Case Name: CITY OF TAMPA, a municipal corporation, and Logan D. Browning, as Comptroller of the City of Tampa, Petitioners, v. BIRDSONG MOTORS, INC., et al., Respondents
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1972-03-10
Citations: 261 So. 2d 1
Docket Number: No. 39871
Parties: CITY OF TAMPA, a municipal corporation, and Logan D. Browning, as Comptroller of the City of Tampa, Petitioners, v. BIRDSONG MOTORS, INC., et al., Respondents.
Judges: CARLTON, ADKINS, BOYD and McCAIN, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 261
Pages: 1–11

Head Matter:
CITY OF TAMPA, a municipal corporation, and Logan D. Browning, as Comptroller of the City of Tampa, Petitioners, v. BIRDSONG MOTORS, INC., et al., Respondents.
No. 39871.
Supreme Court of Florida.
March 10, 1972.
William Reece Smith, Jr., City Atty., for petitioners.
Chas. S. Ausley, of Ausley, Ausley, McMullen, McGehee & Carothers, Tallahassee and Sam Bucklew, of Bucklew, Ramsey & Stichter, Tampa, for respondents.
Robert M. Ervin, Joseph C. Jacobs and Thomas M. Ervin, Jr. of Ervin, Pennington, Vara & Jacobs, Tallahassee, for The Grand Union Co., amicus curiae.
Ralph A. Marsicano, Tampa, General Counsel for Florida League of Municipalities, amicus curiae.

Opinion:
ON REHEARING GRANTED
ROBERTS, Chief Justice.
Petitioners seek review of a decision of the Second District Court of Appeal, Birdsong Motors, Inc. v. City of Tampa, 235 So.2d 318. Conflict is alleged with Smith v. City of Miami, 160 Fla. 306, 34 So.2d 544 (1948), and Southern Bell Tel. & Tel. Co. v. Town of Surfside, 186 So.2d 777 (Fla., 1966). We have jurisdiction pursuant to Fla.Const. Art. V, § 4(2), F.S.A.
Certain automobile dealers, engaged in the business of selling motor vehicles as retail merchants in the City of Tampa, filed their complaint against the City of Tampa and its Comptroller to enjoin the enforcement and collection of a tax levied by the City of Tampa and to enjoin the defendants from inspecting the books and records of the dealers relating to the amount of tax due and owing. Respondents attacked the validity of a tax, originally enacted by the City in 1954 as Ordinance No. 1708-A (now compiled code § 21-50) as follows:
"Sec. 21-50. Tax levied; payment required ; amounts to be paid.
"A license tax is hereby levied upon and shall be collected from every person, firm or corporation exercising the privileges or carrying on or engaging in the businesses, professions, or occupations hereinafter specifically enumerated, as fixed hereinafter; each such amounts, unless otherwise specifically stated, being the amount payable as a license tax for exercising such privilege or carrying on or engaging in such business, profession, or occupation mentioned for each, and it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, or corporation, to carry on or engage in any business, occupation or profession herein prescribed and designated without having first paid the license tax as provided herein or complied with the terms hereof, as follows:
"(b) License tax based on gross sales —retail and merchants. The license tax on every retail merchant, whether any other license tax is required by any subsection of this section or not, shall be measured by the amount of gross sales made by such merchant and shall be figured and arrived at as follows: Returns shall be made to the city treasurer showing amount of gross sales for the twelve months period ending July 31st, immediately preceding the license year, which returns shall be filed with the city treasurer not later than thirty days after said July 31st, and on the first three thousand dollars or less the license tax shall be .10.00. On each one thousand dollars of gross sales or major fraction thereof above three thousand dollars .1.00."
Taxation by a city must be expressly authorized by either the constitution or grant of the Legislature, and any doubts as to the powers sought to be exercised must be resolved against the municipality and in favor of the general public. Certain Lots, Etc. v. Town of Monticello, 159 Fla. 134, 31 So.2d 905 (1947). Statutes authorizing a municipality to tax are to be strictly construed, are not to be extended by implication, and are not to be enlarged so as to include any matter not specifically included, even though said matter may be closely analogous to that included. City of Miami v. Kayfetz, 158 Fla. 758, 30 So.2d 521 (1947).
