Dickinson v. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad
Dickinson v. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad
Opinion of the Court
Appellant, Railroad Assessment Board (whose powers, duties and functions were transferred to the Department of Revenue under the provisions of Chapter 69-106, Laws of Florida), by this appeal seeks reversal of a final order rendered by the Chancellor determining that the 1968 assessment on the Florida properties of the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Company in excess of $191,522,000 is invalid and void.
By its complaint Seaboard alleged that the Board’s 1968 assessment of $209,-252,960 was illegal and arbitrary primarily as a result of the weight that the Board assigned to the book value of its properties, and affirmatively asserted that the assessment should not have exceeded the sum reflected in its return, that being $180,-491,805.
The evidence reflects that the Board’s assessment is based upon a formula containing three factors, viz.: book value, stock and debt 5-year average, and a 5-year average of capitalized earnings at 6%. The Board in reaching its assessment attributed a 50% weight to book value and 25% to each of the other two factors. It then subtracted 17% as a judgment factor for economic obsolescence.
The Board injected an additional subject matter of assessment into the proceedings and the Railroad reluctantly agreed that same was a proper subject for assessment purposes, this being the Railroad’s operation of considerable equipment by virtue of long-term leases. Neither the Board nor the Railroad had included the value of this leased equipment in its computations in determining book value. The Railroad presented testimony and evidence to the effect that equipment leased by it has a depreciated value of $88,317,000, which was determined by utilizing one of the methods of depreciation approved by the Internal Revenue Service for lessors who are not railroads. The Board contends that the value of the leased equipment should have been ascertained by computing depreciation as if the property had been owned by a railroad and depreciated in accordance with the I.C.C. regulations which would be a value of $129,212,470. The Chancellor agreed with the Railroad and found that, although the Board had not included this item in its assessment nor had the Railroad returned same in the computation of its book value, the sum of $88,317,000, representing the owner’s depreciated value of equipment under long-term leases to the Railroad, should be included in the sums representing book value and taken into consideration in the assessment. He further found that non-operating properties in the value of $26,106,000 should be deducted from book value and that the Board’s action in giving a 50% weight to book value and only 25% to the other two factors was arbitrary and capricious.
From this final decree, the Board appeals alleging basically: (1) That the Chancellor erred in not utilizing the depreciation schedule of the leased property as if the Railroad had owned same, thus making the value of the leased property $129,-212,470 rather than $88,317,000; and (2) That the weighting formula as to the book value was not arbitrary and discriminatory.
As to the first point, we have difficulty in ascertaining the basis upon which the Board complains as to the valuation reached by the Chancellor. First, the Board admittedly did not include the value of the leased rolling stock in initially computing the book value of the Railroad. Now, the Board takes the position the Chancellor should have found that it overlooked some $129,000,000 of property because it should be depreciated as if it were owned by the Railroad. This property is
As to the second point, it would serve no useful purpose to write an extensive opinion upon what weight the Board must place on each factor. This Court, in an enlightened opinion authored by Judge Donald K. Carroll, treated this subject extensively in Florida East Coast Railway Company v. Green
Finally, the Board urges that the Chancellor usurped the discretionary function of the Board by effectively reassessing the properties involved in this suit. The appellee, in support of the Chancellor’s order, has cited Dade County v. Deauville Operating Corporation,
The illegality in the instant case was not just an excessive assessment. The Court here held that the use of the formula as weighted by the Board was arbitrary. This weighted formula had been applied to the entire original assessment so the entire assessment was subject to the defect. There was no severable portion of the assessment which was legally and regularly made. Furthermore, the Board omitted from the assessment of all railroads operating properties under long-term leases to them, and this property was assessed against appellee for the first time by the Court. However, the Supreme Court in Seaboard Air Line Railroad Company v. Gay
The order appealed is affirmed.
. Florida East Coast Railway Company v. Green, 178 So.2d 355 (Fla.App. 1st 1965).
. Dade County v. Deauville Operating Corporation, 156 So.2d 31 (Fla.App.3d 1963).
. Overstreet v. Chatios, 135 So.2d 870 (Fla.App.3d 1961).
. Seaboard Air Line R. Co. v. Gay, 74 So.2d 569 (Fla. 1954).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.