Case Name: ADVISORY OPINION TO the ATTORNEY GENERAL RE ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD TAX EXEMPTION
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2004-07-15
Citations: 880 So. 2d 646
Docket Number: No. SC04-942
Parties: ADVISORY OPINION TO the ATTORNEY GENERAL RE ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD TAX EXEMPTION.
Judges: PARIENTE, C.J., and WELLS and CANTERO, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 880
Pages: 646–659

Head Matter:
ADVISORY OPINION TO the ATTORNEY GENERAL RE ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD TAX EXEMPTION.
No. SC04-942.
Supreme Court of Florida.
July 15, 2004.
Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, for Petitioner.
Jeffrey Saull, Chair, West Palm Beach, FL; and Barry S. Richard of Greenberg Traurig, P.A., Tallahassee, FL; Arthur J. England, Jr., and Charles M. Auslander of Greenberg Traurig, P.A., Miami, FL, on behalf of Families for Lower Property-Taxes, Inc., for Proponents.
Joy Causseaux Frank, General Counsel to Florida Association of District School Superintendents, Tallahassee, FL; and Jon Mills and Timothy McLendon, Gaines-ville, FL, on behalf of Florida School Boards Association and Florida Association of District School Superintendents; and Virginia Saunders Delegal, General Counsel, Florida Association of Counties, Inc., Tallahassee, FL, on behalf of Florida Association of Counties, Inc.; and Victoria L. Weber, Dan R. Stengle, and Gary V. Perko of Hopping Green and Sams, P.A., Tallahassee, FL, on behalf of Florida League of Cities; and Katherine E. Gid-dings, Joseph W. Hatchett, Nancy Mason Wallace, James E. Joanos of Akerman Senterfitt, P.A., Tallahassee, FL, on behalf of Floridians for Responsible Tax Reform, for Opponents.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
The Attorney General has requested that this Court review a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution. We have jurisdiction. See art. IV, § 10; art. V, § 3(b)(10), Fla. Const.
I. FACTS
Families for Lower Property Taxes, Inc., a political committee registered pursuant to section 106.03, Florida Statutes (2003), has invoked the petition process of article XI, section 3, of the Florida Constitution to propose a constitutional amendment through citizen initiative. The amendment would provide an additional homestead exemption of $25,000 for persons having title to real estate on which they maintain their permanent residence.
The ballot title for the proposed amendment is "Additional Homestead Tax Exemption." The summary for the proposed amendment provides:
This amendment provides property tax relief to Florida home owners by increasing the homestead exemption on property assessments by an additional $25,000.
The full text of the proposed amendment reads as follows:
Article VII Section 6 of the Florida Constitution is hereby amended to add the following paragraph (g).
(g) By general law and subject to conditions specified therein, effective for assessments for 2005 and each year thereafter, an additional homestead exemption of twenty-five thousand dollars shall be granted to any person who has the legal or equitable title to real estate and maintains thereon the permanent residence of the owner.
The Secretary of State submitted the amendment to the Attorney General, pursuant to section 15.21(2), Florida Statutes (2003). Pursuant to section 16.061(1), Florida Statutes (2003), the Attorney General petitioned this Court for an advisory opinion as to whether the text of the proposed amendment complies with the single-subject requirement of article XI, section 3, Florida Constitution, and whether the ballot title and summary comply with the requirements of section 101.161, Florida Statutes (2003). Families for Lower Property Taxes, Inc. has filed a brief in favor of the amendment. The Florida School Boards Association, the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, Floridians for Responsible Tax Re form, Florida Association of Counties, Inc., and the Florida League of Cities have filed briefs in opposition.
II. THIS COURT'S INQUIRY
When the Court renders an advisory opinion concerning a proposed constitutional amendment arising through the citizen initiative process, no lower court ruling exists for the Court to review. Therefore, no conventional standard of review applies. Instead, the Court limits its inquiry to two issues: (1) whether the amendment violates the single-subject requirement of article XI, section 3, Florida Constitution, and (2) whether the ballot title and summary violate the requirements of section 101.161(1), Florida Statutes (2003). See, e.g., Advisory Op. to Att'y Gen. re Amendment to Bar Gov't From Treating People Differently Based on Race in Pub. Educ., 778 So.2d 888, 890-91 (Fla.2000).