Prior to adoption of the Florida Constitution of 1968, the authority of a city to impose taxes could be enacted by special or local act (as in its Charter which is approved as a special law). Smith v. City of Miami, supra. Under the Constitution of Florida adopted in 1968, this authorization for a city to tax must hereafter "be authorized by general law," except in the case of ad valorem taxes.
Fla.Const. Art. VII, § 1 (1968) provides in part as follows:
"(a) No tax shall be levied except in pursuance of law. No state ad valorem taxes shall be levied upon real estate or tangible personal property. All other forms of taxation shall be preempted to the state except as provided by general law." (emphasis ours).
Fla.Const. Art. VII, § 9 (1968), similarly limits the taxing authority of municipalities :
"(a) Counties, school districts, and municipalities shall, and special districts may, be authorized by law to levy ad va-lorem taxes and may be authorized by general law to levy other taxes, for their respective purposes, except ad valorem taxes on intangible personal property and taxes prohibited by this constitution." (emphasis ours).
After carefully reconsidering the briefs and the record, we conclude that the decision of the Second District Court of Appeal is correct.
From the foregoing provisions of the Florida Constitution it is clear that, except for ad valorem taxes, municipalities may be granted the power to levy any tax only by general law. Thus, the question presented is whether the tax imposed by the City of Tampa is authorized by general law. Any tax not authorized by general law must necessarily fall by virtue of the preemption clause of Fla.Const. Art. VII, § 1 (1968).
Fla.Stat. § 167.43, F.S.A., deals with the powers of a city. It provides, inter alia:
"The city or town council may raise, by tax and assessment upon all real and personal property, and by license on professions, business and occupations carried on within the corporation, all sums of money which may be required for the improvement and good government of the city, and for carrying out the powers and duties herein granted and imposed; and enforce the receipt and collection of the same in the manner now provided by the laws of the state for the assessment and collection of state taxes and licenses."
An additional statute pertinent to the decision here is Fla.Stat. § 212.081(3) (b), F.S.A. It reads, inter alia:
"It is also the legislative intent that there shall be no pyramiding or duplication of excise taxes levied by the state under this chapter and no municipality shall levy any excise tax upon any privilege, admission, lease, rental, sale, use or storage for use or consumption which is subject to a tax under this chapter unless permitted by general law; provided, however, that this provision shall not impair valid municipal ordinances which are in effect and under which a municipal tax is being levied and collected on July 1, 1957."
By virtue of Ch. 61-2927, Laws of Florida (1961), the power of the City of Tampa to levy taxes is controlled by Fla.Stat. § 212.081 and § 167.43, F.S.A.
A close analysis of the above-quoted statutes leads us to the conclusion that the general laws of Florida do not authorize the tax in question. The disputed tax is denominated as a license tax on retail merchants and is measured by gross sales of the merchant during the preceding fiscal year. The taxpayer is taxed $10.00 for the first $3,000 in sales and $1.00 for every $1,000 in sales thereafter. The taxes are levied over and above the flat license tax paid by the respondents for the privilege of operating an automobile dealership.
Fla.Stat. § 212.081, F.S.A. prohibits the cities from imposing a sales tax, and § 167.43 is no authority for such a "license tax measured by gross sales." This is our only valid conclusion in light of the authority, cited above, calling for any doubts to be resolved in favor of the taxpayer.
It has been contended that the provisions of Section 6, Article VIII, Florida Constitution, 1968, preserves inviolate the power of municipalities to tax, even though that power rests upon special law; that the enactment of Article VII, Sections 1 and 9 do not terminate existing laws on the subject. We do not agree with this contention.
Section 6, Article VIII, is the Schedule of the new Article VIII and provides in part:
"(a) This article shall replace all of Article VIII of the Constitution of 1885, as amended, except those sections expressly retained and made a part of this article by reference.
(b) Counties — county seats — municipalities — districts. The status of the following items as they exist on the date this article becomes effective is recognized and shall be continued until changed in accordance with law: the counties of the state; their status with respect to the legality of the sale of intoxicating liquors, wines and beers; the method of selection of county officers; the performance of municipal functions by county officers; the county seats; and the municipalities and special districts of the state, their powers, jurisdiction and government." (emphasis ours).
