DAVID L. REID, PROPERTY APPRAISER OF PALM BEACH COUNTY, ALLEN C. CLARK, TAX COLLECTOR OF PALM BEACH COUNTY, J. ED STRAUGHN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, PALM BEACH COUNTY BOARD OF TAX ADJUSTMENT, APPELLANTS,
v.
VIRGINIA LUCOM, APPELLEE
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The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's denial of a motion to dismiss a complaint challenging a property assessment for discriminatory treatment. The court held that the plaintiff failed to comply with the statutory prerequisite of tendering the amount admitted to be owing to the tax collector before taxes became delinquent.
A taxpayer must tender to the tax collector the amount she admits in good faith to be owing before instituting an action to contest a tax assessment, and this tender must be made before the taxes become delinquent. Non-compliance with this statutory prerequisite is grounds for dismissal of the complaint.
[1] A taxpayer must strictly comply with the jurisdictional requirements of section 194.171, Florida Statutes, to maintain a suit contesting a tax assessment.
[2] Failure to timely pay taxes that a taxpayer in good faith admits to be owing, before they become delinquent, results in the dismissal of a tax assessment contest action.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“before an actión to contest a tax assessment may be brought the taxpayer must pay to the collector the amount the taxpayer admits in good, faith to be owing. The Tax Collector must issue a receipt for the payment and the taxpayer must file the receipt with his Complaint. The tender müst be made before the taxes become delinquent.”
Establishes the mandatory statutory prerequisite for maintaining an action to contest a tax assessment under Section 194.171(3) and (4)
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceVirginia Lucom sought equitable relief to have her 1974 real property assessment declared void, alleging the Property Appraiser arbitrarily discrimina…
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DAUKSCH, Judge.
For our determination in this Interlocutory Appeal is an Order of the trial court denying the dismissal of a Complaint for equitable relief. Specifically the Plaintiff/Appellee seeks to have an assessment declared void alleging that the Property Appraiser, the Appellant here, arbitrarily discriminated against her in his assessment of her real property for the year 1974. Our jurisdiction is thru Fla.App. Rule 4.2 as this matter is one formerly cognizable in equity. Dade County Land Development Corp. v. Dade County, 157 So. 2d 142 (Fla. 3d DCA 1963); Section 196.01, Florida Statutes (1967).
The Order denying the dismissal of the Complaint properly sets out that there are factual issues to be decided regarding the alleged improper assessment but as a part of the pleadings it is obvious that the Plaintiff failed to comply with Section 194.171(3) and (4), Florida Statutes (1975) in that she failed to tender to the Tax Collector the amount she admitted in good faith to be owing prior to instituting the lawsuit and before the payment of the taxes became delinquent. Therefore the court should have granted the Motion of the Tax Assessor to dismiss the Complaint. It was alleged that the Appellee tendered to the Appellant the amount she in good faith admitted owing on April 14, 1975. Under Section 197.016, Florida Statutes (1975) these taxes became delinquent on April 1, 1975. Section 194.171(3) and (4), Florida Statutes (1975) says that before an actión to contest a tax assessment may be brought the taxpayer must pay to the collector the amount the taxpayer admits in good, faith to be owing. The Tax Collector must issue a receipt for the payment and the taxpayer must file the receipt with his Complaint. The tender müst be made before the taxes become delinquent. Adler-Built Industries, Inc. v. Metropolitan Dade Co., 231 So. 2d 197, 199 (Fla.1970); Blake v. R. M. S. Holding Corp., 341 So. 2d 795 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977); Millstream Corp. v. Dade County, 340 So. 2d 1276 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977); Brooks v. Interlachen Lakes Estates, Inc., 332 So. 2d 681 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976).
Therefore the Order denying the dismissal of the Complaint is reversed and this cause is remanded with directions to dismiss the Complaint.
REVERSED and REMANDED with direction.
MAGER, C. J., and ALDERMAN, J., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
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State v. The Honorable Leonard L. Stafford, 646 So. 2d 803 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)…nore subsections 194.171(3) and (6), which bar an action challenging the assessment unless the taxes admitted to be owed in good faith are paid before they become delinquent. See Markham v. Corlett, 453 So. 2d 907 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984); Reid v. Lucom, 349 So. 2d 661 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977), cert. denied, 358 So. 2d 132 (Fla.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 860, 99 S.Ct. 180, 58 L.Ed.2d 169 (1978). Respondent FDIC. argues that if we were not to construe the statutes as providing alternative forms of relief, its due proces…
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Robbins v. Section 3 Prop. Corp., 609 So. 2d 670 (Fla. 3d DCA 1992)…ty. Dade County v. McArthur Jersey Farm Dairy, Inc., 214 So. 2d 362, 363 (Fla. 3d DCA 1968); Dade County Land Development Corp., v. Dade County, 157 So. 2d 142, 143 (Fla. 3d DCA 1963), cert. denied, 165 So. 2d 177 (Fla.1964). See also Reid v. Lucom, 349 So. 2d 661, 662 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977) (recognizing that matters brought under current Chapter 196 are cognizable in equity), cert. denied, 358 So. 2d 132 (Fla.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 860, 99 S.Ct. 180, 58 L.Ed.2d 169 (1978). The right to a jury trial in a tax…
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Markham v. Corlett, 453 So. 2d 907 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984)…a tax assessment is barred by the provisions of Section 194.-171(3), (5) and (6), Florida Statutes (1983). [*908] The taxes in question were not paid before they became delinquent. The judgment on appeal is reversed upon authority of Reid v. Lucom, 349 So. 2d 661 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977), cert. den. 358 So. 2d 132 (Fla.1978), cert. den. 439 U.S. 860, 99 S.Ct. 180, 58 L.Ed.2d 169 (1978). See, also, Cowart v. Perkins, 445 So. 2d 654 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984); Millstream Corporation v. Dade County, 340 So. 2d 1276 (Fla. 3d…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Adler-Built Indus., Inc. v. Metro. Dade Cnty., 231 So. 2d 197 (Fla. 1970)
- Blake v. R. M. S. Holding Corp., 341 So. 2d 795 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977)
- Millstream Corp. v. Dade Cnty., 340 So. 2d 1276 (Fla. 3d DCA 1977)
- Dade Cnty. Land Dev. Corp. v. Dade Cnty., 157 So. 2d 142 (Fla. 3d DCA 1963)
- Brooks v. Interlachen Lakes Ests., Inc., 332 So. 2d 681 (Fla. 1st DCA 1976)