Opinion ID: 3066677
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Due Process and Ripeness

Text: In his first issue, Reynolds argues that he was denied due process when FDFC offered and the court accepted an amended financing agreement that removed language allowing judicial foreclosure as a remedy from section 4 of the original form financing agreement that had been attached to the complaint. This objection was not sufficiently preserved. At the bond validation hearing, when FDFC offered the amended financing agreement during the testimony of FDFC Executive Director William Spivey, Reynolds’ attorney did not object to admission of this document or testimony about it, but asked only to be allowed to inquire into the document on cross-examination. In the motion for rehearing filed by Reynolds, he did object at that time to acceptance of the amended financing agreement, primarily citing the rights of parties not before the court. - 14 - Even if this issue had been sufficiently preserved, it lacks merit. In Keys Citizens, we held that constructive notice of the complaint was sufficient even though it did not mention that the court would also consider the validity of the mandatory sewer connection ordinance. 795 So. 2d at 949. We noted in Keys Citizens that the bond notification statutes do not require the specificity in the published notice that was urged by the citizens in that case. Id. Reynolds relies on our decision in Ingram v. City of Palmetto, 112 So. 861 (Fla. 1927). However, in Ingram, the City filed a petition for bond validation that “clearly did not comply with the affirmative requirements of the statute” that set forth what facts and allegations were to be in the petition. Id. at 862. The trial court permitted the petition to be amended to meet the requirements of the statute, but on review this Court found the procedure followed was improper. Id. We held, “If the amendments made the petition sufficient in law, the intervener (sic) was given no opportunity to take issue on the facts alleged. . . . Even if such proceeding may be regarded as due process of law, it is not such as is contemplated by the statute.” Id. In this case, the intervenor—Reynolds—did have an opportunity both at the show cause hearing and at the hearing on his motion for rehearing to raise objections to the amended financing agreement and bring those objections and arguments to the court’s attention. - 15 - We have explained that “[t]he specific parameters of the notice and the opportunity to be heard required by procedural due process are not evaluated by fixed rules of law, but rather by the requirements of the particular proceeding.” Sch. Bd. of Palm Beach Cnty. v. Survivors Charter Sch., Inc., 3 So. 3d 1220, 1236 (Fla. 2009) (quoting Keys Citizens, 795 So. 2d at 948). The notice and opportunity to be heard given to Reynolds were sufficient for the requirements of this particular proceeding, especially in light of his failure to object to the amended document at the hearing. Further, the amendment to the model financing agreement was in accord with the law argued by Reynolds concerning the issue of judicial foreclosure, and provides no basis for this Court to reverse and require initiation of an entirely new proceeding. Reynolds also contends that the bond validation judgment must be reversed because the issue was not ripe for determination due to the fact that FDFC had not yet entered into any interlocal agreements under the program and did not, itself, have the ability to impose the assessments required for repayment of the bonds. We disagree that this case was not ripe for bond validation or that the court lacked jurisdiction. Section 75.01, Florida Statutes (2014), confers jurisdiction on the circuit courts to determine the validity of bonds and certificates of indebtedness. Section 75.02, Florida Statutes, expressly states that the plaintiff in a bond validation proceeding “may determine its authority by law to issue bonds.” This - 16 - presupposes that the bonds will not be issued and specific payment provisions enacted until after the validation proceeding. See also Boatright v. City of Jacksonville, 158 So. 42, 55 (Fla. 1934) (Whitfield, J., concurring) (noting that a bond validation proceeding allows the rights and immunities of the taxpayers and citizens to be determined before the bonds are issued). FDFC has statutory authority and a properly enacted resolution to issue the bonds and to seek a determination of the validity of the bond issue before it does so. Moreover, the record established that FDFC intends to execute interlocal agreements to provide for implementation of the PACE program in localities that choose to participate, and those local governments will levy and collect the non-ad valorem special assessments at issue here. Section 163.08(3) specifically states that the local government may impose the PACE assessments. Nowhere does the Legislature require that, before a PACE bond issue may be validated, the documents show specific, executed interlocal agreements or any specific assessments to be reviewed. Accordingly, relief is denied on this claim.