02-2118 ROBBINS V. KORNFIELD

SUPREME COURT CASES

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State: Florida

Court: Florida Third District Court

Docket No: 02-2118 ROBBINS V. KORNFIELD

Case Date: 01/22/2003

Preview:NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION AND, IF FILED, DISPOSED OF.

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA THIRD DISTRICT JANUARY TERM, A.D., 2003

JOEL W. ROBBINS, etc., Appellants, vs. CLIFFORD KORNFIELD, et al. Appellees.

** ** ** ** ** CASE NO. 3D02-2118 LOWER TRIBUNAL NO. 01-26431

Opinion filed January 22, 2003.

An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Ellen L. Leesfield, Judge. Robert A. Ginsburg, County Attorney, and Scott Fabricius, Assistant County Attorney, for appellants. Kluger, Peretz & Kaplan, and Alan Kluger; and Clifford Kornfield, in proper person.

Before COPE, GERSTEN, and FLETCHER, JJ. PER CURIAM. Appellants, Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser Joel W. Robbins and the Florida Department of Revenue (hereafter

referred to as "Property Appraiser"), seek reversal of a trial court judgment in favor of appellees Clifford and Wendy

Kornfield ("taxpayers"). The taxpayers are the owners of a homestead residence located in Miami-Dade County, Florida. In 1991, the taxpayers

built an addition to their 2,306 adjusted square foot homestead residence. This addition increased their home's square footage However, due to an error on the part of

by 1,610 square feet.

the property appraiser, the addition escaped taxation for almost nine years. In 1999, the property appraiser determined that the

additional square footage was excluded in the calculation of the home's just value. As a result, from 1991 until 2000, the

taxpayers only paid taxes on the pre-improvement 2,306 square foot portion of the residence. To correct the error, the

property appraiser placed a back assessment on the taxpayers' homestead residence for the tax years 1998-2000.1 The taxpayers sued the property appraiser seeking to set aside the back assessment placed on their residence. The trial

court granted summary judgment in favor of the taxpayers and held that both the Florida Constitution and the Florida Supreme

Although the improvements escaped taxation for nine years, back assessments could only be made for three years, pursuant to Section 193.092, Florida Statutes (2001). 2

1

Court decision in Smith v. Welton, 729 So. 2d 371 (Fla. 1999), prohibited the property appraiser from reassessing the

property's just value.

This appeal followed.

Section 193.155, Florida Statutes (2001), permits a property appraiser property. that to correct erroneous assessments of homestead

However, in Welton, the Florida Supreme Court held appraisers lacked authority under Section

property

193.155(8)(a), Florida Statutes (1995), to retroactively change the base year "just value" assessment of a homestead property. See Smith v. Welton, 729 So. 2d at 373. In response to Welton, the Section 193.155 in 2001. Florida Legislature amended

See Ch. 01-137,

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