Opinion ID: 1957190
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the method for achieving a just valuation

Text: While the Florida Constitution requires that [b]y general law regulations shall be prescribed which shall secure a just valuation of all property, art. VII, § 4, Fla. Const., the framers of the constitution delegated to the Legislature the responsibility for deciding the specifics of how that just valuation would be secured. See Collier County v. State, 733 So.2d 1012, 1019 (Fla.1999) (the constitution requires the Legislature to enact the general law regarding the collection of ad valorem taxes, and the Legislature has established a specific statutory scheme for the timing of the valuation and assessment). One of these determinations, of course, was when the various types of property would be assessed. The Legislature fulfilled its constitutional obligation in section 192.042, which states in part: All property shall be assessed according to its just value as follows: (1) Real property, on January 1 of each year. Improvements or portions not substantially completed on January 1 shall have no value placed thereon. Substantially completed shall mean that the improvement or some self-sufficient unit within it can be used for the purpose for which it was constructed. § 192.042, Fla. Stat. (1997). This statute reflects the Legislature's intent to delay valuation of improvements to property until such time as these improvements are substantially completed. In upholding the constitutionality of a predecessor statute to section 192.042(1), this Court noted the timing decision contemplated by the statutory scheme. See Culbertson, 212 So.2d at 647. We believe in this case, as we did in Culbertson, that [t]he statute constitutes only a temporary postponement of valuation and assessment of incomplete improvements on real property provided the prescribed conditions are met on the annual assessment date. Id.; see also Yankee Clipper, 427 So.2d at 385 (The legislature's determination that an incomplete structure, unusable for the purposes intended upon its completion, should not be assessed in that condition is a matter of perception.). As this Court stated in Collier County v. State, 733 So.2d 1012 (Fla. 1999): The constitution requires the Legislature to enact the general law regarding the collection of ad valorem taxes, and the Legislature has established a specific statutory scheme for the timing of the valuation and assessment. Section 192.042(1) makes clear that partial year assessments are not authorized for improvements to real property substantially completed after January 1, which shall have no value placed thereon. There is no ambiguity in the statute. It appears that any benefit to taxpayers was specifically contemplated by the legislative scheme.... If there is a windfall created by the current statutory scheme, as the County claims, the County's redress lies with the Legislature. While we do not know why the Legislature has declined to act, as observed by the trial court in this case: We clearly have able and competent legislators who are obligated to do the right thing. To achieve the relief sought, the counties must persuade the Legislature to provide the cure, not the courts. Id. at 1019. The substantial completion statute implements the provisions of article VII, section 4 in such a way as to provide predictability in the assessment rolls which serve as the basis for revenue projections in the local government budget-making process. The statute prescribes reasonable guidelines for valuation of incomplete improvements for property tax purposes, which infuse uniformity and certainty into ad valorem taxation. The absence of a substantial completion statute would only promote uncertainty and encourage litigation. In essence, we previously upheld the constitutionality of the substantial completion statute against a constitutional challenge in Culbertson v. Seacoast Towers East, Inc., 212 So.2d 646 (Fla.1968). We do the same here. While the constitution requires a just valuation of all property, the Legislature is given the responsibility for deciding the specifics of how that just valuation is secured. We hold that section 192.042 is a reasonable and, therefore, constitutional implementation of article VII, section 4 of the Florida Constitution.