THE DELTONA CORPORATION, A DELAWARE CORPORATION, PETITIONER,
v.
FLORIDA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, RESPONDENT
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The Florida Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Chapter 65-2355, which transferred regulatory authority over water and sewer utilities in Volusia County from the Board of County Commissioners to the Florida Public Service Commission. The court held that the statute implicitly granted the Commission power to require certificates of public convenience and necessity, not merely rate-setting authority.
Chapter 65-2355 is constitutional and necessarily conferred upon the Florida Public Service Commission the power to require private water and sewer utilities to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity in Volusia County. The statute did not violate the Florida Constitution because it specifically and by implication repealed conflicting portions of Chapter 59-1958 rather than seeking to amend it without re-enactment.
“A statutory grant of power or right carries with it by implication everything necessary to carry out the power or right and make it effectual and complete.”
Establishes the legal principle that the Commission's granted rate-setting power implicitly includes the power to require certificates of convenience and necessity.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe Deltona Corporation operated water and sewer systems exclusively in unincorporated areas of Volusia County, Florida, without obtaining a certifica…
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By petition for a writ of certiorari we a.re requested to review an order of the Florida Public Service Commission finding that Ch. 65-2355, Laws of Florida, grants to the Commission full regulatory authority over water systems and sewer systems in Volusia County, Florida, pursuant to the provisions of Ch. 367, Fla.Stats., F.S.A., and requiring petitioner, The Deltona Corporation, to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity for its water system and sewer system in Volusia County, Florida.
Petitioner Deltona operates such a system exclusively in the unincorporated areas of Volusia County, Florida.
Ch. 367, Fla.Stats., F.S.A., which was enacted in 1959 as Ch. 59-372, gives the Florida Public Service Commission jurisdiction to regulate water and sewer utilities not owned or operated by a municipality or governmental agency in any Florida county which, by virtue of a resolution of its Board of County Commissioners, desires to come under said law.
The Board of County Commissioners of Volusia County adopted such a resolution on September 3, 1959. The Legislature by a special Act, Ch. 59-1958, vested in the County Commissioners of Volusia County the exclusive jurisdiction to regulate rates, grant franchises, and determine the qualifications of those operating water and sewer utility systems in the unincorporated areas of Volusia County. Ch. 59-1958 became a law on June 20, 1959, two days after Ch. 367, Fla.Stats., F.S.A., became effective.
In Orange City Water Company v. Mason (Fla.1964), 166 So.2d 449, this Court construed these two statutes as denying to the Florida Public Service Commission jurisdiction over privately owned water companies in the unincorporated areas of Volusia County. The Court pointed out that the Legislature, by a special Act, removed from the regulatory jurisdiction of *907the Florida Public Service Commission all water companies operating in the unincorporated areas of Volusia County and gave such authority to the Board of County Commissioners.
At the next session of the Legislature Ch. 65-2355 was enacted and provided as follows:
“An Act transferring all the power and duties of the board of county commissioners of Volusia county, Florida, under any and all laws pertaining to the establishment, review or changing of water rates charged by water companies and sewer rates charged by sewer companies in Volusia county, Florida, to the Florida public utilities commission.
“Be it Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
“Section 1. All powers and duties of the board of county commissioners of Volusia county, Florida, under any and all laws pertaining to the establishment, review or changing of water rates and sewer rates charged by water and sewer companies not owned or operated by municipalities in Volusia county, Florida, be and the same are hereby transferred to and vested in the Florida public utilities commission.
“Section 2. That all laws and parts of laws in conflict herewith be and the same are hereby repealed.
“Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately upon its passage and approval by the Governor or upon becoming a law without such approval.”
In July 1968, the Florida Public Service Commission entered a Show Cause Order against The Deltona Corporation requiring Deltona to show cause why it should not be penalized for an alleged violation of Ch. 367, Fla.Stats., F.S.A., in that it failed to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity for operation of its water system or sewer system in Volusia County, Florida. Deltona filed a motion to dismiss contending that the respondent was without jurisdiction to require such a certificate and that Ch. 65-2355 was unconstitutional. It was further contended that even if this statute were constitutional it only granted rate-making powers to the Commission and did not authorize the requirement of a certificate of public convenience and necessity. The Commission denied the motion and Deltona seeks a review of this order.
It is a cardinal rule that a statute should be construed so as to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the Legislature as expressed in the statute. In Beebe v. Richardson, 156 Fla. 559, 23 So.2d 718 (1945), the Court said:
“It is a familiar rule of statutory construction that a statute should be so construed and applied as to give effect to the evident legislative intent, even if the result seems contradictory to rules of construction and the strict letter of the statute. * * * In construing a statute, the legislative intent should be gleaned from the language of the statute, the subject sought to be regulated, the purpose to be accomplished, and the means adopted for accomplishing the purpose. * * * Where there is ambiguity and uncertainty in the meaning to be given the words employed in a statute, or where the context of a statute taken literally conflicts with a plain legislative intent clearly discernible, the context must yield to the legislative purpose, for otherwise the intent of the lawmakers would be defeated.”