In addressing these two issues, the Court's inquiry is governed by several general principles. First, we will not address the merits or wisdom of the proposed amendment. See, e.g., Amendment to Bar Gov't From Treating People Differently Based on Race in Pub. Educ., 778 So.2d at 891. Second, "[t]he Court must act with extreme care, caution, and restraint before it removes a constitutional amendment from the vote of the people." Askew v. Firestone, 421 So.2d 151, 156 (Fla.1982). Specifically, where citizen initiatives are concerned, "the Court has no authority to inject itself in the process, unless the laws governing the process have been 'clearly and conclusively' violated." See Advisory Op. to Att'y Gen. re Right to Treatment and Rehabilitation for Nom-Violent Drug Offenses, 818 So.2d 491, 498-99 (Fla.2002); see also Amendment to Bar Gov't From Treating From Treating People Differently Based on Race in Pub. Educ., 778 So.2d at 891 ("In order for the Court to invalidate a proposed amendment, the record must show that the proposal is clearly and conclusively defective.").
III. THE SINGLE-SUBJECT RULE
A threshold issue raised by the interested parties in this case is whether the single-subject rule applies to the proposed amendment. Article XI, section 3 provides an exception to the single-subject rule for proposed amendments which limit the power of government to raise revenue. "In order to meet this exception, the initiative's focus must be limited solely to the power of government to raise revenue." Advisory Op. to Att'y Gen. re People's Property Rights Amendments, 699 So.2d 1304, 1310 (Fla.1997). Here the initiative's focus is to provide an additional homestead exemption which, although it would reduce the taxable value of certain homestead property, does not in any way limit the basic power of the government to raise revenue. Cf. Advisory Op. to Att'y Gen. re Tax Limitation, 673 So.2d 864, 865 (Fla.1996) (finding that an initiative requiring a two-thirds vote for new constitutionally imposed state taxes or fees fell within this exception to the single-subject rule). Accordingly, the proposed amendment does not fall within the exception to the single-subject rale.
Article XI, section 3, Florida Constitution, sets forth the requirements for a proposed constitutional amendment arising via the citizen initiative process and contains the single-subject rule:
SECTION 3. Initiative. — The power to propose the revision or amendment of any portion or portions of this constitution by initiative is reserved to the people, provided that, any such revision or amendment, except for those limiting the power of government to raise reve nue, shall embrace but one subject and matter directly connected therewith.
Art. XI, § B, Fla. Const, (emphasis added). The single-subject requirement is a "rule of restraint" that was "placed in the constitution by the people to allow the citizens, by initiative petition, to propose and vote on singular changes in the functions of our governmental structure." Advisory Op. to Att'y Gen. re Prohibiting Public Funding of Political Candidates' Campaigns, 693 So.2d 972, 975 (Fla.1997) (quoting Fine v. Firestone, 448 So.2d 984, 988 (Fla.1984)). Specifically, the single-subject rule prevents an amendment from engaging in either of two practices: (a) logrolling, or (b) substantially altering or performing the functions of multiple branches of state government.
A. Logrolling
Logrolling is "a practice wherein several separate issues are rolled into a single initiative in order to aggregate votes or secure approval of an otherwise unpopular issue." In re Advisory Op. to Att'y Gen.— Save Our Everglades, 636 So.2d 1336, 1339 (Fla.1994); see also Advisory Op. to Att'y Gen. re Limited Casinos, 644 So.2d 71, 73 (Fla.1994) ("A primary reason for the single-subject restriction is to prevent 'logrolling,' a practice whereby an amendment is proposed which contains unrelated provisions, some of which electors might wish to support, in order to get an otherwise disfavored provision passed."); Fine, 448 So.2d at 993 ("The purpose of the single-subject requirement is to . avoid voters having to accept part of a proposal which they oppose in order to obtain a change which they support"). In addressing this issue, the Court utilizes a "oneness of purpose" standard. See Fine, 448 So.2d at 990 ("[T]he one-subject limitation deal[s] with a logical and natural oneness of purpose."). A proposed amendment meets this test when it "may be logically viewed as having a natural relation and connection as component parts or aspects of a single dominant plan or scheme. Unity of object and plan is the universal test...." Id. (quoting City of Coral Gables v. Gray, 154 Fla. 881, 19 So.2d 318, 320 (1944)).
In this case, the proposed amendment embraces one purpose, an increase in the homestead exemption. Accordingly, the amendment does not violate the single-subject rule by engaging in impermissible logrolling.
