State v. Jacksonville Port Authority

Rule of Law:

The term “industrial plant” for the purpose of issuing Industrial Development Revenue Bonds under the Florida Constitution and statutes is to be construed liberally, encompassing projects that contribute to economic prosperity, including large-scale food distribution centers and specialized industrial laundry facilities that serve other industries rather than the general public.

Facts:

• The Jacksonville Port Authority approved a capital project for a food distribution center under construction by Publix Super Markets, Inc., in Jacksonville, Florida.
• The Publix facility was designed to be a 250,000 square foot structure on approximately fifty acres of land, serving as part of a food distribution system for about 180 retail outlets in Florida.
• The Jacksonville Port Authority also approved a capital project for a laundry facility in Jacksonville, to be occupied by Dixie Uniform Supply, a division of Neway Uniform and Towel Supply of Florida, Inc.
• The Neway laundry facility was planned to have a 28,000 square foot working area, primarily for laundering, servicing, and renovating industrial working garments.
• The Neway facility would utilize special cleaning agents for petroleum-based soils and would serve only specified industries, not the general public.
• Neway’s existing facility employed sixty people and had a business volume exceeding $1 million.
• Both projects were approved for the issuance of $1 million in Industrial Development Revenue Bonds by the Jacksonville Port Authority.
• Florida’s Article VII, Section 10(c) generally prohibits governmental units from lending credit to private entities but carves out an exception for laws authorizing revenue bonds for “industrial or manufacturing plants.”
• Chapter 159, Part II, F.S.A., defines “project” as any capital project comprising an “industrial or manufacturing plant.”
• The phrase “industrial plant” is not specifically defined within the bond financing provisions of the Florida Constitution or Chapter 159, F.S.A.
• Previous Florida Supreme Court decisions approved bond issues for a beverage bottling plant and a meat processing facility.
• The Missouri Supreme Court, in construing a similar constitutional provision, held that a laundry is purely a service institution and not an “industry.”

Procedural Posture:

• The Jacksonville Port Authority approved two separate capital projects, a food distribution center for Publix Super Markets, Inc. and a laundry facility for Neway Uniform and Towel Supply of Florida, Inc., for the issuance of Industrial Development Revenue Bonds.
• Separate bond validation proceedings for each project were duly conducted before the Circuit Court of Duval County (trial court/court of first instance).
• The Duval County Circuit Court validated the bond issuance for the Publix food distribution center, finding it constituted an “industrial plant.”
• The Duval County Circuit Court disapproved the bond issuance for the Neway laundry facility, citing evidence and reasoning from a Missouri Supreme Court case.
• The State of Florida appealed the trial court's validation of bonds for the Publix food distribution center (Case No. 44820), making the State the appellant.
• The Jacksonville Port Authority appealed the trial court's decision refusing to validate the bonds for the Neway laundry facility (Case No. 45392), making the Jacksonville Port Authority the appellant.
• These two separate appeals were consolidated before the Supreme Court of Florida.