H. GRADY COOKSEY ET AL., APPELLANTS,
v.
UTILITIES COMMISSION, CITY OF NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FLORIDA, AND CITY OF NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FLORIDA, A MUNICIPAL CORPORATION EXISTING UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEES
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The Florida Supreme Court upheld a special act creating a Utilities Commission with authority to set utility rates, rejecting a constitutional challenge based on improper delegation of legislative power. The Court found that rate-setting is an incident of the municipality's constitutional and statutory power to provide utility services, constrained by the standard that rates must be just and reasonable.
The act is constitutional. The fixing of fair and reasonable utility rates is an incident of the municipality's constitutional and statutory authority to provide and maintain utility services. Although the courts cannot fix rates themselves, they may review whether rates comply with the standard of being just and reasonable as required by applicable statutes.
[1] A special act creating a municipal utilities commission with exclusive power to prescribe and change rates for utility services is constitutional if existing statutory st…
[2] The power to provide municipal services implicitly includes the authority to fix fair and reasonable rates for those services.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Implicit in the power to provide municipal services is the power to construct, maintain and operate the necessary facilities. The fixing of fair and reasonable rates for utilities services provided is an incident of the authority given by the Constitution and statutes to provide and maintain those services.”
Establishes that rate-setting is an inherent incident of the municipal power to provide utility services, supporting the delegation's constitutionality.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe City of New Smyrna Beach enacted Chapter 67-1754, which created a Utilities Commission and granted it full and exclusive power to prescribe rules,…
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This cause is before us on direct appeal from the Circuit Court, Volusia County, to review the Order of that Court dated November 8, 1971, denying motion for summary judgment and holding Chapter 67-1754, Laws of Florida, constitutional. Oral argument before this Court was waived by the parties.
*130The special act in question, Chapter 67-1754, Laws of Florida, creates the Utilities Commission of the City of New Smyrna Beach and provides, in part, as follows:
“The commission shall have full and exclusive power and authority to prescribe rules, rates and regulations governing the sale and use of electricity, water, gas and sewage collection and treatment wherever such services are furnished by said commission and to change the same at its pleasure, after conducting a public hearing or hearings pertaining to rate changes.”
Appellant contends that the foregoing act is an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power. We find that the standards laid down in Florida Statute § 180.13(2), F.S.A.1 pertaining to municipal public works and § 184.09(1) (b),2 governing municipal sewer financing, requires cities fix rates that are just and reasonable for utility services. These standards are the recognized guidelines in the fixing of rates by governmental entities and apply to the Utilities Commission of the City of New Smyrna Beach.
The Constitution of the State of Florida, Section 2(b) of Article VIII, F.S.A., provides as follows:
“(b) Powers. Municipalities shall have governmental, corporate and proprietary powers to enable them to conduct municipal government, perform municipal functions and render municipal services, and may exercise any power for municipal purposes except as otherwise provided by law. Each municipal legislative body shall be elective.”
Implicit in the power to provide municipal services is the power to construct, maintain and operate the necessary facilities. The fixing of fair and reasonable rates for utilities services provided is an incident of the authority given by the Constitution and statutes to provide and maintain those services.3 The courts may not fix rates but will determine, on behalf of any aggrieved party, whether there has been a deviation from the standard of just and reasonable in fixing rates.4
Accordingly, the order of the trial court, denying summary judgment and upholding the validity of Chapter 67-1754, Laws of Florida, is affirmed.
It is so ordered.
ROBERTS, C. J., and ERVIN, Mc-CAIN and DEKLE, JJ., concur.
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Contractors & Builders Ass'n OF Pinellas Cnty. v. City OF Dunedin, 329 So. 2d 314 (Fla. 1976)…VIII, § 2(b); City of Miami Beach v. Fleetwood Hotel, Inc., 261 So. 2d 801 (Fla.1972).7 “Implicit in the power to provide municipal services is the power to construct, maintain and operate the necessary facilities.” Cooksey v. Utilities Commission, 261 So. 2d 129, 130 (Fla. 1972). There are no provisions in Chapter 180, Florida Statutes, expressly governing capital acquisition other than through deficit financing,8 but it is provided that the “legislative body of the municipality . may establish just and equ…
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City OF Gainesville v. State, 778 So. 2d 519 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)…te, or lease local public utilities, including: ... wastewater and storm-water facilities”). “Implicit in the power to provide municipal services is the power to construct, maintain and operate the necessary facilities.” Cooksey v. Utilities Comm’n, 261 So. 2d 129, 130 (Fla.1972). Acknowledging the importance of managing and treating the state’s stormwater runoff, the Legislature mandated some fifteen years ago that the Department of Environmental Regulation assess the efficacy of stormwater management progr…1 / 2
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Mohme v. City OF Cocoa, 328 So. 2d 422 (Fla. 1976)…nciple of law that rate-setting for municipal utilities is a legislative function to be performed by legislative bodies like local municipal governments and the commissions to which these bodies delegate such authority. Cooksey v. Utilities Comm’n., 261 So. 2d 129 (Fla.1972); Cooper v. Tampa Electric Co., supra; Southern Utilities Co. v. City of Palatka, 86 Fla. 583, 99 So. 236 (1923). Our courts will intervene to strike down unreasonable or dis [*425] criminatory public utility service rates prescribed by th…
Previewing 3 of 9 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Miami Bridge Co. v. THE Miami Beach Ry. Co., 152 Fla. 458 (Fla. 1943)
- Cooper v. Tampa Elec. Co., 154 Fla. 410 (Fla. 1944)
- Gainesville Gas & Elec. Power Co. v. City of Gainesville, 63 Fla. 425 (Fla. 1912)
- DELTA Gen. Corp. v. Priess, 389 So. 2d 1083 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980)