Florida fight continues over tax collection for PACE bonds

The case pitting Florida county tax collectors against the Florida PACE Funding Agency in the Florida Supreme Court over the collections of taxes to support $5 billion in bonds appears to hinge on jurisdiction.

On Monday, PACE said it was only seeking a writ holding "what this court has already said: The tax collectors may not collaterally attack the final judgment and must treat it as the final word on all matters it adjudicated."

But the tax collectors say the court doesn't have jurisdiction in the matter.

PACE sued 42 counties and their tax collectors. Last week three county tax collectors responded jointly, several responded individually and others didn't respond.

Lake, Brevard and Indian River county tax collectors said the original municipal bond validation proceedings were strictly about the bonds themselves and not about who and/or what should support the bonds.

In order to prove civil contempt, they argued, there must be "personal jurisdiction and violation of a clear, unequivocal and time-certain directive order, and those prerequisites are absent here," the tax collectors told the Florida Supreme Court. PACE "seeks relief beyond the scope of this court's constitutional authority, and their petition should be dismissed or denied for lack of jurisdiction."

Florida PACE, in reply, said it was not seeking to expand the Supreme Court's jurisdiction.

PACE said the tax collectors were trying to draw a distinction between bond validation and enforcement. However, the state's statute on validation says the bond hearing yields a judgment that is "forever conclusive as to all matters adjudicated," and that includes those pertaining to assessment and collection.

Of the $5 billion of authorized bonds, $150 million has been issued.

A Florida circuit court ruled the bonds were valid and the Florida Supreme Court affirmed that decision in December.

Since then, "42 county tax collectors, acting in concert statewide, continue to refuse to perform the very ministerial duties the final judgment adjudicated," PACE told the State Supreme Court in mid-April. The failure to collect the fees threatens to cause imminent default of the bonds, PACE said.

PACE programs offer loans to property owners for clean energy and, in the case of Florida PACE, hurricane-resistant home improvements.