CopyCited 5 times | Published | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal | 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 5197
...hrough 2006. In 2008, Mitchell filed a lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that he was entitled to the homestead exemption for tax years 1999 through 2007. The lawsuit also sought the removal of a tax lien filed against him by the appraiser under section 196.161, Florida Statutes (2006), for the unpaid property tax, penalties, and interest (totaling approximately $28,000) over the eight years, 1999 through 2006....
...3D09-1924) The trial court entered a final summary judgment in favor of Mitchell regarding the property appraiser’s revocation of Mitchell’s homestead exemption for years 1999 through 2006. The final summary judgment did not address “[Mitchell’s] claim that sections
196.011,
196.161, and
193.155 are unconstitutional,” though Mitchell has attempted to renew that argument here....
...Underhill,
400 So.2d at 132 . The exemption at issue in Underhill was a charitable-use exemption, not the homestead property tax exemption. Retroactive revocation of the homestead exemption (for up to ten prior years) is the subject of an express legislative enactment, section
196.161, and that provision is not subject to the “change in judgment” rule. Were it otherwise, section
196.161 could never be given effect for any prior year, much less ten prior years, after a tax roll has been certified....
...t in accordance with the manner prescribed by law.” Id. at 1136 (citation omitted). The court noted at the outset that “statutes involving tax exemptions are strictly construed against the taxpayer.” Id. at 1137 . For the same reasons, we find section 196.161 constitutional and enforceable as applied in this case....
CopyPublished | Florida 2nd District Court of Appeal
...Gerald Brielmaier filed a lawsuit against the Sarasota County Property
Appraiser (Property Appraiser) and the Executive Director of the Florida Department of
Revenue (Director) after the Property Appraiser recorded a tax lien on his home
pursuant to section 196.161(1)(b), Florida Statutes (2016), and revoked his homestead
tax exemption.1 Mr....
...Brielmaier now appeals the entry of the final summary
judgment in favor of the Property Appraiser and the Director, raising five issues. We
affirm in all respects. With regard to the second issue raised on appeal concerning the
circuit court's interpretation and application of section 196.161(1)(b), we affirm for the
reasons set forth in Fitts v....
CopyPublished | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
...tax lien shall be “superior to all other liens,” including Lansdowne’s mortgage lien.
Lansdowne contends that the general priority scheme in section
197.122(1)
does not apply to the instant tax lien because there is a more specific statute,
section
196.161, Florida Statutes (2015), which addresses the priority of liens that
are imposed to remedy the improper grant of homestead tax exemptions. See §
196.161(3), Fla....
...(2015) (stating that before the notice of the homestead tax
lien is filed among the appropriate public records, “any purchaser for value of the
subject property shall take free and clear of such lien.”). However, section
3
196.161(3) does not expressly or impliedly affect the priority of homestead tax
liens over other liens on a particular piece of real property....
...the person
who illegally or improperly received the homestead exemption. . . .
Id. We therefore disagree with Lansdowne’s argument, adopted by the trial court,
that the priority of the County’s tax lien in this case should be governed by section
196.161(3) instead of section
197.122(1)....
CopyPublished | Florida 3rd District Court of Appeal
...the Property Appraiser revoked
Hassett’s homestead exemption for the tax year 2007, and denied
Hassett’s exemption for 2016. 4 In his February 3, 2017 notice of intent to
record a lien, it appears the Property Appraiser construed section
196.161(1)(b) to require the automatic revocation of the homestead
exemption for all tax years subsequent to 2007. This construction of section
196.161(1)(b) resulted in a tax lien not only for tax year 2007, but also for
4
In relevant part, the Property Appraiser’s notice of intent to record a lien
reads as follows: “This is to advise you that the Property Appraiser has
determined for the tax year 2007 that you were not entitled to the previously
granted homestead exemption for that year and including 2016. Therefore,
pursuant to Section 196.161(1)(b), Florida Statutes you are hereby notified
of the Property Appraiser’s intent to record a lien(s) on the ....
...At the outset, we note that the statutes do not expressly contemplate
the situation presented here, and there appears to be no case law directly
on point. Section
196.011 provides the mechanism for taxpayers to apply for
homestead exemptions, while section
196.161 provides for imposition of
liens when revocation has occurred....
...consideration of statutory construction.”). Against this backdrop, we review
the statutes that the Property Appraiser argues preclude Hassett from
challenging the Property Appraiser’s revocation of Hassett’s homestead
exemption for tax years 2008 through 2015.
Section 196.161(1)(b) provides statutory authorization for the
Property Appraiser to impose a tax lien (including interest and penalties)
“upon determination by the property appraiser that for any year or years
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within the prior 10 years a person” has wrongfully received an exemption. §
196.161(1)(b), Fla....
...This statute does not limit the ability of a
taxpayer to challenge the revocation for “any year or years” simply because
the subject property is located in a county that has adopted the automatic
exemption renewal expressly authorized by section
196.011(9).
Additionally, section
196.161(1)(b) – allowing for revocation and lien
imposition “upon a determination ....
...or the status or condition of the owner changes so as to change the exempt
status of the property,” no provision in section
196.011(9) authorizes an
automatic, unchallengeable forfeiture of the exemption for all tax years, upon
a property appraiser’s determination, under section
196.161(1)(b), that an
exemption has been wrongfully granted....
...where a previously issued exemption has been revoked. We note that the
Property Appraiser’s February 3, 2017 notice met section
196.011(9)(e)’s
requirements related to the 2016 tax year.
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(and related lien imposition) pursuant to section
196.161(1)(b)....
...3d DCA 2011) supports the trial court’s determination
that Hassett is precluded from challenging the retroactive exemption
revocations in years 2008 through 2015. In Mitchell, the property appraiser,
in 2007, revoked the taxpayer’s homestead exemption for the 2007 tax year
and, also, pursuant to section 196.161’s ten-year look-back provision,
revoked previously granted homestead exemptions for tax years 1999
through 2006....
...’s
revocation for tax year 2007 (see footnote 8, supra), but we reversed the trial
court’s summary judgment for Mitchell, concluding that, notwithstanding
Underhill and Korasch’s “change in judgment” rule, the plain and
unambiguous text of section 196.161 provides an express legislative
authorization of retroactive homestead exemption revocations....
...d to the
exemption in those years, and (ii) the property appraiser had wrongfully
revoked the previously granted exemptions and wrongfully imposed tax liens
for those years. We do not read Mitchell to support the Property Appraiser’s
argument that section 196.161(1)(b) either authorizes or requires a
retroactive homestead exemption revocation that is unchallengeable by the
taxpayer.
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