532 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY:GENERAL

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1 ~'' -, ~ f! ' f,, l 1 ". ' f ; ".1!l :f l'.),! ~ ',, :!....!.!,.! 532 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY:GENERAL aganst hs opponent for hs party's nomnaton but also to present hs canddacy to the voters n hs effort to defeat hs opponent n the general electon. And t s reasonable to nfer that the legslature ntended that a canddate could spend the maxmum allowed for the prmares even though he has no opposton as well as the maxmum allowed for the general electon. Ths nference s supported by the legslatve hstory of the statutory provson n queston. The followng amendment to the Commttee Substtute for Senate Bll 176 (Ch. 70-W7, Laws of Florda) was proposed n the Senate and faled of adopton: (4) f a canddate s not opposed n a prmary electon then the provsons relatng to expendtures for the prmares shall not apply. The total amount such canddate shall expend shall be that alowable n the general electon. (Page 463, Senate Joumal, 1970 Regular Sesson.) n lght of ths legslatve hstory and n the absence of an expresson of legslatve ntent to the contrary, your queston s answered n the affrmatve September 12, 1972 CTRUS COUNTY HOSPTAL.BOARD DEBT LMTATON ON BONDS, OBLGATONS AND REVENUE CERTFCATES To: W. T. Green, Attorney, Ctrus County Hosptal Board, Crystal Rver Prepared by: James M. Wallace, Assstant Attorney General QUESTONS, 1. \Vhat s the maxmwn debt celng mposed upon the Ctrus County Hosptal Board as to short term debt oblgatons under the pro. vsons of Ch , Laws of Florda, as amended by Ch. 6!)'944, Laws of Florda? 2, What t the maxmum debt celng as to long term debt oblga. tons under the provsons of Ch , 'as amended by Ch. f!)'944? 3. What s the maxmum debt celng as to the aggregate long term and sh(u'herm debt oblgatons under. the provsons of Ch , as amended by Ch ? 4. May the gross revenue recepts of the Ctrus County Hosptal be pledged for the' payment of any long~tenn or mort term debt oblga. tons? 5. f queston 4 s answered n the affrmatve, what lmtatons are mposed by law? SUMMARY: The aggregate amount of all bonds, revenue certfcates, and federal or sta.te hosptal loans ssued and outstandng at anyone tme may not exceed an amount equal to fve tmes the. annual hosptal tax, assumng that smd ~ s based upon an annual mllage of three mlls and further assumng that sad mllage ra.te s avalable under the lmtatons set forth n , F. S. The aggregate amount of a.ll outstandng loans authorzed by 14, Ch, ) Laws of Florda, when added to the above may not exceed an amount equal to sx tmes the annual hosptal tax, assumng a three. mll tax rate s avalable under F. S. The Ctrus County Hosptal Board s. expressly authorzed to pledge

