State ex rel. Sherrill v. Milam (113 Fla. 491, 1933)

Campbell, Circuit Judge.

On petition filed in this Court by the relators, October 1, 1932, an alternative writ of mandamus, issued, commanding the respondents, members of the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District, to forthwith comply with the provisions of Section 1167, Revised General Statutes of 'Florida, by meeting, as therein required, and making, certifying, and forwarding to the tax assessors of counties lying, in whole or in part, in said Everglades Drainage District, lists of the lands in each of said counties, within such district, subject to drainage tax for the year 1932. In fixing the amount of such drainage tax per acre, they were directed to apply the rate of acreage tax provided for in Chapter 10026, Laws of Florida, Act of 1925.

The respondents, tax assessors of the several counties, named in the said alternative writ, were commanded to receive the said lists prepared by the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District, for their, respective counties, and to forthwith enter upon the tax rolls of such counties, the drainage tax assessments as shown on such lists for the year 1932, against the land therein described. Should the respondents fail to comply with the commands of said alternative writ, they and each of them were directed to show cause, on October 8, 1932, why they refused to do so.

On the return day, named in the alternative writ of mandamus, the respondents, members of the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District, filed a motion to quash the same. On the same day the respondents, tax assessors, severally made return to the alternative writ of mandamus, some of them filing motions to quash, others filing motions to strike, while others filed answers or other special returns, each setting up his reason for not complying with the command of the writ, by performing the acts therein required to be performed.

The question raised by-the tax assessors in their several returns to the alternative writ of mandamus, is, the propriety, and legality of requiring such tax assessors to withhold the State and county tax assessment rolls, from the tax collectors, of their respective counties, pending the adjudication of the propositions involved in this proceeding. When oral arguments were heard in this cause, we made an order, so modifying the alternative writ of mandamus, as to permit the respondents, tax assessors, to deliver the State and.county assessment rolls for the year 1932,. to the tax collectors of the counties affected, on November 1st, as provided by the statute, reserving all other questions involved, for further consideration and determination. State ex rel. v. Everglades Drainage District, et al., 107 Fla. 91 144 So. 655.

Upon motion of the relators, at the hearing on oral argument, the alternative writ of mandamus was by leave of the Court, amended, by inserting another paragraph, designated as paragraph “4-a”. All motions, answers and other special returns, made by the several respondents to the original, are considered as addressed to the alternative writ of mandamus as amended.

All the questions necessary to the determination' of the propositions involved in the returns of the several respondents, are apparently raised in the motion to quash the alternative writ oí mandamus as amended, filed by the respondents, members of the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District. In this motion to quash, the respondents question the sufficiency of the allegations of fact contained in both the alternative writ and the petition as amended, to have authorized the issuance of such alternative writ, and to warrant the granting of a peremptory writ of mandamus.

The allegations of the alternative writ of mandamus as amended, so fully and completely set forth the facts upon which the relators base their cause, as also the statutory enactments, which they assert authorize the relief sought on the facts alleged, we think it might be advisable, to quote •these allegations in full, even though it may appear to render this opinion unreasonably long. We also think it would not be amiss to quote the grounds of the motion to quash, in order that the contentions of each of the parties may be made clearly to appear. However, we will only set out in this opinion the substance of each document pertinent to a full consideration of the questions involved. ■

After the allegations of the alternative writ of mandamus as amended, identifying the Everglades Drainage District as a statutory subdivision of the State of Florida for governmental purposes, the pertinent allegations are, in substance, as follows:

