Do Florida's open-meeting laws apply to special magistrates who hear property tax appeals for a value adjustment board?

Plain-English summary

The Florida Department of Revenue asked whether the Government in the Sunshine Law, section 286.011, Florida Statutes, applies to special magistrates appointed by a value adjustment board to hold hearings, take testimony, and make recommendations to the board. Attorney General Bill McCollum concluded that it does, when the magistrate is exercising the board's delegated authority.

A value adjustment board (VAB) is a quasi-judicial body that hears taxpayer appeals contesting denial of an exemption or the property appraiser's valuation. In counties with more than 75,000 people, the VAB must appoint special magistrates to take testimony and recommend a result, and the board may act on a magistrate's recommendation without holding its own hearing. Because a special magistrate "stands in the shoes" of the VAB when conducting those evidentiary hearings, and because Florida law recognizes no "government by delegation" escape hatch from the Sunshine Law, the AG concluded that a magistrate carrying out those delegated duties is subject to section 286.011.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2010. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: What is a value adjustment board?
A: It is a county body that hears appeals from taxpayers who dispute the denial of a tax exemption or the property appraiser's valuation of their property. Taxpayers and the property appraiser present testimony and documents, and the board rules on the assessment.

Q: What does a special magistrate do for the board?
A: In larger counties (population over 75,000), the board must appoint special magistrates to take testimony and make recommendations. The opinion noted the board may then act on a magistrate's recommendation without conducting a further hearing of its own.

Q: Why did the open-meeting law reach an individual magistrate rather than just the board?
A: The AG relied on the rule that there is no "government by delegation" exception to the Sunshine Law. When a board delegates decision-making authority that, if performed by the board, would be subject to section 286.011, the person exercising that authority stands in the board's shoes and is also subject to the law.

Q: Did the opinion say a magistrate is subject to the law for everything they do?
A: No. The conclusion was tied to the delegated VAB duties. The opinion framed the magistrate as subject to section 286.011 "in carrying out those delegated duties," resting on the fact that those duties, performed by the board itself, would be subject to the Sunshine Law.

Background and statutory framework

Section 286.011, Florida Statutes, requires that meetings of a public board or commission at which official acts are taken be open to the public. The judicial test for coverage is whether the entity is subject to the dominion and control of the Legislature; value adjustment boards, created under Chapter 194, plainly are. The statute reaches the deliberations as well as the formal action of a covered body, and Florida courts have refused to let a public body avoid it by delegating public business to an "alter ego."

The opinion grounded the magistrate's role in sections 194.015 and 194.035, Florida Statutes, and in Value Adjustment Board of Bay County v. Spitzer, in which the First District recognized that a special master appointed by a VAB stands in the board's shoes when taking testimony and conducting evidentiary hearings. Because the board may adopt the magistrate's recommendation without a further hearing, the magistrate's hearing is the functional equivalent of the board's own, and the AG concluded the Sunshine Law follows the delegated authority.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• § 286.011, Fla. Stat. (Government in the Sunshine Law)
• § 194.015, Fla. Stat. (value adjustment boards)
• § 194.035, Fla. Stat. (special magistrates)
• § 194.032(1), Fla. Stat. (VAB hearings)

Cases:

• Value Adjustment Board of Bay County v. Spitzer, 2009 WL 5151558 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009), special master stands in the shoes of the VAB
• City of Miami Beach v. Berns, 245 So. 2d 38 (Fla. 1971), dominion-and-control test for Sunshine Law coverage
• Times Publishing Company v. Williams, 222 So. 2d 470 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969)
• Board of Public Instruction of Broward County v. Doran, 224 So. 2d 693 (Fla. 1969)
• Canney v. Board of Public Instruction of Alachua County, 278 So. 2d 260 (Fla. 1973)
• IDS Properties, Inc. v. Town of Palm Beach, 279 So. 2d 353 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973), no "government by delegation" exception
• News-Press Publishing Company, Inc. v. Carlson, 410 So. 2d 546 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/ag-opinions/sunshine-law-special-magistrates
• Original PDF: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/print/pdf/node/1709

Original opinion text

Ms. Lisa Echeverri

Executive Director

Department of Revenue

5050 West Tennessee Street

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0100

RE: VALUE ADJUSTMENTS BOARDS – SPECIAL MAGISTRATES – GOVERNMENT IN THE SUNSHINE LAW – PUBLIC MEETINGS – applicability of s. 286.011, Fla. Stat., to special magistrates acting on behalf of value adjustment boards. ss. 194.015 and 194.035, Fla. Stat.

Dear Ms. Echeverri:

You ask:

Does section 286.011, Florida Statutes, apply to special magistrates appointed by value adjustment boards to conduct hearings, to take testimony, and to make recommendations to the value adjustment board?