2 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY.q;:NERAL : ts gross recepts n payng the prncpal and nterest onltosptal loans, notes and revenue certfcates; assumng the proper ssuance of such oblgatons, the board s not further lmted by specal act or general law. AS TO QUESTON 1: Chapter , Laws of Florda, establshes at least two separate types of debt oblgatons whch may, but need not necessarly, be short term n nature. Secton 13 of Ch , supra, empowers the board to negotate loans... from the Surgeon Ceneral's offce, or some other agency of the Unted States Government or from an agency of the State of Florda, for the purpose of... constructng, mantanng, reparng, alterng... County hosptals, medcal nursng and convalescent homes, medcal care facltes... Sad loan or loans... must be drectly" related and ted n wth a grant n ad to sad hosptal, such as a Hll-Burton grant under the Natonal Hosptal Act. The -amount of sad loan... shall not exceed the amount of the grant such as a Hll-Burton grant. (Emphass suppled.) The maxmum duraton of such hosptal loans and notes s set out below n U6(a), Ch , as amended by Ch , supra. Secton 16(a) also prescrbes a maxmum debt celng for such oblgatons whch must be calculated by aggregatng thereto the total outstandng debt represented by current bonds and revenue certfcates.. Secton 16(a) Sad bonds, federal or state hosptal loans, notes or revenue certfcates shall mature wthn twenty (20) years from the year n whch they are ssued or made, and shall mature n equal amounts each year ncludng the nterest. The aggregate amount of all bonds, revenue certfcates'and federal or state hosptal loans ssued and out~ standng at anyone (1) tme shall not exceed an amount equal to fve (5) tmes the annual hosptal tax at the date of ssue, assumng sad tax s based upon the yearly mllage of three (3) mlls... Of course, ths formula tactly assumes that the maxmum rollage of three mlls for the annual hosptal tax s avalable wthn the aggregate lmtatons for countes and dstrcts under , F. S. A second type of debt oblgaton whch roay be short term n nature s set forth n 14, Ch , supra, whch states: Secton 14. n addton to all other mpled and express powers contaned heren, the Board shall have the express authorty to borrow money, wth or wthout ssung notes, therefor; for the purpose or purposes of constructng, nlantanng; reparqg, alterngj expandng, equppng, leasng, and operatng county hosptals, medcal nursng and convalescent home~ medcal care facltes, clncs lwd all other types of alled medcal care unts. The Board's luthorty to borrow money, wth or wthout ssung notes, shall be subject to the cond-. tons of ths act, applyng to the Board's rght to ssue revenue certfcates. Provded, however, the Board shall not be requted to have any type of valdaton sut or court approval to borrow money when (1) the' amount of the loan or loa.ns do not exceed an amount equal to two tmes the annual hosptal tax, assumng sad tax s based upon the yearly mnt~ age of three (3) mlls and (2) the term of the htn does Mt exceed lve (5) years. The caveat as to mllage lmtatons under ~ ; supra, lpples wth equal force to the nonvaldaton formula set out n 14; supra..1 :, j

3 534 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ATTORN~YGENERAL When the amount or term duraton of such "Secton 14 loans" s such as to requre valdaton, no maxmum term duraton s otherwse specfed. The tenor of l6, Ch , supra, as amended by 2, Ch , supra, ndcates that both the term duraton and maxmum debt celng theren set forth have no applcaton to "Secton 14 loans." However, a maxmum celng for such loans may be found by applyng the total outstandng ndebtedness formula of l7, Ch , whch states: Secton 17. The total amount outstandng ndebtedness of sad hosptal at anyone tme shall not exceed an amount equal to sx (6) tmes the annual hosptal tax, assumng sad tax s based upon the yearly mllage of three mlls. The caveat as to mllage lmtatons mposed under , supra, s applcable here and elsewhere n ths opnon where mllage formulae are dscussed. AS TO QUESTON 2: Under certan crcumstances, hosptal loans and "Secton 14 loans" may be of long-term duraton, as prevously dscussed. More commonly, however, bonds and revenue certfcate ssues are regarded as long-term debt oblgatons. Secton S, Ch , supra, expressly authorzes the board to ssue bonds or revenue certfcates, specfyng the condtons and purposes therefor. Secton S. Sad Board shall have express authorty to ssue Bonds, subject to approval by a referendum of the Free Holders [sc] of sad County, and to ssue Revenue Certfcates, wthout a referendum of the Free Holders [sc] of sad County, the proceeds of whch shall be used for erectng, equppng, buldjng, expandng, alterng, changng, mantanng, operatng, leasng, and reparng sad hosptals, medcal nursng homes and convalescent homes. Secton 16, Ch , supra, sets out the term duraton and maxmum debt celng for the aggregate outstandng hosptal loans, bonds and revenue certfcates. The formula set forth n 17, Ch , supra, apples to the hosptal's aggregate outstandng ndebtedness, whch would nclude "Secton 14 loans." AS TO QUESTON 3: Your thrd queston has been answered by the dscusson above. AS TO QUESTON 4: Secton 16, Ch , supra, as amended, provdes, n part: Sad loans, notes and revenue certfcates, together wth the nterest, shall be payable from the gross recepts of sad hosptal and or medcal nursng home. Ths, n part, reflects the functonal and legal dstnctons between bonds and revenue certfcates. Bonds, n the consttutonal sense, are publc debt oblgatons whch pledge the ad valorem taxng power of the ssues for redempton. Secton 16, supra, as amended, also provdes for the payment of the prncpal and nterest of such bonds. Sad bonds and nterest thereon shall be payable solely from a mllage not to exceed one and one half ( 1/2) mlls per year, whch sad mllage s ncluded n the maxmum mllage of three (3) mlls per year... However, revenue certfcates, by defnton, may not pledge the ad valorem taxng power of the ssuer. Ther source of redempton n large part s found n the self-lqudatng revenues produced by the project or, n ths case, the hosptal. When granted by specal act, the power to pledge the gross revenue re-!- -

