State v. City of Miami

• Decision Date: 05 December 1930
• Citation: 100 Fla. 1388,131 So. 143
• Parties: STATE v. CITY OF MIAMI.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

131 So. 143

100 Fla. 1388

STATE v. CITY OF MIAMI.

Florida Supreme Court

December 5, 1930

En Banc.

Proceeding between the State and the City of Miami. From the decree, the State appeals.

Affirmed.

ELLIS J., dissenting. Appeal from Circuit Court Dade County; Paul D. Barns, judge.

COUNSEL

Fred H Davis, Atty. Gen., for the State.

J. W Watson, Jr., of Miami, for appellee.

OPINION

WHITFIELD J.

This appeal was taken from a decree validating $344,000 of refunding bonds to be issued by the city of Miami under chapter 11855, Acts of 1927, entitled, 'An Act to Authorize the Issuance of Refunding Bonds by Counties, Cities, Towns and Other Municipal Corporations and Taxing Districts, and to Provide for Their Payment.' Section 2378 et seq., C. G. L.

It is contended that, as the bonds are not to refund bonds that have already been refunded, they cannot be legally issued, since such issue has not 'been approved by a majority of the votes cast at an election in which a majority of the freeholders who are qualified electors residing in' the city shall have participated, as required by section 6 article 9, of the Constitution, as amended at the general election held November 4, 1930, which amended organic section is as follows:

'The Legislature shall have power to provide for issuing State bonds only for the purpose of repelling invasion or suppressing insurrection, and the counties, districts or municipalities of the State of Florida shall have power to issue bonds only after the same shall have been approved by a majority of the votes cast in an election in which a majority of the freeholders who are qualified electors residing in such counties, districts, or municipalities shall participate, to be held in the manner to be prescribed by law; but the provisions of this law shall not apply to the refunding of bonds issued exclusively for the purpose of refunding of the bonds or the interest thereon of such counties, districts, or municipalities.'

There are several apparently superfluous words in the latter part of the above-quoted amended section of the Constitution, but they do not affect the intendments of the organic provision with reference to the issue of refunding bonds for the purpose of refunding the bonds or the interest thereon, of counties, districts, or municipalities of the state of Florida.

The first part of section 6, article 9, of the Constitution, as amended in 1930,...