In sum:

Section 286.011, Florida Statutes, applies to special magistrates when they are exercising their delegated authority to act on behalf of the value adjustment boards.

A value adjustment board (VAB) created pursuant to section 194.015, Florida Statutes, is a quasi-judicial governmental body that hears appeals initiated by taxpayers contesting the denial of tax exemptions and/or the valuation of their properties for tax purposes by the county property appraiser. The board conducts hearings at which taxpayers and the property appraiser testify and present documentary evidence either in opposition to or in support of the tax assessment under appeal.[1]

In counties with a population of more than 75,000, the county's VAB is required to appoint special magistrates to take testimony and make recommendations to the board.[2] The recommendations of a special magistrate may be acted upon by the VAB without further hearing.[3] In Value Adjustment Board of Bay County v. Spitzer,[4] the First District Court of Appeals made it clear that a special master appointed by the value adjustment board stands in the shoes of the VAB when taking testimony and conducting evidentiary hearings.[5]

The Government in the Sunshine Law, section 286.011, Florida Statutes, requires that meetings of a public board or commission at which official acts are to be taken be open to the public. The test for whether the meetings of particular boards, commissions or other entities are subject to section 286.011, Florida Statutes, has been judicially determined to be whether the board or other entity is subject to the dominion and control of the Legislature.[6] Value adjustment boards, created pursuant to Chapter 194, Florida Statutes, clearly are under the control of the Legislature.

Section 286.011, Florida Statutes, applies to any meeting of two or more members of the board or commission to discuss some matter that will foreseeably come before that board for action.[7] The statute has been held to extend to the discussions and deliberations of, as well as formal action taken by, a public board or commission.[8]

The courts of this state and this office have consistently stated that there is no "government by delegation" exception to the Sunshine Law such that a public body may avoid application of the law by delegating the conduct of public business to an alter ego.[9] Thus, while the statute would not ordinarily apply to an individual member of a public board or commission or to public officials who are not board or commission members, section 286.011, Florida Statutes, does apply when there has been a delegation of a board's decision-making authority.

While a special magistrate is not a member of a VAB, there has been a delegation of the VAB's responsibilities to the special magistrate which if performed by the board would be subject to the Sunshine Law. The special magistrate, therefore, is subject to section 286.011, Florida Statutes, in carrying out those delegated duties.

Accordingly, I am of the opinion that inasmuch as there has been a delegation of the value adjustment board's responsibilities to the special magistrate which if performed by the board would be subject to the Sunshine Law, the special magistrate, in carrying out those duties, is subject to section 286.011, Florida Statutes.

Sincerely,

Bill McCollum

Attorney General

BM/tls

[1] See s. 194.032(1), Fla. Stat.

[2] Section 194.035, Fla. Stat.

[3] Section 194.035(1), Fla. Stat.

[4] 2009 WL 5151558 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009); 35 Fla. L. Weekly D82, December 31, 2009. See also Rodriguez v. Tax Adjustment Experts of Florida, Inc., 551 So. 2d 537, 538 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989) (special master is a quasi-judicial officer entitled to judicial immunity); Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 96-91 (1996) (special master appointed pursuant to s. 194.035, Fla. Stat., is an officer for purposes of Art. II, s. 5(a), Fla. Const.).

[5] Spitzer, id., recognizing that the VAB is not authorized pursuant to s. 194.035(1), Fla. Stat., to conduct evidentiary hearings after the special magistrate has done so and made recommendations.

[6] City of Miami Beach v. Berns, 245 So. 2d 38 (Fla. 1971); Times Publishing Company v. Williams, 222 So. 2d 470 (Fla. 2d DCA 1969).

[7] See Board of Public Instruction of Broward County v. Doran, 224 So. 2d 693 (Fla. 1969); Canney v. Board of Public Instruction of Alachua County, 278 So. 2d 260 (Fla. 1973); Ops. Att'y. Gen. Fla. 93-79 (1993) and 81-88 (1981).

[8] Times Publishing Company, supra.

[9] See IDS Properties, Inc. v. Town of Palm Beach, 279 So. 2d 353, 359 (Fla. 4th DCA 1973), certified question answered sub nom., Town of Palm Beach v. Gradison, 296 So. 2d 473 (Fla. 1974); News-Press Publishing Company, Inc. v. Carlson, 410 So. 2d 546, 547-548 (Fla. 2d DCA 1982) (when public officials delegate de facto authority to act on their behalf in the formulation, preparation, and promulgation of plans upon which foreseeable action will be taken by the public officials, then delegates stand in the shoes of such public officials insofar as the Sunshine Law is concerned); Ops. Att'y Gen. Fla. 95-06 (1995), 83-78 (1983), 75-41 (1975), and 74-84 (1974).