DAN SOWELL, BAY COUNTY PROPERTY APPRAISER, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE IN RE: THE MATTER OF CERTAIN DECISIONS OF THE 2012 BAY COUNTY VALUE ADJUSTMENT BOARD, APPELLEE
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The Bay County Property Appraiser appealed the Department of Revenue's determination that there was no probable cause to find that the Value Adjustment Board violated Florida law by allowing special magistrates to deduct 15% from property market values based on certain statutory criteria. The First District Court of Appeal reversed, holding that the Department erred in finding no probable cause of a violation of the longstanding principle that fair market value and just value are legally synonymous.
The court reversed the Department's determination and found that the Department erred in concluding there was no probable cause of a violation of law. The court held that given the parties' strong disagreement about whether the Board's actions violated the law and the complexities of the issues involved, probable cause existed to proceed.
[1] A property appraiser may appeal a Department of Revenue's determination that probable cause does not exist for a violation of law by a Value Adjustment Board.
[2] A deduction from market value for statutory criteria, when fair market value and just value are legally synonymous, may constitute a violation of law.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“fair market value and just value are legally synonymous”
Establishes the fundamental legal principle at issue regarding property valuation that the special magistrates allegedly violated
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe Bay County Property Appraiser filed an Assertion with the Department of Revenue challenging nineteen decisions by the Value Adjustment Board for t…
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Appellant, Dan Sowell, the Bay County Property Appraiser, appeals the “Probable Cause Review by the Department of Revenue” and argues that Appellee, the Department of Revenue (“Department”), erroneously concluded that Appellant’s “Assertion” filed pursuant to section 194.036(l)(c), Florida Statutes (2012), did not establish probable cause that the Bay County Value Adjustment Board (“Board”) committed a consistent and continuous violation of the intent of the law or administrative rules in adopting as final decisions the recommendations of the special magistrates in nineteen cases where property owners challenged the valuation of various types of properties for the 2012 tax year. In its Assertion, Appellant contended that the special magistrates, by deducting from the market value of the properties at issue fifteen percent “for the 1st — 8th criteria” or “for the 1st and 8th criteria”1 to arrive at just value, violated the longstanding rule of law in Florida that fair market value and just value are legally synonymous. See Smith v. Krosschell, 937 So.2d 658, 662 (Fla.2006) (citing Walter v. Schuler, 176 So.2d 81 (Fla.1965)). Given' the parties’ strong disagreement as to whether the Board’s actions in this case violated the law and the complexities of the issues involved, we agree with Appellant that the Department erred in determining that there was no probable cause of a violation of the law. *356We, therefore, reverse the Department’s Probable Cause Review and remand for entry of an order finding the requisite probable cause so that Appellant may proceed to circuit court if he so chooses.2
REVERSED and REMANDED with instructions.
ROBERTS, C.J., BENTON and LEWIS, JJ., concur.
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Citator
Cited By
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Mercado v. Fla. Dep't of Revenue (Fla. 1st DCA 2026)…continuous violation of the intent of the law or administrative rules by the board has occurred." We acknowledge this court has previously reviewed a case with near identical facts and legal dispute. In Sowell v. State of Florida Dep't of Revenue, 168 So. 3d 355 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015), we reversed a “Probable Cause Review by the Department of Revenue" and instructed the agency to enter an order finding probable cause. Id. at 356. However, that prior, one-paragraph decision offered no discussion about the langu…1 / 3
Authorities Cited
- Walter v. Schuler, 176 So. 2d 81 (Fla. 1965)
- Smith v. Krosschell, 937 So. 2d 658 (Fla. 2006)