B. Altering or Performing the Functions of Multiple Branches of Government
The single-subject rule also prevents "a single amendment from substantially altering or performing the functions of multiple branches of government and thereby causing multiple 'precipitous' and 'cataclysmic' changes in state government." Right to Treatment and Rehabilitation for Nom-Violent Drug Offenses, 818 So.2d at 495. We previously have held that while most amendments will "affect" multiple branches of government, this fact alone is insufficient to invalidate an amendment on single-subject grounds:
As the proponents of the amendment point out, the fact that an amendment affects multiple functions of government does not automatically invalidate a citizens' initiative. As we explained in detail in [a prior case]:
We recognize that the petition, if passed, could affect multiple areas of government. In fact, we find it difficult to conceive of a constitutional amendment that would not affect other aspects of government to some extent. However, this Court has held that a proposed amendment can meet the single-subject requirement even though it affects multiple branches of government.
Advisory Op. to Att'y Gen. re Fla. Transp. Initiative, 769 So.2d 367, 369-70 (Fla.2000) (emphasis added). Further, "the possibility that an amendment might interact with other parts of the Florida Constitution is not sufficient reason to invalidate the proposed amendment." Limited Casinos, 644 So.2d at 74. The abiding test is as follows:
A proposal that affects several branches of government will not automatically fail; rather, it is when a proposal substantially alters or performs the functions of multiple branches that it violates the single-subject test.
Advisory Op. to Att'y Gen. re Fish & Wildlife Conservation Comm'n, 705 So.2d 1351, 1353-54 (Fla.1998) (emphasis added).
In this case, opponents of the amendment raise essentially two main arguments with regard to this aspect of the single-subject rule. First, they assert that the amendment substantially alters or performs the functions of multiple branches and levels of government essentially by reducing the funds available to them. Several opponents cite to Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General re Requirement for Adequate Public Education Funding, 703 So.2d 446 (Fla.1997), in support of their position. In that case, the Court considered a proposed amendment which would require allocation of forty percent of state appropriations to public education. In striking this proposed amendment from the ballot, the Court concluded that not only did it "substantially alter the legislature's present discretion in making value choices as to appropriations among the various vital functions of State government," but by arbitrarily limiting agencies, local governments and special districts to the remaining sixty percent of appropriations, it substantially altered the "operation of the various requirements for finance and taxation in article VII in respect to bonded indebtedness and State mandates to local governments, thereby affecting the functioning of all State agencies, local governments, and special districts." Id. at 449. Additionally, the Court concluded that the amendment would limit the Governor's power of line-item veto and the constitutional function of the Governor and Cabinet in reducing the state budget in the event of a revenue shortfall. Id.
Here, opponents' basic argument is that the potential loss of revenue resulting from the additional homestead exemption will make it harder for counties, municipalities and special districts to perform many of their functions, and may require, among other things, budgeting changes, reduction in funding for various services, and changes in millage rates. Opponents also argue that the loss of revenue may require the Legislature to take certain actions to ensure adequate funding for public education. These potential adverse effects are distinguishable from the type of "multiple 'precipitous' and 'cataclysmic' changes" described in the Adequate Public Education Funding case. See also Advisory Op. to Att'y Gen. re People's Property Rights Amendments, 699 So.2d 1304 (Fla.1997) (concluding proposed amendment requiring full compensation be paid to owner when government restricts use of private real estate in certain circumstances would substantially affect Legislature's power to enact legislation establishing standards and criteria for land use regulation, Legislature's constitutional duty to regulate land use to protect natural resources and scenic beauty, multiple functions of the executive branch, and more than one level of government). While an additional homestead exemption may result in a loss of revenue which would most certainly affect the governmental entities to which that revenue previously flowed, it would not essentially dictate and control the use of funds actually received, as the proposed amendment in Adequate Public Education Funding would have. Accordingly, we find that the proposed amendment does not substantially alter or perform the functions of multiple branches of government in violation of the single-subject rule.
Second, opponents of the amendment assert that it substantially affects other provisions of the constitution without identification. We disagree. The proposed amendment provides for an additional homestead exemption in article VII, section 6. No provisions of the Florida Constitution outside of article VII involve homestead property tax exemptions. In addition, the Court has repeatedly stated that "the possibility that an amendment might interact with other parts of the Florida Constitution is not sufficient reason to invalidate the proposed amendment." Advisory Op. to Att'y Gen. re Fee on Everglades Sugar Prod., 681 So.2d 1124, 1128 (Fla.1996) (quoting Limited Casinos, 644 So.2d at 74).
Accordingly, the proposed amendment satisfies the single-subject requirement of article XI, section 3, of the Florida Constitution.
IV. BALLOT TITLE AND SUMMARY
Section 101.161, Florida Statutes (2003), sets forth the requirements for the ballot title and summary of a proposed constitutional amendment and provides in relevant part:
[T]he substance of the amendment or other public measure shall be an explanatory statement, not exceeding 75 words in length, of the chief purpose of the measure. The ballot title shall consist of a caption, not exceeding 15 words in length, by which the measure is commonly referred to or spoken of.
