.; Kenneth Paul Hazouri of de Beaubien, Knight, Simmons, Mantzaris & Neal, LLP, Orlando, FL, on behalf of William (Bill) Donegan, Orange County Property Appraiser; and Thomas Marshall Findley and Robert J. Telfer, III of Messer, Caparello & Self, P.A., Tallahassee, FL, on behalf of the Florida Association of Property Appraisers, As Amici Curiae.

LABARGA, J.

This case is before the Court on the Miami–Dade Property Appraiser's (Property Appraiser) appeal of the Third District Court of Appeal's decision in De La Mora v. Andonie, 51 So.3d 517 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010).¹ In Andonie, the Third District affirmed a circuit court's grant of an ad valorem homestead tax exemption to David and Ana Andonie (the Taxpayers), and declared a portion of section 196.031(1), Florida Statutes (2006), invalid and unenforceable because the statutory provision limits the class of property owners otherwise eligible for ad valorem tax relief under article VII, section 6(a), of the Florida Constitution. This Court has jurisdiction of the appeal under article V, section 3(b)(1) of the Florida Constitution.

Overview

In this appeal, the Property Appraiser argues that the Third District erred by concluding that a portion of section 196.031(1) is invalid and unenforceable. The Property Appraiser also argues that the record evidence in this case is insufficient to establish the Taxpayers' entitlement to the ad valorem tax exemption provided for in article VII, section 6(a), of the Florida Constitution. Accordingly, the Property Appraiser argues that the Third District erred in affirming the circuit court's judgment that grants the Taxpayers the ad valorem tax exemption provided for in article VII, section 6(a), of the Florida Constitution. In this opinion, we discuss two separate issues relating to a property owner's entitlement to the ad valorem tax exemption provided for in article VII, section 6(a), of the Florida Constitution.²

First, we address the legal elements that must be proven to establish entitlement to this constitutional tax exemption. Relative to this issue of law, we hold that the express language of the Florida Constitution, as amended in 1968, creates the right for every person who owns Florida real property to receive a prescribed reduction in the taxable value of that property ³ where the owner maintains on the property either (1) the permanent residence of the owner or (2) the permanent residence of another legally or naturally dependent on the owner—provided the individual for whom the permanent residence is maintained has no legal impediment to residing on the property on a permanent basis. Based on this conclusion, we hold consistent with the Third District's decision in Andonie that section 196.031(1), Florida Statutes (2006), is invalid and unenforceable to the extent that it imposes a substantive requirement for entitlement not contained in the Constitution and thereby materially limits the class of taxpayers entitled to ad valorem tax relief under the Florida Constitution.

The second issue we address relates to the facts and procedural posture of this particular case. The Property Appraiser concedes that the taxpayers here would be entitled to the ad valorem tax exemption had they introduced sufficient evidence establishing that they were, in fact, maintaining the permanent residence of their minor children on their Florida property. The Property Appraiser argues, however, that the evidence introduced by the Taxpayers—an affidavit establishing that the Florida property is being used as the permanent residence of the Taxpayers' minor children—was “self-serving” and, thus, insufficient. We conclude that the Property Appraiser's argument regarding the sufficiency of the evidence was not preserved below and is thus waived. Further, we conclude that the Property Appraiser's factual arguments predicated on the insufficiency of the evidence are flawed because the Property Appraiser had the burden of proof in the circuit court proceeding that gave rise to this appeal. Moreover, we conclude that the uncontroverted evidence of record establishes that the Taxpayers' minor children live on the property and have the legal right to live on the property permanently in accordance with their parents' intent. Based on the foregoing, we affirm the Third District's decision that, in turn, affirms the circuit court's grant of the exemption to the Taxpayers.

We first examine the legal elements of entitlement that must be established by an owner of Florida property to obtain the ad valorem tax relief that is guaranteed to owners of Florida property as a matter of constitutional right.

The Legal Elements of Entitlement for the Constitutional Homestead Tax Exemption

The determination of a statute's constitutionality and the interpretation of a constitutional provision are both questions of law reviewed de novo. See Zingale v. Powell, 885 So.2d 277, 280 (Fla.2004) (“Although we take into consideration the district court's analysis on the issue, constitutional interpretation, like statutory interpretation, is performed de novo.”). If the language in the constitution is clear, there is no need to resort to other tools of construction. Lawnwood Med. Ctr., Inc. v. Seeger, 990 So.2d 503, 510 (Fla.2008). Unless the text of the constitution suggests that a technical meaning of a word is intended, “words used in the constitution should be given their usual and ordinary meaning.” See id. at 512 (internal citations omitted). Accordingly, where the text of a constitutional provision does not suggest that a technical meaning was intended, the Court is not at liberty to add words so as to impose a technical meaning. See id. Constitutional analysis must begin with examination of explicit language of provisions in question and, where the language is unambiguous and addresses the matter at issue, the provision should be enforced as written. See Ford v. Browning, 992 So.2d 132, 136 (Fla.2008) (citing Fla. Soc'y of Ophthalmology v. Fla. Optometric Ass'n, 489 So.2d 1118, 1119 (Fla.1986)). Based on the foregoing authority, we first examine the plain language of the constitutional provision that creates the right to an ad valorem tax exemption for owners of Florida property.

The Florida Constitution provides every owner of Florida real property the right to apply for ⁴ and receive a reduction in the assessed value of real property for ad valorem tax purposes, under specified circumstances. Seeart. VII, § 6(a), Fla. Const. Before the Florida Constitution was amended by the people of Florida in 1968, an owner of real property seeking to establish entitlement to a homestead tax exemption was required to both “reside” on the property in question and make the property either (1) his or her permanent home or (2) the permanent home of others legally or naturally dependent upon the owner.⁵ When the Florida Constitution was amended in 1968, the homestead tax exemption provision was renumbered and the requirement that the property owner reside on the property was removed. Seeart. VII, § 6(a), Fla. Const. Article VII, Section 6(a), of the Florida Constitution, as amended in 1968, states in relevant part:

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 ... upon establishment of right thereto in the manner prescribed by law.

Art. VII, § 6(a), Fla. Const. (emphasis added). Thus, the plain language of the Florida Constitution, as amended in 1968, requires that the property owner maintain on the property either (1) the permanent residence of the owner; or (2) the permanent residence of another legally or naturally dependent upon the owner. Accordingly, under the Florida Constitution there are two separate and independent means by which a property owner's entitlement to the homestead tax exemption may be accomplished.⁶ And, where a property owner claims a homestead tax exemption based on the owner's act of maintaining the permanent residence of his or her dependents on the property, the owner need not also prove that he or she is residing on the property, permanently or otherwise, because the two textual means by which entitlement to the exemption may be established under the constitution are stated independently and as alternatives to one another. Seeart. VII, § 6(a), Fla. Const.; see also§ 196.031(6), Fla. Stat. (2006) (explaining permanent resident of state other than Florida who is receiving tax exemption in that state is not precluded from also obtaining homestead tax exemption in Florida where owner maintains the permanent residence of dependents on Florida property); see generally Matter of Cooke, 412 So.2d 340, 341 (Fla.1982) (interpreting the 1968 constitutional revisions to the forced-sale homestead exemption provided for in the Florida Constitution and stating, “[W]e hold that although it is not necessary that the head of the family reside in the state or intend to make the property in question his permanent residence, he must establish that he intended to make this property his family's permanent residence.”).

Notwithstanding the specific elements of entitlement to the ad valorem tax exemption contained in article VII, section 6(a), of the...