A statutory grant of power or right carries with it by implication everything necessary to carry out the power or right and make it effectual and complete. In re Advisory Opinion to the Governor, 60 So.2d 285 (Fla.1952). See also 22 F.L.P., Statutes, § 64. Unquestionably, Ch. 65-2355 transferred to the respondent Commission the power to establish, review, and change the rates of water and sewer utility *908companies in the unincorporated areas of Volusia County. Considering the history of the subject matter of the statute and appyling the rules of statutory construction, we find that Ch. 65-2355 necessarily conferred on the Florida Public Service Commission the power to require such private utility to obtain a certificate of public convenience and necessity.
Respondent also contends that Ch. 65-2355 violates Sec. 16, Art. Ill, Florida Constitution, F.S.A., in seeking to amend or revise Ch. 59-1958 without re-enacting and publishing it at length.
This constitutional provision was designed to prevent the enactment of amen-datory statutes in terms so blind that the -legislators themselves are sometimes deceived concerning their effect and the public fails to become advised of the changes made in the law because of difficulty in making the necessary examination and comparison. See cases cited in 22 F.L.P., Statutes, § 37. It was not necessary for the title to refer to the repeal of a previous law in conflict with Ch. 65-2355, in view of the insertion of a repealing clause in the body of the Act. Hysler v. State, 132 Fla. 200, 181 So. 350 (1938). See also State v. Board of Public Instruction (Fla.1959), 113 So.2d 368.
Ch. 65-2355 does no violence to Sec. 16, Art. Ill, Florida Constitution, since it does not seek to amend or revise Ch. 59-1958 but both specifically and by implication repeals portions thereof.
The Commission, of course, has the power to impose penalties sufficiently heavy to secure obedience to its orders, after all parties have an ample opportunity to test the validity of such orders. The questions raised by petitioner in these proceedings were not frivolous and the failure of petitioner to secure the certificate of public convenience and necessity was not malicious. Under the circumstances of this case, the penalty, if any, which may be imposed upon petitioner should be moderate.
The writ is denied. It is so ordered.
ROBERTS, Acting C. J., DREW and BOYD, JJ., and SPECTOR, District Court Judge, concur.
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State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Laforet, 658 So. 2d 55 (Fla. 1995)…d give effect to the intention of the legislature. City of Boca Raton v. Gidman, 440 So. 2d 1277, 1281 (Fla.1983); see also City of Tampa v. Thatcher Glass Corp., 445 So. 2d 578, 579 (Fla.1984) (citing Deltona Corp. v. Florida Public Service Comm’n, 220 So. 2d 905, 907 (Fla.1969)). The timing and stated legislative intent of section 627.727(10) indicate that the legislature in enacting this statute was reacting to this Court’s interpretation of section 624.155 following its amendment in 1990.2 In McLeod v. Co…
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V.K.E. v. State, 934 So. 2d 1276 (Fla. 2006)…construed so as to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the Legislature as expressed in the statute.’ ” City of Tampa v. Thatcher Glass Corp., 445 So. 2d 578, 579 (Fla.1984) (emphasis added) (quoting Deltona Corp. v. Fla. Pub. Serv. Comm’n, 220 So. 2d 905, 907 (Fla.1969)). “[W]hen the language of the statute is clear and unambiguous and conveys a clear and definite meaning, there is no occasion for resorting to the rules of statutory interpretation and construction.... ” Holly v. Auld, 450 So. 2d 217…
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Elbert Bryan Griffis, III v. State, 356 So. 2d 297 (Fla. 1978)…gislative intent, regardless of whether such construction varies from the statute’s literal meaning. Florida Jai Alai, Inc. v. Lake Howell Water and Reclamation District, 274 So. 2d 522 (Fla.1973). Deltona Corp. v. Florida Public Service Commission, 220 So. 2d 905 (Fla.1969). In Beebe et ux. v. Richardson, 156 Fla. 559, 23 So. 2d 718, 719 (1945), this Court explained: “. . . [W]here the context of a statute taken literally conflicts with a plain legislative intent clearly discernible, the context must yield…
Previewing 3 of 27 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Beebe v. Richardson, 156 Fla. 559 (Fla. 1945)
- State v. Bd. OF Pub. Instruction OF Escambia Cnty., 113 So. 2d 368 (Fla. 1959)
- Hysler v. State, 132 Fla. 200 (Fla. 1938)
- Orange City Water Co. v. Mason, 166 So. 2d 449 (Fla. 1964)