§ 101.161(1), Fla. Stat. (2003). The basic purpose of this provision is "to provide fair notice of the content of the proposed amendment so that the voter will not be misled as to its purpose, and can cast an intelligent and informed ballot." See Advisory Op. to Att'y Gen. re Fee On Everglades Sugar Prod., 681 So.2d 1124, 1127 (Fla.1996).
The Court in In re Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General — Save Our Everglades, 636 So.2d 1336 (Fla.1994), explained further:
"[Sjection 101.161 requires that the ballot title and summary for a proposed constitutional amendment state in clear and unambiguous language the chief purpose of the measure." Askew v. Firestone, 421 So.2d 151, 154-55 (Fla.1982). This is so that the voter will have notice of the issue contained in the amendment, will not be misled as to its purpose, and can cast an intelligent and informed ballot. Id. at 155. However, "it is not necessary to explain every ramification of a proposed amendment, only the chief purpose." Carroll v. Firestone, 497 So.2d 1204, 1206 (Fla.1986)
Save Our Everglades, 636 So.2d at 1341; see also Ltd. Casinos, 644 So.2d at 74. Specifically, in conducting its inquiry into the validity of a proposed amendment under section 101.161(1), the Court asks two questions. First, the Court asks whether "the ballot title and summary . fairly inform the voter of the chief purpose of the amendment." Right to Treatment and Rehabilitation for Non-Violent Drug Offenses, 818 So.2d at 497. Second, the Court asks "whether the language of the title and summary, as written, misleads the public." Advisory Op. to Att'y Gen. re Right of Citizens to Choose Health Care Providers, 705 So.2d 563, 566 (Fla.1998). As we explain below, this ballot summary does not fulfill the statutory requirements.
The proposed ballot summary in this ease states: "This amendment provides property tax relief to Florida home owners by increasing the homestead exemption on property assessments by an additional $25,000." Although the amendment's chief purpose is to provide an additional homestead exemption for some homeowners, that is not what the ballot summary says. The summary states that the amendment "provides property tax relief' to all Florida homeowners by increasing the homestead tax exemption. Whether the amendment would ultimately result in "tax relief," however, depends on a variety of factors independent of the amendment.
The Florida Constitution both authorizes local taxing authorities to levy ad valorem property taxes and limits the percentage of property values they may tax. See Art. VII, § 9, Fla. Const. The constitution establishes a cap of ten mills for counties, municipalities, and school districts. M
The amount a homeowner pays in property tax, therefore, is a function of two factors: the assessed value of the property and the millage rate applied to the property. This amendment affects only the first factor: the property's valuation. It does not, as we stated above, affect a taxing authority's power to determine the millage rate. Local government entities that have not reached the constitutional ten mill cap may still raise millage rates to account for the decreased revenue resulting from this amendment. See § 200.065, Fla. Stat. (2003) (providing taxing authorities the power to adopt "rolled back rate" to provide the same ad valorem tax revenues as the prior year).
Many local taxing authorities remain under the constitutional millage cap. For example, only fifteen counties currently are at the cap of ten mills. That leaves fifty-two counties — the vast majority — the option of increasing the millage rate to account for the proposed homestead exemption. Therefore, even if this amendment is passed, "tax relief' is far from a fait accompli.
Of course, whether any local taxing authorities will raise millage rates in response to the amendment is not the issue. As counsel stated at oral argument, an increase in the millage rate is entirely speculative. Equally speculative is that authorities will not raise the rates. We simply do not know one way or the other. Yet the summary states that the amendment will "provide[ ] property tax relief." The fact that the power to raise rates belongs to the local taxing authorities, however, and that this amendment does not affect that power renders the ballot summary misleading.
Our determination in a prior case that a ballot summary was misleading led us to strike from the ballot an amendment that addressed the taxation of property. In Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General re People's Property Rights Amendments Providing Compensation for Restricting Real Property Use May Cover Multiple Subjects, 699 So.2d 1304, 1309 (Fla.1997), the ballot summary of one of the three amendments we considered stated only that the proposed amendment required voter approval of new taxes and that "[n]ew taxes include[d] the initiation of new taxes, increases in tax rates and eliminating tax exemptions." Id. We found this statement to be fatally inaccurate because the summary did not differentiate between two related but not synonymous terms— the amount of taxes paid on property and the rate of taxation. Id. at 1311. Further, we found the absence of a "more complete" definition for "exemption" to be misleading "because the voting public would not readily understand the distinction between an exemption and immunity from taxation." Id. The ballot summary in this case is similarly flawed. The proposed tax exemption affects the valuation of property, but it does not necessarily affect the amount of money to be paid. That is, the amendment does not "provide property tax relief' because it does not affect the rate of taxation and the power of local government entities to set that rate.
