R. H. James, Inc. v. Anderson

• Decision Date: 24 June 1964
• Docket Number: No. 4224,4224
• Parties: R. H. JAMES, INC., a Florida Corporation, Jackson Groves, Inc., a Florida Corporation, Grover Eidridge, and D. A. Salls, Appellants, v. A. L. ANDERSON, Harry Chadwick, John Bonsey, Lloyd Hopkins and Robert A. Freeze, constituting the Board of County Commissioners of Pinellas County, Florida, and ex officio the Board of Equalization of said County, and Mac S. Haines, Tax Assessor of Pinellas County, Florida, and Ray E. Green, as Comptroller of the State of Florida, Appellees.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

Page 829

165 So.2d 829

R. H. JAMES, INC., a Florida Corporation, Jackson Groves, Inc., a Florida Corporation, Grover Eidridge, and D. A. Salls, Appellants, v. A. L. ANDERSON, Harry Chadwick, John Bonsey, Lloyd Hopkins and Robert A. Freeze, constituting the Board of County Commissioners of Pinellas County, Florida, and ex officio the Board of Equalization of said County, and Mac S. Haines, Tax Assessor of Pinellas County, Florida, and Ray E. Green, as Comptroller of the State of Florida, Appellees.

No. 4224.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.

June 24, 1964.

Rehearing Denied July 23, 1964.

Howard P. Rives, of Cooper, Rives & Baskin, Clearwater, for appellants.

Julian R. Howay, St. Petersburg, and Page S. Jackson, County Atty., Clearwater, for appellees.

PER CURIAM.

This suit for declaratory decree and other relief was instituted below by the appellants herein, they being members of a class of real property owners in Pinellas County, Florida. They brought this action against the Board of County Commissioners of Pinellas County, Florida; the Tax Assessor of Pinellas County, Florida; and the Honorable Ray E. Green, as Comptroller of the State of Florida. The purpose of the suit is stated in the final decree of the chancellor below: 'This suit was brought pursuant to Florida Statute 87, the Plaintiff seeking a declaration of the rights of the parties together with additional alternative, coercive, subsequent and supplemental relief. The basic issue is the validity and legality of the Pinellas County 1962 tangible real and personal property tax assessment rolls.' There were a considerable number of pleadings below, as well as numerous hearings involving several volumes of testimony, etc., all of which comprise a record of impressive size and length. The case was concluded below with a final hearing on January 3 and 4, 1963, and the chancellor entered his final decree on January 9, 1963, wherein he found, in part, as follows:

'The Court finds that the Defendants have complied with the mandatory requirements of law pertaining to taxation in the preparation and completion of the aforesaid tax assessment rolls.

'The Court finds that the Board of County Commissioners, pursuant to Florida Statute 192.111, may contract for a reappraisal of the real property of the county without contracting for a reappraisal of personal property in the county.

'The testimony and evidence presented has failed to support the contention of the Plaintiffs that the aforesaid tax assessment rolls should be declared void.

'The Court rules in favor of the contention of the Defendants that said tax assessment rolls are legal and valid and that no constitutional rights of the Plaintiffs have been violated.

'The Court finds further that the Plaintiffs are entitled to no relief against any of the Defendants in this cause.'

The appellants originally appealed to the Supreme Court of Florida, alleging that the Supreme Court had jurisdiction of this appeal pursuant to Article V, Section 4, of the Florida Constitution, F.S.A., and Rule 2.1(5)(a) of the Florida Appellate Rules, 31 F.S.A. However, by order dated July 2, 1963, the cause was transferred to this court, the Supreme Court finding that the issues involved in the appeal were matters within the jurisdiction of this court. Therefore, that portion of the appellants' brief directed to the jurisdictional point has not been considered here. Nevertheless, the appellants set out four statements of points in this appeal. Briefly, appellants argue that: 1) the wilful failure and refusal to assess substantial quantities of taxable household goods and personal effects constitutes an unlawful discrimination against the owners of taxable real property, contrary to the Declaration of Rights of the Florida Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and is also a direct breach of the duties imposed upon the assessor by the Florida Constitution; 2) the persistent and wilful failure of tax officials to apply and follow statutory law in regard to the assessment of ad valorem taxes constitutes a denial of taxpayers' constitutional rights under the Florida Constitution and also the United States Constitution; 3) the tax assessor violated both the State and Federal Constitutions in that he had revalued only real property to the exclusion of tangible personal property; and 4) the tax assessor wilfully granted unlawful exemptions to one class of personal property to the detriment of real property and thus violated both the State and Federal Constitutions.

The appellants, in their extensive briefs, have cited numerous Florida statutes and cases in support of their arguments set out above. Into their briefs they have also incorporated much of the proof adduced in the lower ...