- 5 - Although Florida ad valorem taxes and special assessments are conceptually distinct, the Florida legislature contemplates their joint collection.3 Florida statutory law, which governs the collection of ad valorem taxes and the sale of tax certificates, provides that special assessments may be collected in the same manner as ad valorem property taxes. Fla. Stat. Ann. sec. 197.363 (West 1989 & Supp. 1998). In order to be validly collected in the same manner as ad valorem property taxes, special assessments must be subjected to all collection provisions of chapter 197, including, among others, the issuance of tax certificates and tax deeds for nonpayment. Consequently, an unpaid tax bill subject to sale of a tax certificate may include both ad valorem taxes and special assessments. II. Tax Certificates Not Issued by Florida or Political Subdivision in the Exercise of Sovereign Borrowing Power In Hernandez I, we held that interest earned on a Florida tax certificate is not excluded from petitioner's gross income under section 103. We held that a Florida tax certificate is not an obligation of the State of Florida or a political subdivision for purposes of section 103(c), because it is not issued by a municipality as an exercise of its sovereign borrowing power. Whether the interest earned on a Florida tax 3 See City of Boca Raton v. State, 595 So. 2d 25, 29 (Fla. 1992) (a legally imposed special assessment is not a tax and may be imposed by a municipality without violating the Florida Constitution's reservation of all taxation powers, other than ad valorem taxes, to the State).Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011