THE STATE OF FLORIDA ET AL., APPELLANT,
v.
CITY OF ORLANDO, FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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Florida appealed a circuit court decree validating $5.5 million in sewer revenue bonds issued by the City of Orlando. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the city's establishment of an irrevocable trust fund to hold proceeds from Series A bonds pending refunding of outstanding bonds was sound fiscal management and did not violate state law regarding promptness of bond retirement.
The court held that the trust fund arrangement was sound fiscal management and did not violate state law. The establishment of an irrevocable trust to consolidate financing, secure all bonds with a first lien, and eliminate questions of relative priority among bonds was reasonable and advanced public welfare, particularly given the magnitude of the undertaking and the ability to invest trust funds in United States obligations.
“We held in the first case that bonds being refunded should be promptly purchased and cancelled. But in the second opinion we decided that an 'appreciable' length of time might pass and that we had not limited the time to any 'arbitrary' period.”
Establishes that Florida law does not impose a rigid time requirement for bond redemption, only that it be done within a reasonable period.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe City of Orlando sought to issue two series of sewer revenue bonds totaling approximately $5.5 million, payable solely from sewer system revenues w…
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THOMAS, Justice.
The Judge of the Circuit Court of the Ninth Judicial Circuit rendered a decree validating and confirming “Sewer Revenue Bonds” of the City of Orlando of the approximate aggregate principal of five and one-half million dollars, and the State of Florida appealed.
All the bonds are payable from the revenues of the system, monies to be advanced by the Orlando Utilities Commission and the service taxes from utilities, and. the holders are expressly precluded from the right to compel the levy of ad valorem taxes to meet payments of principal and interest.
The bonds will be issued in two series. The proceeds of Series A, in the sum of $2,938,000, will be used to refund and refinance outstanding “Sewer Bonds” of an equal amount maturing -in the years 1956 to 1978; the proceeds of Series B will be spent in construction and in the extension and improvement of! the-present system.
The only question presented by the state in this appeal involves all the bonds of Series A that are actually sold,, instead of being exchanged for outstanding bonds. The ordinance authorizing the issuance of the bonds contained the provision that all monies received from the sale of bonds in this series “shall be deposited in an irrevocable Trust for the sole purpose of refunding or refinancing said Outstanding Sewer Revenue Bonds and for payment of interest to and including April 1, 1958 and call premiums on said Outstanding Bonds.”
The state contends that such self-imposed restraint in impounding the fund amounts to unsound fiscal management and will “result in 2y¿ years of double indebtedness for a single purpose.” We cannot agree. The trust fund may be invested in obligations of the United States which would, of course, yield interest and, besides, there was testimony before the judge that all the bonds could be sold at a lower rate of interest because by the whole plan all of them would at once be secured by a first lien and any question of relative dignity between the old bonds and the new would be eliminated.
We find nothing in the arrangement which clashes with our pronouncements in City of Miami v. State, 139 Fla. 598, 190 So. 774, and State v. City of Miami, 155 Fla. 6, 19 So. 2d 410, unless we over-emphasize the word “promptly”. We held in the first case that bonds being refunded should be promptly purchased and cancelled. But in the second opinion we decided that an “appreciable” length of time might pass and that we had not limited the time to any “arbitrary” period.
Wh'en the magnitude of the present undertaking is considered and the circumstances surrounding the contemplated work and financing are taken into account,, we cannot agree with the state’s contention that any of the antonyms of promptness characterized the actions of the city in proposing one issue of bonds which would at once meet the needs of the city for an improved sewer system and consolidate the indebtedness related to the system.
The new bonds carry the date 1 April 1955 and the old ones are callable 1 April 1958. It seems to us it would not be sensible to require the city to' choose between waiting another two or three years "for the improvement, and acting immediately with eventual loss of money. It will .advance the public welfare to better the sewerage system now and it will advantage the public treasury to incorporate the issues in one. financing plan. Cf. State v. City of Miami, 155 Fla. 180, 19 So. 2d 790, 1 A.L.R.2d 132. The testimony which the circuit judge considered and our own reasoning bring us to the conclusion that he ruled correctly when he decided that the state’s objection on this score should not be sustained.
Affirmed.
DREW, C. ' J., and HOBSON and ROBERTS, JJ., concur.
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State v. City OF Sunrise, 354 So. 2d 1206 (Fla. 1978)…e bonds are to be refunded. State v. City of Melbourne, 93 So. 2d 371 (Fla.1957). Simple “advance refunding” is now an acceptable method of financing municipal projects. We have so held in State v. City of Melbourne, supra; State v. City of Orlando, 82 So. 2d 874 (Fla.1955); and State v. City of Miami, 155 Fla. 6, 19 So. 2d 410 (1944). In our original opinion in this case, we held that in order to be validated, the proposed bonds must meet the “lower net average interest cost” requirement found in Article V…
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State v. City OF Melbourne, 93 So. 2d 371 (Fla. 1957)…tion 6_44, authorizing the issue of said Water and Sewer Revenue Bonds, Series A, shows that part of the proceeds are to be used for retiring all of the outstanding utilities revenue bonds in the sum of $563,-000. In our view State v. Orlando, Fla., 82 So. 2d 874, concludes this question against the contention of appellant. It is pointed out by appellant that the bonds subject to redemption in the last cited case were not due for two or three years while the bonds in question are not subject to redemption fo…
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State v. Jacksonville Expressway Auth., 93 So. 2d 870 (Fla. 1957)…essway Authority adopted pursuant to said act authorizes such refunding and even though the resolution of the Expressway Authority and said act were absent, the refunding could have been done in the manner approved by State v. City of Orlando, Fla., 82 So. 2d 874, which we think forecloses the point. It is next contended that the Expressway Authority is not authorized to enter into a new lease-purchase agreement with the State Road Department so long as any of the formerly issued Expressway Authority revenu…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- The City of Miami v. State, 139 Fla. 598 (Fla. 1939)
- State of Fla. & the Taxpayers v. THE City OF Miami, 155 Fla. 6 (Fla. 1944)
- Davis v. Ward, 155 Fla. 180 (Fla. 1944)
- State of Fla. & the Taxpayers v. THE City OF Miami, 155 Fla. 180 (Fla. 1944)