Case Title: State v. STATE BD. OF EDUC. OF FLORIDA

Citation: 467 So. 2d 294

Docket Number: 

State: florida

Court: Florida Supreme Court

Date: 1985-03-29T00:00:00Z

Document:
467 So. 2d 294 (1985)
STATE of Florida, etc., Appellant,
v.
STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF FLORIDA, etc., Appellee.
No. 66473.

Supreme Court of Florida.
March 29, 1985.
Clarification Denied April 3, 1985.
*295 William N. Meggs, State Atty., Tallahassee, for appellant.
Glenn R. Hosken, Division of Bond Finance, Tallahassee, for appellee.
ADKINS, Justice.
This cause is before us on appeal from a circuit court judgment validating $100,000,000 State of Florida, Full Faith and Credit, State Board of Education, Public Education Capital Outlay Bonds, Series 1985, pursuant to chapter 75, Florida Statutes (1983), and article XII, section 9(a)(2) of the Florida Constitution (the "Public Education Bond Amendment"). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(2), Fla. Const.
On December 18, 1984, the State Board of Education adopted a resolution authorizing the issuance of not exceeding $100,000,000 public education capital outlay bonds pursuant to article XII, section 9(a)(2) of the Florida Constitution, as amended, and sections 215.57-.83 of the Florida Statutes (1983). The following day, the State Board of Education of Florida brought an action in the Circuit Court of the Second Judicial Circuit of Florida to validate the bonds. On January 22, 1985, the circuit court found for the State Board of Education of Florida and issued a final judgment validating the proposed bonds.
In this appeal, we must first determine whether the failure to publish notice of a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution in two counties in which newspapers of general circulation are published, in contradiction to article XI, section 5(b) of the Florida Constitution, invalidates said proposed amendment after it has been approved by the voters of the state.
The adoption of amendment 8 at the general election of November 6, 1984, was necessary for the issuance of any additional public education capital outlay bonds pursuant to article XII, section 9(a)(2) of the Florida Constitution. The amendment allowed for changes to the definition of gross receipts taxes found in chapter 203, Florida Statutes. Such taxes are the primary source of revenue for bonds issued in accordance with the amendment.
Notice of the proposed amendment was published in newspapers of general circulation in each of sixty-five Florida counties during the tenth and sixth week prior to *296 the November 6, 1984, general election. Such notice was not printed in a newspaper published in Hamilton County, Florida, and only one such notice was printed in a newspaper published in Madison County, Florida, despite a request for publication by the secretary of state's office pursuant to article XI of the Florida Constitution.
The proposed amendment was approved by the electors of the State of Florida on November 6, 1984, by a vote of 2,553,312 to 778,114. The proposed amendment was approved by the voters of Hamilton County, Florida, by a vote of 1,167 to 613 and was approved by the voters of Madison County, Florida, by a vote of 2, 401 to 950. The total number of registered voters certified on October 11, 1984, in Hamilton County was 4,986; the total number of registered voters certified on October 16, 1984, in Madison County was 7,611.
Article XI, section 5(b) provides:
The circuit court addressed the issue of publication of a proposed constitutional amendment and concluded the following in its final judgment:
We agree with the circuit court's findings and therefore affirm the validity of article XII, section 9(a)(2) of the Florida Constitution, as amended.
We must next determine whether all of the projects scheduled to be financed by the Series 1985 Bonds are public education capital projects for the state system of public education, as required by article XII, section 9(a)(2) of the Florida Constitution. Section 9(a)(2) provides in part that:
Given the broad language of section 9(a)(2), the fact that the legislature has *297 made a factual determination that all of the projects meet the constitutional requirements, section 1, chapter 84-542, and the fact that legislative enactments are presumed to be valid unless clearly erroneous, arbitrary or wholly unwarranted, Moore v. Thompson, 126 So. 2d 543, 549 (Fla. 1961); Miami Home Milk Producers Association v. Milk Control Board, 124 Fla. 797, 800, 169 So. 541, 542 (1936), we find that the projects scheduled to be financed by the Series 1985 Bonds are valid public education capital projects within the meaning of and as required by article XII, section 9(a)(2) of the Florida Constitution.
Accordingly, the judgment of the circuit court validating these bonds is affirmed.
It is so ordered.
BOYD, C.J., and OVERTON, ALDERMAN, McDONALD, EHRLICH and SHAW, JJ., concur.