Case Name: Lizzie Mae HARRIS, Wanda M. Townsend, and Ellis Townsend, Appellants, v. Dale WILSON, James Jett, Larry Lancaster, Patrick McGovern, and George Bush, as constituting the Board of Clay County Commissioners; Clay County, a Political Subdivision of the State of Florida, Appellees
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1995-05-25
Citations: 656 So. 2d 512
Docket Number: No. 93-3445
Parties: Lizzie Mae HARRIS, Wanda M. Townsend, and Ellis Townsend, Appellants, v. Dale WILSON, James Jett, Larry Lancaster, Patrick McGovern, and George Bush, as constituting the Board of Clay County Commissioners; Clay County, a Political Subdivision of the State of Florida, Appellees.
Judges: MICKLE, J., concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 656
Pages: 512–521

Head Matter:
Lizzie Mae HARRIS, Wanda M. Townsend, and Ellis Townsend, Appellants, v. Dale WILSON, James Jett, Larry Lancaster, Patrick McGovern, and George Bush, as constituting the Board of Clay County Commissioners; Clay County, a Political Subdivision of the State of Florida, Appellees.
No. 93-3445.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.
May 25, 1995.
Rehearing Denied July 10, 1995.
Gloria A. Einstein, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc., Orange Park, for appellants.
Robert L. Nabors, Gregory Stewart, and Virginia Saunders Delegal of Nabors, Giblin & Nickerson, P.A., Tallahassee; Mark H. Scruby, Clay County Atty., Green Cove Springs, for appellees.
Alice M. Vickers, for amicus curiae, Fla. Legal Services, Inc.

Opinion:
WOLF, Judge.
Appellants challenge a final summary judgment determining that a special assessment imposed by appellee, Clay County (county) for financing solid waste disposal was valid. Appellants raise a number of issues which may be consolidated and restated as whether the trial court correctly determined that no material factual disputes existed concerning the validity of the assessment. Appellants asserted that as a general proposition a special assessment for providing for solid waste disposal services throughout an entire geographical area (which service was previously funded through tipping fees) on a particular class of property was an invalid tax. We find that the trial court properly rejected this general assertion. In addition, no disputed issues of material facts remain concerning whether the properties subject to this assessment received a special benefit, and whether this assessment is fairly and reasonably apportioned among the properties that receive the special benefit. We therefore affirm.
In 1992, Clay County enacted an ordinance imposing a partial year special assessment (ordinance 93-26) applicable only to residential properties in the unincorporated areas of the county for the maintenance of county solid waste facilities. The assessment was for $63 per residential dwelling unit. Commercial properties and undeveloped properties were not subject to the assessment. Appellants are homeowners subject to the assessment.
Appellants brought two separate actions (which were later consolidated), challenging the assessment. The county filed a motion for summary judgment. In support of the motion, the county filed an affidavit from the interim county manager (formerly solid waste director), and an affidavit of a consultant who assisted in the preparation of the partial solid waste disposal assessment for the county. The affidavits outlined the assessment adoption process and in addition, alleged that the amount of the assessment was apportioned to the properties subject to the assessment in an amount equal to or less than the benefit received by such properties. The affidavits further provided (1) that the cost of providing for the processing and disposal of solid waste from properties located within the municipalities and for commercial and other nonresidential properties within the unincorporated area are collected through tipping fees at the disposal site, (2) that the tipping fees imposed are equal to the cost of the processing and disposal of the solid waste generated from such properties, and (3) that the determination not to impose the partial year solid waste disposal assessment upon commercial properties in the unincorporated area is based upon the varying production of solid waste generated from commercial properties.
The trial court also had before it the ordinances adopting the assessment, which made specific findings as to (1) the rationale for not imposing the partial year solid waste disposal assessment within the municipal boundaries, and (2) how the residential properties subject to the partial year solid waste disposal assessment were benefitted by the processing and disposal of the solid waste generated from their properties. Further, the board expressly made various findings of benefit in the Final Assessment Resolution. These included the availability of solid waste disposal facilities to properly and safely dispose of solid waste generated on improved residential lands, closure and long-term monitoring of the facilities, a potential increase in value to improved residential lands, service to owners and tenants, and the enhancement of environmentally responsible use and enjoyment of residential land.