We have previously stated that the "ballot summary should tell the voter the legal effect of the amendment, and no more." Evans v. Firestone, 457 So.2d 1351, 1355 (Fla.1984). This summary flies under false colors with a promise of "tax relief." See Askew, 421 So.2d at 156 ("A proposed amendment cannot fly under false colors.... "). The use of the phrase "provides property tax relief' clearly constitutes political rhetoric that invites an emotional response from the voter by materially misstating the substance of the amendment. See In re Advisory Op. to the Att'y Gen. — Save Our Everglades, 636 So.2d 1336, 1341-42 (Fla.1994) (finding "emotional language" of ballot title and summary to be misleading as it resembled "political rhetoric" more than "accurate and informative synopsis"); Evans, 457 So.2d at 1355 (holding ballot summary defective in part because phrase "thus avoiding unnecessary costs" constituted "editorial comment"). This misleading language does not reflect the true legal effect of the proposed amendment. See Advisory Op. to the Att'y Gen. re Tax Limitation, 644 So.2d 486, 490 (Fla.1994) (stating that the ballot summary must be accurate and informative and "objective and free from political rhetoric").
The citizen initiative constitutional amendment process relies on an accurate, objective ballot summary for its legitimacy. Voters deciding whether to approve a proposed amendment to our constitution never see the actual text of the proposed amendment. See § 101.161(1), Fla. Stat. They vote based only on the ballot title and the summary. Therefore, an accurate, objective, and neutral summary of the proposed amendment is the sine qua non of the citizen-driven process of amending our constitution. Without it, the constitution becomes not a safe harbor for protecting all the residents of Florida, but the den of special interest groups seeking to impose their own narrow agendas.
V. CONCLUSION
We caution that our opinion today is limited to the above issues and must not be construed in any way as a ruling on the underlying merits or wisdom of the amendment. Based on the foregoing analysis, therefore, we hold that the present initiative petition complies with the single-subject requirement of article XI, section 3, Florida Constitution. The ballot summary in this case, however, is misleading and does not comply with the requirements of section 101.161(1), Florida Statutes (2003). Accordingly, we strike the proposal from the ballot.
It is so ordered.
PARIENTE, C.J., and WELLS and CANTERO, JJ., concur.
BELL, J., concurs specially with an opinion, in which PARIENTE, C.J., concurs.
QUINCE, J., concurs in result only with an opinion, in which BELL, J., concurs.
ANSTEAD, J., dissents.
LEWIS, J., dissents with an opinion.
. The Florida School Boards Association and the Florida Association of District School Superintendents filed a joint brief.
. Article X, section 4 exempts certain homestead property from forced sale, judgment, or liens, but of course, that is a different kind of "homestead exemption" than that addressed by the proposed amendment.
.An "ad valorem tax" is a tax based upon the assessed value of property. See § 192.001(1), Fla. Stat. (1997). The term "ad valorem tax" is used interchangeably with the term "property tax." See id. Article VII, section 9(b) provides:
(b) Ad valorem taxes, exclusive of taxes levied for the payment of bonds and taxes levied for periods not longer than two years when authorized by vote of the electors who are the owners of freeholds therein not wholly exempt from taxation, shall not be levied in excess of the following millages upon the assessed value of real estate and tangible personal property: for all county purposes, ten mills; for all municipal purposes, ten mills; for all school purposes, ten mills; for water management purposes for the northwest portion of the state lying west of the line between ranges two and three east, 0.05 mill; for water management purposes for the remaining portions of the state, 1.0 mill; and for all other special districts a millage authorized by law approved by vote of the electors who are owners of freeholds therein not wholly exempt from taxation. A county furnishing municipal services may, to the extent authorized by law, levy additional taxes within the limits fixed for municipal purposes.
. A "mill" is one-tenth of one cent, Black's Law Dictionary 993 (6th ed.1990), or "one one-thousandth" of a dollar. § 192.001(10), Fla. Stat. (2003).
. These are Calhoun, Dixie, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Hamilton, Holmes, Jefferson, Lafayette, Liberty, Madison, Suwannee, Union, Wakulla, and Washington counties. See Florida Department of Revenue, "2003 Millage by County," in Property Valuations and Tax Data, 177-78 (Dec.2003) (report available at http://www.myflorida.com/dor/property).