August 8, 2008 Update

On Tuesday, August 5^th the First District Court of Appeal upheld the decision of Circuit Judge Frank Bell in the tax lawsuit filed on behalf of Portofino. Bell had ruled that

the Escambia County Property Appraiser and Tax Collector have the authority under Florida law to assess and collect real property ad valorem taxes on improvements constructed by lessees on government owned property. Judge Bell provided no explanation for his ruling. The panel that heard the Portofino appeal was made up of Marguerite Davis (also on the commercial appeal panel), Michael Allen, and Paul Hawkes. Like Bell, they gave no explanation for their ruling. The judges filed an opinion of “Per Curiam Affirmed” less than a week after the oral arguments were heard in the Portofino case. A per curiam affirmed (PCA) means that all three judges on the appellate panel agree with the trial court’s decision and find no need to explain further. The appellate court is not required to explain its decision if it agrees with the lower court. With this kind of ruling, there can be no appeal to the Florida Supreme Court. This is the same thing that happened in the commercial leaseholders case know as Alvin’s Island v. Jones.

Since the First District Court of Appeal offered no explanation as to why they affirmed the lower court decision by ruling per curiam affirmed in both cases, they have no direct precedential impact on other cases. In other words, the appellate decision went against the commercial and Portofino leaseholders but it cannot be cited as authority that is binding on, or must be followed by, another court or by a trial judge in a separate case. Judge Michael Jones has still not ruled in our law suit. If he is inclined to see the law in our favor, he does not have to rule based on the action taken by the appeals court.