On August 31, 1993, the date of the summary judgment hearing, plaintiffs filed a supplemental response to defendant's motion for summary judgment with attached copies of documents concerning the alleged process of calculating the assessment. While the documents had been provided by the county in response to a request to produce, no affidavit was filed authenticating the documents, nor was any backup provided concerning the context in which the documents had been produced. The trial court refused to admit the documents, and granted final summary judgment in favor of the county.
In City of Boca Raton v. State, 595 So.2d 25, 29 (Fla.1992), the supreme court recognized that a special assessment is not a tax and is, thus, not subject to the preemption of taxation to the state pursuant to article VII, section 1(a) of the Florida Constitution.
However, a legally imposed special assessment is not a tax. Taxes and special assessments are distinguishable in that, while both are mandatory, there is no requirement that taxes provide any specific benefit to the property; instead, they may be levied throughout the particular taxing unit for the general benefit of residents and property. On the other hand, special assessments must confer a specific benefit upon the land burdened by the assessment. City of Naples v. Moon, 269 So.2d 355 (Fla.1972).
In City of Boca Raton, the supreme court said that there are only two factors in determining whether a special assessment is valid.
There are two requirements for the imposition of a valid special assessment. First, the property assessed must derive a special benefit from the service provided. Atlantic Coast Line R.R. v. City of Gainesville, 83 Fla. 275, 91 So. 118 (1922). Second, the assessment must be fairly and reasonably apportioned among the properties that receive the special benefit. South Trail Fire Control Dist. v. State, 273 So.2d 380 (Fla.1973). Thus, a special assessment is distinguished from a tax because of its special benefit and fair apportionment.
Id. at 29.
Appellant essentially argues that the levy is not valid because (1) a special assessment may not be levied throughout an entire taxing unit, (2) that special assessments are not appropriate for the provision of certain services such as stormwater or solid waste, see Sarasota County v. Sarasota Church of Christ, 641 So.2d 900 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994), and (3) that questions of fact were presented concerning the apportionment of benefits in light of the documents which were improperly rejected by the trial court. We disagree with these contentions.
The first two issues concern whether the properties in question were specially ben-efitted. In Madison County v. Foxx, 636 So.2d 39 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994), this court was asked to determine the validity of a special assessment for solid waste disposal, and found that properties may receive a special benefit from services such as solid waste disposal.
Regarding appellee Foxx's contention that special assessments may not be used to fund services, but only capital improvements, we note that a similar argument was considered and rejected by the court in Charlotte County v. Fiske, 350 So.2d 578, 580 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977). Moreover, we cannot overlook the considerable Florida case law that has permitted the imposi tion of special assessments, even when no capital improvements were involved. See, e.g., South Trail Fire Control Dist., Sarasota County v. State, 273 So.2d 380 (Fla. 1973); Fire Dist. No. 1 of Polk County v. Jenkins, 221 So.2d 740 (Fla.1969).
Madison County v. Foxx, 636 So.2d 39, 49 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994). In Charlotte County v. Fiske, 350 So.2d 578 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977), the second district upheld the validity of a special assessment for garbage disposal. In Sarasota County v. Sarasota Church of Christ, 641 So.2d 900 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994), the second district recognized that special assessments were appropriate for funding fire and rescue services. In the instant case, the trial judge found that solid waste disposal specially ben-efitted the improved residential property:
Providing for the proper disposal of solid waste generated on properties subject to the assessment clearly provides a special benefit within the meaning of Article VII, Section 6 of the Florida Constitution. As the County has made its legislative findings as to the existence of special benefits from disposal services, the courts should not substitute their judgment for those determinations.
We find no error in the analysis.
We are also unaware of any constitutional prohibition which would preclude a special assessment based on a county or municipality's home rule power from being assessed throughout an entire taxing unit. In Hanna v. City of Palm Bay, 579 So.2d 320 (Fla. 5th DCA 1991), the fifth district held that a special assessment for road maintenance was not valid because the benefitted properties did not "receive a benefit which is different in type or degree from the community as a whole." We find Hanna inapplicable in the instant situation for several reasons.