Though on its face the foregoing provision (b) of Article VIII, Section 6, may appear to retain for municipalities and special districts every power that they possessed prior to the adoption of the 1968 Florida Constitution, further examination demonstrates that this is not the case. Article VIII was submitted for adoption by the people of this state separately from other Articles of the Florida Constitution. Section 6, Article VIII is the separate schedule for that Article. Commentary Art. VIII, Section 6, F.S.A. In keeping with this function, which is to provide for the adjustment of matters affected by the change from old Article VIII to new Article VIII, subsection (b), quoted above, states that the status of the various items as they exist on the date ". . . this Article becomes effective . . ." are recognized and continued. This function as the schedule to only Article VIII is further exemplified by the fact that the various items considered by Section 6 are also those items specifically considered by Sections 1 through 5 of Article VIII. For example, it recognizes and continues the status of the counties of the state which obviously refers to Section 1 of Article VIII of the Florida Constitution of 1968; it refers to the status of the counties with respect to the legality of the sale of intoxicating liquors which obviously refers to Section 5 of Article VIII of the Florida Constitution of 1968; it refers to the method of selection of county officers which has reference to Subsection (d) of Section 1 of Article VIII of the Florida Constitution of 1968; it further refers to the performance of municipal functions by county officers which obviously has reference to Section 4 of Article VIII of the Florida Constitution of 1968; it refers to the county seats which has reference to Subsection (k) of Section 1 of Article VIII of the Florida Constitution of 1968; and it refers to the municipalities and special districts of the state which has obvious reference to Sections 2 and 4 of Article VIII of the Florida Constitution of 1968. Nowhere is there any indication that Section 6 was intended to vitiate the effect of any provision in any other article of the Florida Constitution of 1968, nor any indication that Section 6 of Article VIII had any function other than to operate as the schedule for Article VIII of the 1968 Constitution.
The schedule for the other articles of the Florida Constitution of 1968 is found in Article XII of said Constitution. The limited application of Section 6 of Article VIII is further evidenced by the terminology of Subsection (a) thereof as stated above. Neither the language of Article VIII in general nor of Article VIII § 6 states that the purpose of the article is to supersede other provisions of the Constitution of 1968 specifically dealing with taxation and limitations thereon. It is further significant in that Sections 1 and 9 of Article VII of the Florida Constitution of 1968 do not find their genesis in Article VIII of the Constitution of 1885; and, therefore, presumably, Article VIII of the Florida Constitution of 1968 would not replace them.
Further indication that the final phrase of Subsection (b), Section 6, of Article VIII of the Florida Constitution of 1968 should not be given the breadth of application which is contended is shown by the fact that Sections 2 and 15 of Article XII of the Florida Constitution of 1968 would be rendered totally superfluous by such an interpretation. Section 2 of Article XII provides that counties, municipalities, and special districts may continue their existing tax millages until reduced by law. Section 15 of Article XII retains for any special district the existing ad valorem taxing powers vested in them. Both of these are totally unnecessary if Section 6 of Article VIII is given the contended breadth of application. An elementary rule of construction is that if possible, effect should be given to every part and every word of the Constitution and that unless there is some clear reason to the contrary, no portion of the fundamental law should be treated as superfluous or meaningless or inoperative. Thus a construction of the Constitution which renders superfluous or meaningless any of the provisions of the Constitution should not be adopted by this Court. State ex rel. West v. Butler, 70 Fla. 102, 69 So. 771 (1915).
Recent cases of the Supreme Court do not reflect a recognition that Section 6(b) of Article VIII is to be so broadly interpreted. For example, if Article VIII, Section 6(b), were construed as broadly as contended, continuing all municipal powers until changed by law, then the City of St. Augustine would have retained the power to restrict its bond elections despite the provisions of Article 7, Section XII, of the Florida Constitution of 1968. This is clearly inconsistent with the Supreme Court's decision in State v. City of St. Augustine, 235 So.2d 1 (Fla.1970). Further, in State ex rel. Dade County v. Dickinson, 230 So.2d 130 (Fla.1970), the Supreme Court, after lengthy discussion of Article VII, Section 9(b), regarding millage limitation, stated that if a county assumes municipal functions and arrogates to itself a portion of the 10 mills of taxation permitted for those municipal purposes, then an affected municipality may advance its millage rate only to include the difference not arrogated by the county or in the alternative bears the burden of a referendum permitting a millage rate above the 10 mill limitation.
