Southern Gulf Utilities, Inc. v. Metropolitan Dade County Water and Sewer Bd.
| Decision Date | 23 November 1965 |
| Docket Number | No. 65-207,65-207 |
| Citation | 180 So.2d 481 |
| Parties | SOUTHERN GULF UTILITIES, INC., a Florida corporation, Appellant, v. METROPOLITAN DADE COUNTY WATER AND SEWER BOARD, a governmental agency of Metropolitan Dade County, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Milton E. Grusmark, Miami Beach, for appellant.
Thomas C. Britton, County Atty., and Linton R. Lovett, Asst. County Atty., for appellee.
Before HENDRY, C. J., and BARKDULL and SWANN, JJ.
This is an appeal of an order of the Circuit Court of Dade County denying a petition for writ of certiorari and an order modifying the order denying certiorari.
The Metropolitan Dade County Water and Sewer Board, which shall be referred to as the board, upon its own motion pursuant to Metropolitan Dade County Code, Sec. 32-65(b) held a public hearing on the rates and charges of Southern Gulf Utilities, Inc., a water and sewer utility, which was the petitioner below.
Upon completion of the hearing, the board issued order No. 64-5 and on petition for rehearing issued order No. 64-14. The board found that the rate base of petitioner should be reduced by excluding contributions in aid of construction received by the utility from customers or subdivision developers, contribution in aid of construction receivable, and profits of subsidiaries of the utility. The effect of these orders was to lower the rates of the utility.
By a petition for writ of certiorari the utility sought to question the construction and application by the board of Metropolitan Dade County Code Sec. 32-65(c) which reads as follows:
'In fixing and determining just and reasonable rates and charges the board shall investigate and determine the actual legitimate costs of the property of each public utility, actually used and useful or having present value for future use in the public service, which costs as determined by the board shall be utilized for rate-making purpose, and shall be the money honestly and prudently invested by the public utility in such property used and useful in serving the public, less accrued depreciation, and shall not include any good will or going concern value in excess of payments made therefor.'
Petitioner contended that the board erroneously construed the ordinance in excluding the above mentioned items from the utility's rate base, thus reducing the investment upon which the utility is allowed to earn a return.
The court below on denying the petition for writ of certiorari rejected the contentions of the utility. On petition for rehearing the court modified the order denying certiorari which had the effect of excluding contributions in aid of construction receivable from the rate base unless the receivables are uncollectable through litigation or foreclosure. Then the uncollectable contribution may be added to the rate base.
The principle point to be determined on this appeal is whether a contribution in aid of construction receivable should be deducted from the rate base prior to its actual receipt. The petitioner urges that the procedure should be in reverse; that the proper method to determine the rate base would not be the deduction of the contributions receivable from the rate base until they are actually received. Petitioner contends...
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