The first reason is that the limitation placed by the court on special assessments was based upon statutory language contained in chapter 170. The assessments in Hanna were enacted pursuant to chapter 170, Florida Statutes. The assessment in the instant case is one enacted pursuant to the home rule authority of the county. Such an assessment is only subject to the limitations enumerated in City of Boca Raton v. State, supra. In addition, the residential property in the instant case which was subject to the assessment, received benefits which were different in degree and type from those received by other properties within the taxing unit. For instance, vacant land generates far less solid waste than improved property. Commercial properties are more easily serviced by commercial haulers who may be subjected to a tipping fee at the dump based on the volume produced. Improved residential property may clearly be differentiated from other types of properties in reference to solid waste generated. These benefits to the properties were identified in the adoption ordinances as well as the trial court's order. In Hanna, supra, the fifth district could not identify such a benefit. We, therefore, find Hanna inapplicable to the instant case, and find no error in the trial court's determination that the assessed property derived a special benefit.
In relation to the fair apportionment of benefits, the trial court stated as follows:
b. Fair Apportionment
The apportionment of the partial year solid waste disposal assessment was based upon the budgetary requirements for providing of solid waste disposal services and facilities from January 1, to September 30, 1993, to residential properties in the unincorporated area subject to the assessment. The amount of the assessment is based on the actual cost to provide disposal services and facilities to the properties subject to the assessment and is equally distributed among these units. No profit was included into [sic] the assessment.
The trial court, citing to Charlotte v. Fiske, 350 So.2d 578 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977), and Fire Dist. No. 1 of Polk County v. Jenkins, 221 So.2d 740 (Fla.1969), found that such a method for determining apportionment was valid. We concur with the trial court's statement of the law.
We also recognize that apportionment of benefits is a legislative function that should not be second guessed.
In City of Boca Raton v. State, 595 So.2d 25, 30 (Fla.1992), the Supreme Court, in discussing the role of the court in analysing the apportionment of a special assessment, stated as follows:
At the outset, we note that the City made specific findings that the improvements would constitute a special benefit to the subject property, that the benefits would exceed the amount of the assessments, and that the benefits would be in proportion to the assessments. The apportionment of benefits is a legislative function, and if reasonable persons may differ as to whether the land assessed was benefitted by the local improvement, the findings of the city officials must be sustained. Rosche v. City of Hollywood, 55 So.2d 909 (Fla.1952).
In this case, the trial court correctly analyzed the apportionment issue when it stated,
Whether there are other methods of apportioning benefits which were available to the County is not the issue. No system of apprising benefits or assessing costs has yet been devised that is not open to some criticism and none have attained the ideal of exact equality. Meyer v. City of Oakland Park, 219 So.2d 417 (Fla.1969). The issue is whether the County has made a legislative determination as to the method of apportioning benefit and whether such apportionment is reasonable. Clearly it is.
The documents submitted by appellant on the date of the hearing also do not provide a basis for finding disputed issues of material fact because these documents were neither timely nor properly presented. The procedures which govern a court's consideration of a motion for summary judgment are contained within rule 1.510, Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, as well as the specific information which may be reviewed by the court in determining whether a disputed material fact exists and the proper form of that information:
The motion shall state with particularity the grounds upon which it is based and the substantial matters of law to be argued and shall be served at least twenty days before the time fixed for the hearing. The adverse party may serve opposing affidavits by mailing the affidavits at least five days prior to the day of the hearing or by delivering the affidavits to the movant's attorney no later than 5:00 p.m. two business days prior to the day of the hearing. The judgment sought shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.
Rule 1.510(c), Fla.R.Civ.P. (emphasis added). The language of rule 1.510, Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, reflects a clear intent to allow courts to consider only that information which has been either admitted by the parties (i.e., admissions, interrogatories, or answers) or which establishes the existence or nonexistence of material facts in dispute through affidavits and information which has been timely presented. The documents submitted by the appellants do not comport with this intent of the rule as they were not timely filed nor were they accompanied by an affidavit.
