Opinion ID: 1149454
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Is a school board excluded from the operation of section 11(a)(1) as a special district?

Text: The district court of appeal concluded that section 11(a)(1) was ambiguous with respect to whether a school board constituted a special district for purposes of that section. The court relied upon the presumption of constitutional validity to uphold the statute. However, an analysis of how section 11(a)(1) became a part of our 1968 constitution reflects no intent that school boards were to be included within the term special district. In Hayek v. Lee County, 231 So.2d 214 (Fla. 1970), this Court pointed out that the earlier constitution only prohibited special acts which pertained to any class of officers, except municipal officers. In the final document presented to the legislature in 1967 by the Constitutional Revision Commission, the exclusion was broadened to include officers of chartered counties. Thereafter, the legislature chose to also exclude special districts and local governmental agencies. As the Court explained: In its report of June 24, 1968, the Interim Constitutional Revision Committee essentially repeated a prior summary of changes made in Section 11(a) since the September 1967 draft: Style and Drafting reworded subsection 11(a) for clarity and intent, but no substantive change. The language `special districts or local governmental agencies' was added [in subsection 11(a)(1)] to authorize passage of special laws pertaining to such bodies as port authority and hospital boards, which clarifies the intent of both Houses. Id. at 217. There are other provisions of the Florida Constitution which clearly distinguish between the terms special districts and school districts. Article VII, section 9(a), provides: (a) Counties, school districts, and municipalities shall, and special districts may, be authorized by law to levy ad valorem 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. Likewise, article VII, section 10, of the Florida Constitution states in part: SECTION 10. Pledging credit.  Neither the state nor any county, school district, municipality, special district, or agency of any of them, shall become a joint owner with, or stockholder of, or give, lend or use its taxing power or credit to aid any corporation, association, partnership or person... . Article VII, section 12, differentiates between school districts and special districts by stating: SECTION 12. Local bonds.  Counties, school districts, municipalities, special districts and local governmental bodies with taxing powers may issue bonds, certificates of indebtedness or any form of tax anticipation certificates, payable from ad valorem taxation and maturing more than twelve months after issuance... . The legislature has also distinguished school boards and special districts. Section 165.031(5), Florida Statutes (1987), provides: (5) Special district means a local unit of special government, except a district school board, created pursuant to general or special law for the purposes of performing prescribed, specialized functions, including municipal service functions, within limited boundaries. A similar definition of special district is set forth in section 200.001(8)(c), Florida Statutes (1987). Thus, it seems apparent that the term special district, which is set forth as an exception to the prohibition of section 11(a)(1) of the constitution, does not include a school board.