4 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY,GENERAL 535 cepts of a county hosptal as a redempton source for revenue certfcates s consttutonally acceptable, and s lmted only by provson of the enablng act or generallaw. Webster v. North Orange Memoral Hosp. Tax Qst., Fla. 1966, 187 So.2d 37; State v. North Broward Hosp. Dst., Fla. 1957, 95 So.2d 434. AS TO QUESTON 5: There appear to be no further lmtatons to the pledge of gross recepts for revenue certfcates n general or specal law, asde from those already dscussed September 13, 1972 MUNCPALTES CONTRACT FOR GARBAGE COLLECTON NOT A FRANCHSE To: John C. Chew, Cty Attorney, Daytona Beach Prepared by: Rebecca Bowles Hawkns, Assstant Attorney General QUESTON: Maya cty contract wth an ndvdual for the exclusve rght to collect and dspose of garbage and trash n the cty for a stated annual fee, wthout volatng a charter act provson prohbtng the cty from grantng an exclusve franchse wthout referendum approval by the electors? SUMMARY: A cty ordnance and contract by whch the cty contracts wth an ndvdual or company for garbage collecton, wth the cty bllng the customers, collectng the garbage fees, and payng a fxed annual sum (n semmonthly nstallments) to the ndvdual or company for ts servces n collectng and dsposng of the garbage, s not a franchse wthn the purvew of a charter act provson prohbtng the cty from grantng an exclusve publc utlty franchse and requrng referendum approval of the electorate before a publc utlty franchse may be granted. The cty proposes to submt to compettve bddng a contract for the collecton of garbage and trash n the cty and to pay the successful bdder the amount of hs bd n semmonthly nstallments. The contract wll gve the contractor the exclusve rght to servce commercal and resdental customers n the cty (wth some exceptons not here relevant). The customers wll be blled by the cty and the payments for the servce made to the cty; however, commercal customers may ether rent mechancal refuse contaners drectly from the contractor or purchase ther own contaners. Producers of refuse have the rght to remove ther own refuse. The contract may not be assgned or sublet by the contractor wthout the consent of the cty manager. Complants regardng servce are taken by an employee of the cty and the records thereof submtted to the contractor and to the cty. The cty manager s the fnal arbter of the legtmacy of the complants. General supervson over the contractor's operatons s retaned by the cty. Provson s made for adjustng the contract prce to meet changes n the Consumer Prce ndex and to reflect a change n the number of customers servced due to new constructon or demolton of exstng buldngs. t can thus be seen that the cty, through the proposed contract, s undertakng to do what t s specfcally authorzed todoby general law n and ' , F. S., as adopted by Secton 5 of Artcle of ts charter act (Ch , Laws of Florda), and under Secton 18-16, Artcle 11, of the cty's code ot ordnances-that s, provde a muncpal garbage collecton servce for ts resdents. nstead of usng ts own employees and equpment n provdng such servce, t! J ' ' 1,.1 hr.'_~sm - "' "''''lllllllllllllllllllll ~J t ',, ' j

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