Appellants attempted to file, as an exhibit to their supplemental response to defendants' motion for summary judgment, various documents purportedly obtained through discovery. No accompanying affidavit was provided with those documents, and the only discussion concerning what they allegedly represented was by the attorney in her own memorandum. As such, submission of the documents was not in compliance with rule 1.510, Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.
This court has previously addressed the timing and form requirements of rule 1.510, In DeMesme v. Stephenson, 498 So.2d 673 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986), this court upheld the trial court's exclusion of two documents that failed to comply with the requirements of rule 1.510 in that they were not timely filed. The rule requires that any opposing affidavits to a motion for summary judgment be mailed at least five days prior to the scheduled hearing or be hand delivered to opposing counsel at least two days prior to the hearing. Consequently, the documents sought to be submitted by appellants at the hearing were not timely submitted. Rule 1.510, Fla.R.Civ.P.
Furthermore, the proposed documents in this ease were not in a proper admissible form. This court in DeMesme excluded documents sought to be admitted upon a motion for summary judgment because they were not in the form of an affidavit as required by Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510(e). Id. at 675. Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510(e) states as follows:
Supporting and opposing affidavits shall be made on personal knowledge, shall set forth such facts as would be admissible in evidence, and shall show affirmatively that the affiant is competent to testify to the matters stated therein. Sworn or certified copies of all papers thereof referred to in an affidavit shall be attached thereto or served therewith. The court may permit affidavits to be supplemented or apposed by depositions, answers to interrogatories, or by further affidavits.
Id. (emphasis added). The last requirement, by its language, excludes any document from the record on a motion for summary judgment that is not one of the enumerated documents or is not a certified attachment to a proper affidavit. Nothing was presented which provides us with any context as to when they were prepared. These documents, standing by themselves, are insufficient to raise a material dispute concerning the legislative determination of the county.
We, thus, affirm the summary final judgment.
MICKLE, J., concurs.
BOOTH, J., dissenting with written opinion.
. The summary judgment hearing was scheduled for August 23, 1993, but was continued for eight days on plaintiff's motion because of storm damage to the offices of plaintiff's counsel.
. It would also follow that such assessment, if valid, would not constitute a tax and, thus, would not be subject to the millage cap contained in art. VII, § 9 of the Florida Constitution.
.Thus, special assessments, unlike user fees, do not have to be voluntary. It would appear that the requirements for a valid special assessments vary from the requirements for a valid user fee identified in State of Florida v. City of Port Orange, 650 So.2d 1 (Fla.1994).
. The second district, however, ruled that storm-water management services could not be appropriately funded by special assessments because they provided community-wide benefit and had been previously funded through taxes. We do not see any basis for determining that stormwa-ter management services can never be funded through special assessments, or that services which have been previously funded through taxes can never be funded by special assessment. In fact, the court never adequately explains what the difference is between stormwater assessments'and the fire and rescue services assessment which was upheld. Nor do they distinguish the assessment for garbage disposal approved in Fiske. We can only assume that the decision was based on the court's observation that no evidence was presented of any direct or special benefit to the properties involved.
. The legislative findings referred to by the trial judge were contained in the assessment resolution as follows: (A) The- parcels of Residential Property described in the Solid Waste Disposal Assessment Roll, which is hereby approved, are hereby found to be specially benefited by the provision of the solid waste disposal and recycling facilities and services described in the Partial Year Rate Resolution, in the amount of the Partial Year Solid Waste Disposal Assessment set forth in the Solid Waste Disposal Assessment Roll, a copy of which is present at this meeting and is incoiporated herein by reference. The benefits provided to affected lands include by way of example and not limitation, the availability of facilities to properly and safely disposes of solid waste generated on improved residential lands, closure and the long term monitoring of the facilities, a potential increase in value to improved residential lands, better service to owners and tenants, and the enhancement of environmentally responsible use and enjoyment of residential land.
.Subjecting individual property owners to tipping fees may result in illegal dumping; therefore, assessment may be the only practical way to collect from residential property.