State Ex Rel. Southern Roller Derbies, Inc. v. Wood

• Decision Date: 13 December 1940
• Citation: 145 Fla. 296,199 So. 262
• Parties: STATE ex rel. SOUTHERN ROLLER DERBIES, Inc. v. WOOD, Tax Collector, et al.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

199 So. 262

145 Fla. 296

STATE ex rel. SOUTHERN ROLLER DERBIES, Inc. v. WOOD, Tax Collector, et al.

Florida Supreme Court

December 13, 1940

Rehearing Denied Jan. 6, 1941.

En Banc.

Error to Circuit Court, Dade County; Worth W. Trammell, Judge.

Mandamus proceedings by the State of Florida, on the relation of Southern Roller Derbies, Inc., a Florida corporation, against Hayes Wood, as Tax Collector of Dade County, Fla., and others, to compel the tax collector to issue a license for the operation of roller derby meetings by relator, wherein an alternative writ of mandamus was issued. To review a judgment sustaining a motion to quash the alternative writ, the State of Florida, on the relation of Southern Roller Derbies, Inc. a Florida corporation, Brings error.

Affirmed.

COUNSEL Robert C. Lane and Rudolph S. McDavid, both of Miami, for plaintiff in error.

Melbourne L. Martin, of Miami, for defendants in error.

OPINION

CHAPMAN Justice.

The record in this case discloses that the plaintiff in error relator below, during the 1938-1939 season conducted or operated 'Roller Derby Meetings' in a tent or temporary structure at the corner of Douglas Road and Tamiami Trail in the City of Miami. The charge for each admission including the charge for reserved seats, was fifty cents or more. The Roller Derby Meetings is a sport or game in the form of an exhibition in which competing professional tenams participate. The relator, during the 1936-1937 and 1937-1938 seasons, conducted its business in a permanent structure known as the Coral Gables Coliseum Buiding in Miami and for this privilege paid to the Tax Collector of Dade County annually, a license tax in the sum of $100 to the State of Florida and the sum of $50 to Dade County, under the provisions of Section 1080, C.G.L. Relator was unable to obtain a lease on the Coral Gables Coliseum buildings for the 1938-1939 season and was forced to conduct its business in a tent or temporary structure, and tendered to the Tax Collector of Dade County as the lawful license tax the sum of $100 for the State and the sum of $50 for the County of Dade under the provisions of Section 24 of Chapter 18011, Acts of 1937, Laws of Florida. The tender was refused by the Tax Collector, as he contended that the amount of the license tax due by the relator for the operation of the class of business in which it was engaged should not be computed under the provisions of Section 1080, C.G.L., or Section 24 of Chapter 18011, Acts of 1937, Laws of Florida, but under the provisions of Section 1244, C.G.L.

The amount of the license tax, if computed under the provisions of Sections 20 and 24 of Chapter 18011, Acts of 1937, Laws of Florida, would be the total sum of $150.50, inclusive of fees, while if the amount of license tax was computed under the provisions of Section 1244, C.G.L., as contended by the respondent Tax Collector, the total sum would be $900, inclusive of costs of issuing.

On February 27, 1939, relator filed in the Circuit Court of Dade County, Florida, a petition for an alternative writ of mandamus, which issued and was directed to the Tax Collector of Dade County, Florida, commanding that he forthwith issue a license and accept therefor the sum of $150, plus fee, previously tendered. The respondent filed a motion to quash the alternative writ of mandamus on grounds: (a) the amount tendered was legally insufficient; (b) there was no legal duty to issue the license; (c) the facts do not authorize the issuance thereof; (d) the amount of a license for the business of conducting a show, exhibition or amusement enterprise under a tent or temporary structure should, as a matter of law, be computed under the provisions of section 1244, C.G.L.; (e) the provisions of Sections 20 and 24 of Chapter 18011, supra, are inapplicable and do not govern the amount of the license tax of the business operated by the relator.

The motion to quash the alternative writ was by the lower court sustained and judgment final entered for the respondent below. A writ of error was taken thereto and the case is here for review on some two or three reasons advanced for a reversal of the final judgment.

The first question posed for a decision by this court is, viz.:

'Should the business of conducting a roller derby meeting in a temporary structure or tent be licensed by the State of Florida, and the County of Dade, under the provisions of Section 1244, Compiled General Laws of Florida, 1927, or should such business be licensed under the provisions of Section 1279(25), Compiled General Laws of Florida, 1927, 1940 parts, being Section 24, Chapter 18011(305), Acts of 1937?'

The business of the relator was conducted for the 1938-1939 season in the City of Miami under a tent or temporary structure at a designated place in the city. The pertinent provisions of Section 1244, C.G.L., are, viz.:

'1244. (972.) Shows; tax based on admission charge; tax on each tent; proviso; no fractional license.--Shows of all kinds, including circuses, vaudeville, minstrels, theatrical, or any exhibition giving performances under tents or temporary structures of any kind, whether such tents or temporary structures are covered or uncovered, shall pay a State license tax for each day as follows:

'When the charge for admission, including the charge for reserved seats, shall be fifty cents or more, the State license tax for each day shall be paid according to the population of the city or town in or adjacent to which the tent or structure is placed or erected as follows:

'Cities and towns of ten thousand inhabitants or more, one hundred dollars for each day. * * *

'The license taxes provided for by this section shall be collected for each and every tent and for each and every day to which admission is charged: Provided, that annual licenses may be issued to any of the shows or exhibitions mentioned in this section when such show or exhibition is permanently...