Several Bryant Miller Olive lawyers co-author article in the Spring 2016 issue of the Stetson Law Review
Susan Churuti, Chris Roe, Ellie Neiberger,Tyler Egbert and Zach Lombardo recently co-authored an article for the Stetson Law Review titled, “The Line Between Special Assessments and Ad Valorem Taxes: Morris v. City of Cape Coral.”
This article discusses local government authority to use special assessments to pay for government services and improvements in light of the Florida Supreme Court’s recent decision in Morris v. City of Cape Coral. The Court’s decision in Morris reaffirms the long-standing rule that local governments validly levy special assessments under their “home rule” authority if the assessments are (1) imposed only on properties that receive a special benefit from the services or improvements; and (2) fairly apportioned among the benefited properties. If this test is met, the fact that the amount of the assessments are based in part on valuation data compiled by the county property appraiser for ad valorem property tax purposes does not convert the special assessment into an unauthorized property tax.
