Judges: Robert A. Butterworth Attorney General
Filed Date: 12/5/1990
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
Mr. Frederick B. Karl Hillsborough County Attorney Post Office Box 1110 Tampa, Florida 33601
Dear Mr. Karl:
Your questions on behalf of the Tax Collector's Office Hillsborough County may be substantially restated as follows:
Where a municipality acquires properties through foreclosure and there are delinquent ad valorem taxes or prorated current ad valorem taxes due at the time of the foreclosure, may the tax collector proceed to sell tax certificates and process tax deeds on the subject real property acquired by the municipality?1
In sum, I am of the opinion that:
The tax collector may, pursuant to ss.
In your request for this opinion, you have stated the following:
Briefly, the City of Tampa has acquired numerous parcels of real estate to enforce and satisfy its code enforcement fees and/or liens pursuant to Chapter
To provide some measure of protection to governmental units who acquire fee title to property, s.
(1) In the event fee title to property is acquired between January 1 and November 1 of any year by a governmental unit exempt under this chapter by any means except condemnation or is acquired by any means except condemnation for use exclusively for federal, state, county, or municipal purposes, the taxpayer shall be required to place in escrow with the county tax collector an amount equal to the current taxes prorated to the date of transfer of title, based upon the current assessment and millage rates on the land involved. This fund shall be used to pay any ad valorem taxes due, and the remainder of taxes which would otherwise have been due for that current year shall stand canceled.
(2) In the event fee title to property is acquired by a governmental unit exempt under this chapter by any means except condemnation or is acquired by any means except condemnation for use exclusively for federal, state, county, or municipal purposes, the taxpayer is required to pay all taxes due from prior years. However, if the taxpayer does not comply with the above provisions, the tax collector must proceed to collect the unpaid taxes.2
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Once the tax collector has offered a certificate and it is purchased, then the holder of the certificate may apply for a tax deed as set out in s.
Moreover, the Florida Supreme Court, in Smith v. City of Arcadia,6 specifically held that where a municipality had foreclosed its tax liens without notice to the holders of the county or state liens, it took defeasible title subject to those liens, and had the same right that any other purchaser had to redeem the lands from the then outstanding lien for county or state taxes. The Court said if there was any hardship, it was because the municipality had failed to exercise its rights under the law, and any issuance of a tax deed would extinguish the foreclosure deed to the municipality.7
In Kostecos v. Johnson,8 the Florida Supreme Court, recognizing that the city had due notice of the application for state and county tax deed, reaffirmed its earlier decision in Smith v. City of Arcadia that a subsequent tax deed took precedence. Although it recognized that the county could proceed against the city property through use of the tax deed process, it noted that, as long as the property was held by the county, no such process was available to the city.9
Based on the above, it is clear that the county tax collector has the duty to collect ad valorem taxes. A part of this collection process is the issuance of tax certificates, and, if the certificates are not redeemed, the certificate holder may apply for a tax deed as set out in s.
Sincerely,
Robert A. Butterworth Attorney General
RAB/tcs
A tax certificate representing less than $100 in delinquent taxes on property that has been granted a homestead exemption for the year in which the delinquent taxes were assessed may not be sold at public auction but shall be issued by the tax collector to the county[.]
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