Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...n your letter that: Prior to July 1, 1982, all proceeds from the sale, lease or rental from land title to which is vested in the Board of Trustees [of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund] were deposited in the Land Acquisition Trust Fund pursuant to Section 270.22 , Florida Statutes (1981), except proceeds from the lease of Murphy Act land interests which were deposited to the State General Revenue Fund Unallocated....

...3 of Ch. 72-268, Laws of Florida. In any event, as stated in your letter, before July 1, 1982, all the proceeds of the sale or lease of lands to which the Board of Trustees held title were deposited in the Land Acquisition Trust Fund pursuant to ss 270.22 , F.S. 1981. However, in 1982 the Legislature amended s 270.22 to replace the Land Acquisition Trust Fund with the Internal Improvement Trust Fund as the repository for the proceeds of state land, whether from sale or lease, or the sale or lease of the products thereof, title to which is vested in the boa...

...The proceeds from the disposal of such lands shall be placed in the Conservation and Recreation Lands Trust Fund. (e.s.) Thus, it appears that s 253.034 (6), F.S., is within the meaning of the phrase "laws relating to lands of the board of trustees." Sections 270.22 and 270.23 , F.S....

...ees. Section 270.23 provides that after payments have been made to the State School Trust Fund as provided by the Constitution and by law, any balance shall be and remain a part of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund to be used as prescribed by law. Section 270.22 provides that the proceeds of the sale, lease, or rental of state lands whose title is vested in the Board of Trustees by the Legislature, or the sale, lease or rental of the products of such lands, or of land which has been or may be...

...The lands, water areas and water storage areas described in and provided for in Ch. 375 , F.S., and the proceeds of the sale or disposition thereof by the Board of Trustees are excepted from "other state lands" within the purview of your question and for the purposes of this opinion. It would thus appear that ss 270.22 and 270.23 are also within the meaning of the phrase "laws relating to lands of the board of trustees." From the foregoing it appears that the proceeds from the sale of Murphy Act lands are to be treated just like those from other state lands title to which is held by the board and that either s 253.034 (6) or ss 270.22 and 270.23 , will govern the disposition of such proceeds. The scope of these sections is not precisely the same. While all three dictate the disposition of the proceeds of certain state lands, ss 270.22 and 270.23 , F.S., broadly address the issue and include the proceeds from the sale, lease or rental of lands of the Board of Trustees or the products thereof....

...g a field of operation. Applying the rules of construction discussed above to the instant issue, s 253.034 , F.S., as amended by Ch. 83-223, Laws of Florida, must be regarded as an exception to or a qualification of the more general provisions of ss 270.22 and 270.23 , F.S....

...nds described in and provided for in Ch. 375 , F.S.), or of the sale, lease or rental of the products thereof or of lands received by the Board of Trustees from other sources, should be deposited in the Internal Improvement Trust Fund pursuant to ss 270.22 and 270.23 , F.S....

...(2) All revenues accruing from sources designated by law for deposit in the Internal Improvement Trust Fund shall be used for the acquisition, management, administration, protection, and conservation of state-owned lands. Pertaining to the disposition of the proceeds derived from the sale of state lands in general, s 270.22 , F.S., provides: The proceeds of state land, whether from sale, lease, rental, or the sale, lease, or rental of products in, on, or under such land, title to which has been or may be vested in the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement...

...the proceeds from the sale of Internal Improvement Lands should be paid into the State School Fund with the balance to be paid into the Internal Improvement Trust Fund. Regarding the proceeds from the rental or lease of Internal Improvement Lands, s 270.22 , F.S., as set forth above, specifically provides that `[t]he proceeds of state land , whether from sale, lease , rental, or the sale, lease, or rental of products in, on, or under such land, title to which has been or may be vested in the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund ....

...ate from the sale of such lands, are set apart, and declared a separate and distinct fund called the Internal Improvement Trust Fund of the state. . . .' As state lands, swamp and overflowed lands would be subject to the disposition provisions of ss 270.22 and 270.23 , F.S., discussed above....

...posited in the State School Fund with the remainder to be paid into the Internal Improvement Trust Fund. Proceeds from the rental or lease of this category of state-owned lands are to be paid into the Internal Imrpovement Trust Fund as provided by s 270.22 , F.S....

...Sovereignty lands are a class of state-owned lands title to which is vested in the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund. See , s 253.03 (1)(b), F.S. Therefore, the proceeds from the sale of sovereignty lands must be disposed of pursuant to s 270.22 , F.S., which provides, as set forth above, that the proceeds from the sale of state lands title to which has been or may be vested in the Board of Trustees shall be paid into the Internal Improvement Trust Fund. Sovereignty lands are not considered public lands for purposes of s 228.151, F.S., and thus the twenty-five percent designation specified therein is not applicable. See , State ex rel . Town of Crescent City v. Holland, supra. Accord , AGO 69-90. Section 270.22 , F.S., also controls the disposition of the proceeds from the rental of sovereignty lands providing that the proceeds of state lands, whether from the sale, lease, or rental, shall be paid into the Internal Improvement Trust Fund....

...section 2 of the act. Chapter 7861, however, makes no specific provision for the disposition of proceeds from the rental of those sovereignty lands, and therefore, such moneys should be paid into the Internal Improvement Trust Fund as provided by s 270.22 , F.S....

...e paid into the State School Fund with the remainder to be paid into the Internal Improvement Trust Fund. Proceeds from the rental or lease of this category of state-owned land are to be paid into the Internal Improvement Trust Fund as provided by s 270.22 , F.S....

...d of pursuant to those provisions. See also , AGO 83-77. In AGO 83-77 this office concluded that s 253.034 , F.S., as amended by Ch. 83-223, Laws of Florida, must be regarded as an exception to or a qualification of the more general provisions of ss 270.22 and 270.23 , F.S....

...age areas pursuant to s 375.031 , F.S., should be deposited in the Land Acquisition Trust Fund. The effect of the conclusion reached in AGO 83-77 was that the disposition provisions of s 253.034 , F.S., prevail over the more general provisions of ss 270.22 and 270.23 , F.S., as to state lands disposed of pursuant to s 253.034 . Therefore, the proceeds from the sale or any state lands (ordinarily disposed of pursuant to the general provisions of ss 270.22 and 270.23 , F.S.), if properly disposed of pursuant to s 253.034 , should be placed, pursuant to subsection (5) of s 253.034 , in the Conservation and Recreation Lands Trust Fund....