The Florida Supreme Court upheld a 2022 bond validation despite efforts by multiple local government entities to challenge it.
The court ruled 5-2 in an opinion published Thursday to affirm a ruling by a lower court supporting the bond validation.
Language in Florida law giving finality to bond validations applies, and a state civil rule of procedure that can sometimes be used to challenge otherwise final judgments doesn't apply to the case, wrote Justice Meredith Sasso in the
The Florida PACE Funding Agency and its financing partner FortiFi Financial, Inc., which offer property assessed clean energy — or PACE — programs to Florida homeowners, were defending a 2022 circuit court decision validating up to $5 billion of bond issuance, a decision that was properly noticed and drew no objections before the court's deadline, according to Sasso's opinion.
Florida PACE issued $150 million of bonds in 2023 after the circuit court for Leon County in 2022 validated the agency's plan to issue up to $5 billion total.
Arrayed against Florida PACE and its financing partner were many Florida county governments, tax collectors, and state attorneys, who filed suit against the bond validation judgements in 2023, well after the normal 30-day window for a challenge to the court action had passed.
PACE programs offer loans to property owners for clean energy and, in the case of
A lower court in 2024 sided with the bond issuer, saying the bonds were valid. The Supreme Court opinion upheld that decision.
According to Florida statute, once a court validates bonds and the appeal period elapses, "such judgement is forever conclusive as to all matters adjudicated against [the bond issuer] … and the validity of said bonds … or the proceedings authorizing the issuance thereof … shall never be called into question in any court."
The government parties had argued the Florida civil procedures rule allowing challenges to final finding applied despite this language.
The majority found that another part of Florida procedure limited this rule and prevented its application to this matter of the bond validation.
Justice Charles Canady dissented, saying that the majority shouldn't have given finality to
Justice Renatha Francis wrote the other dissent, saying she believed the state Supreme Court didn't have jurisdiction over the issue because the court could only hear appeals from final judgements in bond validations. This would not "encompass an appeal that arises from a post-judgement order denying a [state civil procedure] motion, but rather an appeal from the final judgement itself." She said the case should have been transferred to the lower First District Court of Appeal.
"We are pleased that the Florida Supreme Court ruled in our favor," said Olga Vierra, co-managing partner of Miami office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, which represented FortiFi. "We look forward to working with tax collectors to resolve these issues in accordance with the court's ruling."
Other attorneys for parties in the case and some Florida county leaders were contacted for comment but didn't immediately respond.
The Supreme Court case order isn't final until 15 days have passed for parties to file a rehearing motion. Parties could also seek review from the U.S. Supreme Court.
