"Public Purpose" in Municipal Financing Plans

Authors

anon

Abstract

The City Commission of Deerfield Beach authorized issuance of municipal bonds pledged by certain excise taxes to purchase land on which a major league baseball training facility was to be built and maintained by the city. The facility was to be leased to and operated by a private corporation. Rental, payable to the city, was to be the annual debt service on the bonds plus fifty per cent of net profits in excess of prior years' losses. Validation of the proposed issuance was decreed by the circuit court. On a taxpayer's appeal, the Florida Supreme Court, in a four to three decision, reversed. Held: A bond issuance proposed by a municipality, whereby the municipality agreed to purchase land on which to build and maintain a baseball training facility for subsequent lease to a private corporation, violates state constitutional provisions prohibiting assessment of taxes and extension of credit for purposes which are not "public." Brandes v. City of Deerfield Beach, 186 So. 2d 6 (Fla. 1966).

First Page

294

Recommended Citation

anon, Recent Developments, "Public Purpose" in Municipal Financing Plans, 42 Wash. L. Rev. 294 (1966).
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/wlr/vol42/iss1/13