CopyCited 4 times | Published | Supreme Court of Florida | 2008 WL 4241076
...ion. After conducting a consolidated hearing, the circuit court entered final judgments validating the bond proposals. Bay County appeals those final judgments. II. DISCUSSION Before this Court, Bay County appeals the circuit court's conclusion that section 163.346, Florida Statutes (2006), does not require two public readings for resolutions adopted pursuant to the Community Redevelopment Act....
...On appeal, this Court reviews the "trial court's findings of fact for substantial competent evidence and its conclusions of law de novo." Id. (citing City of Boca Raton v. State,
595 So.2d 25, 31 (Fla.1992); Panama City Beach Cmty. Redev. Agency v. State,
831 So.2d 662, 665 (Fla.2002)). A. Two Readings Bay County argues that section
163.346 of the Community Redevelopment Act requires that resolutions adopted pursuant to the Act be read twice. "Statutory interpretation is a question of law subject to de novo review." BellSouth Telecomm., Inc. v. Meeks,
863 So.2d 287, 289 (Fla. 2003). Because section
163.346 incorporates only the public notice requirements of sections
166.041(3)(a) and
125.66(2), Florida Statutes (2006), we conclude that two readings are not required for municipal resolutions adopted pursuant to the Community Redevelopment Act. Section
163.346 of the Community Redevelopment Act reads: Before the governing body adopts any resolution or enacts any ordinance required under s....
...where such proposed ordinances may be inspected by the public. The notice shall also advise that interested parties may appear at the meeting and be heard with respect to the proposed ordinance. Read in light of the referenced statutory provisions, section 163.346 is clear and unambiguous. Section 163.346 specifies that the governing body of a municipality or county must give public notice and mail a timely notice to each relevant taxing authority before adopting resolutions pursuant to the Community Redevelopment Act....
...posed ordinance; and the place or places where the proposed ordinance may be inspected by the public; and (5) that the notice advise that interested parties may appear and be heard at the meeting. §§
166.041(3)(a);
125.66(2)(a), Fla. Stat. Because section
163.346 incorporates only the public notice requirements of sections
166.041(3)(a) and
125.66(2), we find that section
163.346 does not impose a two-reading requirement for resolutions adopted pursuant to the Community Redevelopment Act....
...WELLS, ANSTEAD, PARIENTE, JJ., and CANTERO, Senior Justice, concur. BELL, J., concurs in part and dissents in part with an opinion, in which QUINCE, C.J., concurs. LEWIS, J., dissents with an opinion. BELL, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part. I agree with the majority that "section 163.346 does not impose a two-reading requirement for resolutions adopted pursuant to the Community Redevelopment Act." Majority op....
CopyAgo (Fla. Att'y Gen. 2002).
Published | Florida Attorney General Reports
...question: May a taxing authority that has actual knowledge of a municipality's intent to create a community redevelopment area voluntarily waive the statutory notice required to be provided by the municipality to the taxing authority as provided by section 163.346 , Florida Statutes? In sum: Section 163.346 , Florida Statutes, does not provide for or otherwise authorize a taxing authority that has actual knowledge of a municipality's intent to create a community redevelopment agency to voluntarily waive the statutory notice required by that section....
...evelopment agency. Each taxing authority within the community redevelopment area is required, by January 1 of each year, to appropriate increment revenues to the redevelopment trust fund to pay outstanding indebtedness of the redevelopment agency. 5 Section 163.346 , Florida Statutes, provides: "Before the governing body adopts any resolution or enacts any ordinance required under s....
...he redevelopment trust fund to pay outstanding indebtedness of the redevelopment agency. The notice requirement, however, is imposed on the county or municipality creating the community redevelopment agency, not on the taxing authorities. Nothing in section 163.346 , Florida Statutes, authorizes or otherwise provides for a taxing authority to absolve the county or municipality of its obligations under the statute....
...e or resolution was adopted. " Section
166.041 , Florida Statutes, thus recognizes that the doctrine of waiver may be a defense to an action challenging an ordinance's validity for failing to comply with the requirements of that statute. Pursuant to section
163.346 , Florida Statutes, the governing body of a municipality seeking to create a community redevelopment agency must provide public notice of such action pursuant to section
166.041 (3)(a), Florida Statutes. Section 166.346 also requires that notice be provided by registered mail to each of the taxing authorities levying ad valorem taxes on property within the boundaries of the proposed community redevelopment agency. While section
163.346 refers to section
166.041 when discussing the public notice requirements, no reference is made to section
166.041 when providing for the separate requirement of notice to the taxing authorities. Any challenge to the notice, or lack thereof, to the taxing authorities would not be based on the failure to comply with the notice requirements of section
166.041 , but of section
163.346 . In light of the above, I am of the opinion that section
163.346 , Florida Statutes, does not provide for or otherwise authorize a taxing authority to voluntarily waive the statutory notice required by that section to be provided by a municipality creating a community redevelopment agency....
...rtain circumstances a contesting party could be estopped from asserting a defect in such notice, 9 although I am not aware of, nor have you drawn to my attention, any appellate decision considering this issue with respect to the notice provisions of section 163.346 , Florida Statutes....