The foregoing is pertinent in that if Section 6 of Article VIII were given the contended breadth, then there would be no pertinence in discussing Section 9(b) of Article VII of the Florida Constitution of 1968 for its operation would be vitiated by Section 6 of Article VIII. Obviously, the Court did not consider this to be the case.
A final case which reflects that Section 6 of Article VIII is not to be so broadly interpreted is the Supreme Court's decision of Bannon v. Port of Palm Beach District, 246 So.2d 737 (Fla.1971). In that case the Court held that Section 10 of Article VII of the Florida Constitution of 1968 acts to protect public funds from being exploited by a special district, but found that in that case the constitutional provision was not violated. If Section 6 of Article VIII were given the breadth of application which is contended, then the entire constitutional discussion contained in the aforementioned case would be rendered a nullity for Section 10 of Article VII of the Florida Constitution of 1968 would have no application, having been rendered inoperative by Section 6 of Article VIII.
All the foregoing seem to clearly establish that the function of Section 6 of Article VIII was only to implement the remaining portions of Article VIII of the Florida Constitution of 1968. Any other construction leads to the unreasonable and unacceptable conclusion that no provision of the Florida Constitution of 1968 had any effect whatsoever on the powers of either the municipalities or special districts of the State of Florida.
Allegation is also made that the Tampa Ordinance in question having been enacted before July 11, 1957, was "grandfathered" under Section 212.081(3) (b), Fla.Stat., F. S.A., as set out above and therefore meets the test of the new 1968 Constitution that city taxes must be enacted under the authority of general law.
As aforestated the City of Tampa originally enacted the Ordinance imposing the tax in question in 1954. However, the Charter of the City of Tampa was changed by legislative action in 1961 and certain provisions of the Charter were repealed and certain provisions were re-enacted. Chapter 61-2927, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1961, to provide, among other things:
"That the city council [of the City of Tampa] shall have the power to . license privileges, businesses, occupations and professions carried on and engaged in within the city limits, and the amounts of such license tax shall be fixed by city ordinances, which amounts of such taxes shall not be dependent upon the general state law; provided, however, that the city shall in the future he prohibited from assessing, levying, collecting, or imposing upon any said named companies or corporations on their property any further or other tax, burden, assessment, imposition or rental of any kind or character whatsoever, except said privilege taxes and the ad valorem tax on real and personal property, paving, sewerage, or sidewalk assessments. . . . " (emphasis supplied).
Chapter 61-2927, Section (5) repealed all laws and parts of laws in conflict therewith.
Petitioners argue that the tax is distinguishable from a sales tax because it is not payable unless the merchant elects to continue in business during the year following the making of the sales. This argument amounts to no more than the statement of a legal fiction. More importantly, it permits the city to accomplish indirectly what it is prohibited from doing directly.
This Court can take judicial notice that a vast majority of businesses remain in operation from year to year. Thus, distinguishing a sales tax from the present tax on the basis that the merchant need not elect to continue in business during the following year thereby avoiding the tax, is pure fictionalizing. Characterizing the present tax as a sales tax is doubly reinforced in that the City imposes another flat license tax for the privilege of operating respondent's business. It is evident that the City, after having imposed the traditional valid license tax, is attempting to increase its revenue by taxing the sales within the City.
Any prior decisions of this Court which may appear to indicate a contrary view are modified to conform to this opinion. See Stewart Dry Goods Co. v. Lewis, 294 U.S. 550, 55 S.Ct. 525, 79 L.Ed. 1054 (1935), and Valentine v. Walgreen Co., 299 U.S. 32, 57 S.Ct. 56, 81 L.Ed. 22 (1936).
This decision is prospective only, is not retroactive and affords no remedy for taxes previously paid by persons not making a judicial attack on the ordinance.
Accordingly, the writ of certiorari heretofore issued is hereby discharged.
It is so ordered.
CARLTON, ADKINS, BOYD and McCAIN, JJ., concur.
DEKLE, J., dissents with opinion.