## Facts

- Florida statutes authorized local governments to build and maintain stormwater management facilities and to fund them through special assessments that could vary by land use and benefit received.
- Sarasota County enacted an ordinance creating a countywide stormwater management program funded by a special assessment on “developed” property (property with impervious surfaces such as buildings and paving).
- The County excluded “undeveloped” property from assessment based on findings that such land contributes to stormwater absorption and does not require the same stormwater services.
- The County used different allocation methods for assessed parcels:
  - Residential property was charged a flat fee per dwelling unit.
  - Nonresidential property was charged based on the amount of horizontal impervious area, reflecting estimated runoff contribution.
- The assessment was imposed on developed parcels owned by churches and other entities exempt from ad valorem taxation.
- The Sarasota Church of Christ and similarly situated property owners sued, arguing the charge was an impermissible tax, did not confer a special benefit, and was improperly apportioned.
- The trial court invalidated the assessment; the district court of appeal affirmed.

## Issues

1. Whether the stormwater charge qualified as a valid special assessment (rather than an impermissible tax) by providing a special benefit to assessed property and by being fairly apportioned.
2. Whether the Legislature authorized stormwater management services to be funded through special assessments.
3. Whether excluding undeveloped property and using different formulas for residential and nonresidential property satisfied special assessment requirements.
4. Whether ad valorem tax exemptions for churches barred imposition of the stormwater special assessment.

## Decision

- The Florida Supreme Court quashed the district court decision and reversed the judgment invalidating the assessment.
- The Court held the Legislature expressly authorized stormwater services to be funded through special assessments.
- The Court found the assessment satisfied the “special benefit” requirement because developed parcels received direct benefit from stormwater collection, conveyance, and treatment addressing polluted runoff generated by those parcels.
- The Court found the assessment was fairly apportioned because the classifications and formulas reasonably related charges to runoff contribution and corresponding benefit, and mathematical precision was not required.
- The Court held ad valorem tax exemptions do not preclude special assessments on exempt property when special benefit and fair apportionment are established.

## Legal Principles

- A valid special assessment funds a specific local improvement or service that specially benefits assessed property, and the costs must be fairly and reasonably apportioned among benefited parcels.
- Stormwater management services may be funded through special assessments when the two-part special assessment test is satisfied.
- A property’s ad valorem tax exemption (including religious property) does not immunize it from special assessments for improvements or services that specially benefit the property.
- Apportionment need not be exact; it is sufficient that the assessment method bears a reasonable relationship to the benefit conferred and/or the property’s contribution to the problem the program addresses.
- A local government may exclude property from assessment where supported findings show the excluded class does not receive the special benefit supporting the assessment.

## Conclusion

The court upheld Sarasota County’s stormwater special assessment as legislatively authorized and valid because it conferred a direct special benefit on developed property, allocated costs through reasonable benefit-related classifications, and could be imposed on tax-exempt church property despite ad valorem tax exemptions.


Sarasota County v. Sarasota Church of Christ, Inc., 667 So. 2d 180 (Fla. 1995)