Opinion
No. 21831.
June 1, 1951.
Appeal from the Circuit Court, Lee County, Lynn Gerald, J.
Wm. J. Wood, Fort Myers, for appellants.
Strayhorn Strayhorn, Fort Myers, for appellees.
The taxing authorities of Lee County, Florida, levied for the years 1949-1950 and 1950-1951 a tax of eight mills on all taxable property situated in Lee County for " general road and bridge purposes." This levy was made pursuant to the provisions of Section 193.32, F.S.A., being Chapter 20874, Acts of 1941. Likewise, for each of the two years, supra, a one-half mill levy was made on all the taxable property situated in Lee County for special road and bridge purposes. This levy was made pursuant to the provisions of Section 343.17, F.S.A. (The following proviso was made a part of Section 20 of Chapter 4338, Acts of 1895: "Provided, however, That one-half of the amount realized from said special tax on property in incorporated cities or towns shall be turned over to the municipal authorities of said cities or towns to be used in the repairing, working and improving and laying out the streets thereof as may be prescribed by the ordinances of said cities and towns".) The proviso, supra, has been carried forward in Section 343.17, F.S.A.
Pursuant to the eight mill levy made under the provisions of Section 193.32, supra, the Tax Collector of Lee County, Florida, collected as a tax so levied on property situated within the corporate limits of the City of Fort Myers for the fiscal year 1949-1950 for the general road and bridge fund the sum of $66,369.60. Also on the one-half mill levied under the provisions of Section 343.17, supra, for the special road and bridge fund on the property in the City of Fort Myers for the year 1949-1950 there was collected as a tax thereon the sum of $4,148.10, making a total amount of $70,517.70. The City of Fort Myers contends that it is, under the aforesaid statutes and our adjudications, entitled to one-half thereof in the sum of $35,258.85.
The County of Lee contended that the City of Fort Myers was not entitled to any part of the $66,369.60, being the sum collected as a result of the eight mills levy made under the provisions of Section 193.32, but it was entitled to receive one-half of the $4,148.10 raised by a one-half mill levy made under Section 343.17. The Chancellor permanently restrained the county from expending any amount more than one-half of the $70,517.70 so collected for the year 1949-1950, and the county appealed.
Section 193.32, F.S.A., is a part of Chapter 20874, Acts of 1941. The Board of County Commissioners are authorized to levy a tax of not more than ten mills on all the property of the county, which, after collection, is placed to the credit of the "general road and bridge fund". We fail to observe any conflicts or inconsistencies between the several provisions of Section 193.32 and Section 343.17, as they both relate to revenue with which to construct roads and bridges throughout the county. It is true that one-half of the funds raised by taxes on property situated within a city or cities of the county is required to be delivered to the municipal authorities and used for the same purposes as the other portions of the funds, to-wit, "Roads and Bridges." The County Commissioners supervise the expenditure of the "Road and Bridge Funds" in the county outside the towns and cities, while the municipal authorities supervise its expenditure on the roads and streets within the cities. The statutes are in pari materia and should be construed as a single statute. See City of Sanford v Orange County, 54 Fla. 577, 45 So. 479; Hillsborough County v. State ex rel. City of St. Petersburg, 57 Fla. 50, 48 So. 976 Dade County v. City of Miami, 77 Fla. 786, 82 So. 354; Escambia County v. State ex rel. City of Pensacola, 115 Fla. 385, 156 So. 134, and similar cases.
We fail to find error in the record.
Affirmed.
SEBRING, C.J., and THOMAS and ADAMS, JJ., concur.