HS - Dade County Property Appraiser vs. Lisboa (7/8/1999)

[Riser Adkisson LLP]

Dade County Property Appraiser, et al. v. Jose Lisboa,
737 So. 2d 1078 (Fla. 07/08/1999)
737 So. 2d 1078;
24 Fla. L. Weekly S 382

DADE COUNTY PROPERTY APPRAISER, DADE COUNTY TAX COLLECTOR, and
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, Petitioners, vs. JOSE LISBOA, Respondent.

No. 92,628

SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA

737 So. 2d 1078; 24 Fla. L. Weekly S 382

July 8, 1999, Decided

PRIOR HISTORY: [*1] Application for Review of the Decision of the District Court of Appeal -
Certified Great Public Importance Third District - Case No. 97-874 (Dade County).

DISPOSITION: NO MOTION FOR REHEARING ALLOWED. Jurisdiction was improvidently granted;
petition dismissed.

COUNSEL: Robert A. Ginsburg, Miami-Dade County Attorney, and Melinda S. Thornton, Assistant
County Attorney, Miami, Florida, on behalf of Dade County Property Appraiser & Tax Collector, and
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Joseph C. Mellichamp, Senior Assistant Attorney General,
and Charlie McCoy, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, Florida, on behalf of the Florida
Department of Revenue, for Petitioners.

Brion L. Blackwelder, Project Director, Nova Southeastern University, Civil Law Clinic, Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, for Respondent.

Vincente A. Tome, Miami, Florida, for The Project To Mobilize Immigrant Students For Eduction
(Promise), A Project Of The Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, Inc., Amicus Curiae.

JUDGES: HARDING, C.J., and SHAW, WELLS, ANSTEAD and PARIENTE, JJ., concur. OVERTON,
Senior Justice, dissents with an opinion.

OPINION: PER CURIAM.

We initially accepted jurisdiction to review the decision in Lisboa [*2] v. Dade County Property
Appraiser, 705 So. 2d 704 (Fla. 3d DCA 1998), which certified to this Court a question declared
to be of great public importance. See art. V, § 3(b)(4), Fla. Const. Upon further consideration
of the certified question and the decision of the Third District Court of Appeal, we conclude
that the legal question in this case does not present an issue of "great public importance."
Rather, the question to be answered requires consideration of a narrow issue with very unique
facts. Accordingly, jurisdiction was improvidently granted and we hereby dismiss this petition.

It is so ordered.

HARDING, C.J., and SHAW, WELLS, ANSTEAD and PARIENTE, JJ., concur.

OVERTON, Senior Justice, dissents with an opinion.

NO MOTION FOR REHEARING WILL BE ALLOWED.

DISSENTBY: OVERTON

DISSENT: OVERTON, Senior Justice, dissenting.

I dissent. The district court of appeal certified the following question:

Can an alien residing in the United States pending his application for political asylum, satisfy
the residency requirements contained within article VII, section 6 of the Florida Constitution
and section 196.031(1), [*3] Florida Statutes, in order to qualify for Florida's homestead tax
exemption?

In this instance, the property appraiser, while recognizing that a lawfully admitted permanent
resident alien is entitled to a homestead exemption, determined that this alien who was lawfully
in the country was not entitled to a homestead exemption because he was an alien who had a
pending application for political asylum.

I believe it is a significant statewide issue for this Court to decide whether an appraiser can
unilaterally decide which aliens who are lawfully in this country are entitled to the homestead
exemption and which ones are not. Accordingly, I would accept jurisdiction.