Ellis v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad

Citations

• 68 Fla. 160
• 66 So. 1005

Syllabus

<p>1. Under the statute regulating the assessment of railroad property, the authorized practice of adding the values of lots and terminal facilities to the track values, becomes one of “the principles established.for State taxation,” to which the Constitution requires all municipal taxation to conform.</p> <p>2. The values of the railroad property as listed and reported to the city by the Comptroller may be changed to correspond with other assessment values in the city, but “the principles established for State taxation” should be observed as commanded by the constitution.</p> <p>3. The City of Gainesville is empowered by statute to “make its own assessments upon the property within the limits of the city, as provided by the Constitution of the State of Florida.” This provision gives authority to fix valuations provided they have a fair relation to “a just valuation of all property” subject to the tax,-and accord with “a uniform and equal rate of taxation” as required by the Constitution.</p>