State v. City of Boca Raton, 33794
| Decision Date | 19 February 1965 |
| Docket Number | No. 33794,33794 |
| Citation | 172 So.2d 230 |
| Parties | The STATE of Florida et al., Appellants, v. CITY OF BOCA RATON, Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Phil D. O'Connell, State Atty., and Sales & Houston, West Palm Beach, for appellants.
Roberta M. McKenry, Boca Raton, for appellee.
This appeal is from a decree validating $550,000 of Special Obligation Capital Improvement Bonds, Series A, of the City of Boca Raton, Palm Beach, County, Florida, sought to be issued for the purpose of raising funds to allay the cost of the construction and acquisition of certain recreational facilities consisting of two swimming pools, two tennis courts and facilities for three playground sites, the purchase and acquisition of lands and rights-of-way for streets, the purchase of land for a city waste dump and the construction and acquisition of street improvements including the widening and paving of various streets. The resolution providing for the issuance of such bonds pledged to the payment thereof the proceeds from certain cigarette taxed, franchise taxes and utilities service taxes.
It is clear from the record that the bonds are to be paid solely from the excise taxes above mentioned, will not constitute an indebtedness of the City of Boca Raton and that no holder of such bonds or any coupons appertaining thereto shall ever have the right to compel the exercise of the ad valorem taxing power of the City to pay said bonds or the interest thereon. It is conceded by the parties that, in the absence of some requirement of the charter of the City of Boca Raton or other applicable law, such bonds are not required to be approved by the freeholders of said City. 1
The State contends that the decree is erroneous because of the conclusion reached in said decree that the subject bonds could be lawfully issued without first being approved by the duly qualified electors who are freeholders residing in said municipality. Inasmuch as a ruling on this point favorable to the State would be dispositive of the appeal, we will deal with it initially.
The power of the Legislature over municipalities under our Constitution is plenary. 2 It may not only grant powers to municipalities but it may regulate in any manner it sees fit or prohibit entirely the exercise thereof in such instances as it may determine. Although this Court has consistently held that bonds of the character here involved may ordinarily be issued by municipalities in this State without an approving vote of the freeholders, such power to issue is conditioned upon the premise that there is no requirement in the City charter so to do. In the Easterlin 3 case we disapproved bonds of the nature here involved because of a provision in the City charter that bonds could not be issued without an approving vote of the freeholders. Two years later in the New Smyrna Beach 4 case the holding in Easterlin was modified to the extent of approving the issuance of bonds financed by excise taxes without an approving vote of the freeholders in the absence of an express provision in the charter requiring such an election. In view of these decisions, we direct our attention to the pertinent provisions of the charter of the City of Boca Raton for the purpose of determining whether the charter requires these bonds to be approved by the requisite percentage of the qualified freeholders.
The parties concede that the pertinent provisions of the charter are those contained in Chapter 57-1144, Special Laws of Florida, Acts of 1957. This chapter abolished the old municipality and created and established a new Town of Boca Raton. Its provisions concerning the issuance of 'Special Tax Revenue Certificates', 5 are inconsistent and ambiguous to such an extent that it is necessary to resort to certain fundamentals of statutory construction to arrive at the legal meaning thereof. The pertinent provisions are contained in Article XIX of the foregoing chapter. This article is divided into ten sections, numbered 122 to 131 inclusive. These sections contain provisions relating to the issuance of certificates financed by certain designated excise taxes and impose specific requirements in connection with the issuance and sale thereof. Among these are maximum interest rates and maximum maturity dates. Section 129 provides that such certificates shall not be issued unless the issuance thereof shall have been validated as provided by law; it further provides that, if such certificates shall be held to be such bonds as require an election under the Florida Constitution, then they shall not be issued until the issuance thereof shall have been approved by the electors of the City. Section 130, which for the purpose of statutory construction on this particular point is the last expression of the legislative will as well as the last section in order of arrangement, follows:
'SECTION 130. SAME--NOT SUBJECT TO OTHER LIMITATIONS OF CHARTER.
'Any of said certificates issued hereunder shall not be subject to the limitations as contained in any other article of this Act; provided, however, that no special tax revenue certificates shall be issued under the provisions herein until the approval or disapproval of such issuance has been ratified by a majority of the freeholders of the City of Boca Raton who are qualified electors voting upon the questions of the approval or disapproval thereof.' (Emphasis supplied.)
The last expression of the legislative will is the law in cases of conflicting provisions in the same statute or in different statutes; the last in point of time or order of arrangement in such statutes prevails. In this instance the last section in order of arrangement in this municipal charter, so far as this particular question is concerned, is the above quoted section which contains the proviso requiring ratification by a majority of the freeholders of said City who are qualified electors voting on the question.
Moreover, this Court has undeviatingly held to the...
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