That by Chapter 6456, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1913, Everglades Drainage District was established and its boundaries defined, and provision made for its government by a'Board of Commissioners, composed of five State officials, with certain powers including the power to construct and maintain a system of canals, ditches, etc:, for the drainage of the lands embraced within the defined boundaries, and the power to borrow money and issue bonds therefor; that by Section 5 of the Act provision was made for the annual assessment of an acreage tax, and by Section 6 of the Act it was provided that the proceeds of such tax were to be used for the construction and maintenance of works, the purchase of necessary land and personal property; to the repayment of loans and the interest thereon; to the creation of a sinking fund for the retirement of the bonds that the Board might issue, and the payment of interest thereon; that Sections 8 and 9 of the Act defined the duties of the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District, and the tax assessors, with respect to the listing and assessing of the lands within the district for drainage tax; that by the provisions of Section 19 of the Act the Board of Commissioners were empowered to borrow money on permanent loans, and to issue and sell in the corporate name of the Board, negotiable bonds of the district in the aggregate amount of not exceeding $6,000,000.00; that by Section 20 of the Act the denominations of the bonds were fixed, and the rate of interest and place of payment were provided for; that by Section 21 the manner of the execution of the bonds, and certain recitations the bonds should include were fixed; that by Section 23 of the Act it was provided that said Act should, without reference to any other Act of thé Legislature of Florida, be full authority for the issuance and sale of bonds provided for in the Act, and that in said Section 23 there was also a provision as follows: “The provisions of this Act shall constitute an irrepealable contract between the said Board and said Everglades Drainage District, and the holders of any bonds and the coupons thereof issued pursuant to the provisions hereof. Any holders of any of said bonds or coupons may either in law or in equity, by suit action or mandamus, enforce and compel the performance of the duties required by this Act in relation to the said bonds, or to the collection, enforcement and application of the taxes for the payment thereof,” which quoted provision, it is alleged, is still in full force and effect in respect to all outstanding bonds of the said Everglades Drainage District; that under the provisions of Section 24 of the Act provision is made that the State Treasurer as custodian of the funds belonging to the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District, out of the proceeds of the taxes levied and imposed by the Act, and out of any other/ moneys in his possession belonging to the Board of drainage district, so far as necessary to set apart and appropriate for the purpose, to apply such moneys to pay the interest on the bonds as the same fell due, and at the maturity of said bonds to pay the principal thereof out of said money, “and that there shall be and there is hereby created a sinking fund for the payment of the principal of said bonds, and the said Board shall set apart and pay into said sinking fund annually out of the taxes imposed and levied by this Act and other revenue funds of the said district, at least two per cent, of the amount of the bonds outstanding. The sinking fund for the payment of the principal of said bonds shall not be appropriated to any other purpose than that herein specified”; that no bonds were issued by the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District under the provisions of Section 19 of the Act until after an amendment thereof by Section 10 of Chapter 6954, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1915, which provided that the amount of bonds issued and outstanding under the Act should not at any time exceed $3,500,000.00 principal, with the- added provision that nothing contained in such amended Section 19, should be a limitation upon the right of the Legislature to authorize Additional bonds of said Board -payable from drainage tax within the district, if at the time of such authorization by the Legislature, additional tax was provided sufficient for the payment of the interest and retirement of the principal of such additional bonds.

Reference is made to the said Chapter 6456, and to the Act as modified with all prior amendments, as found in Section 1160 to 1188, inclusive, of the Revised General Statutes of Florida, and asked to be considered as fully as if incorporated in the alternative writ of mandamus as amended. That Section 19 of Chapter 6456 was amended by Chapter 7862, Acts of 1919, as amended by Chapter-6957, Acts of 1915, and by Chapter 8413, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1921, providing in each instance authority for issuance of additional bonds; that said Section 19, Chapter 6456, as amended, was codified as Section-1178 of Revised General Statutes of Florida, and was amended by Chapter 9119, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1923, so as to authorize the Board of Commissioners to issue and have outstanding bonds to an amount of not exceeding $11,500,000.00, being $3,500,000.00 over and above the amount of bonds authorized under the provisions of Chapter 8413, Acts of 1923.

That Section 20 of Chapter 6456, Acts of 1913, providing for the denomination of bonds, the rate of interest, and the place of payment, as amended by Chapter 7305, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1917, was codified as Section 1179 of the Revised Statutes of Florida, which was amended by Section 1 of Chapter 10027, Laws of Florida, 1925, the same including a provision authorizing the Board of Commissioners, if for any reason they deemed it advisable, “to refund any of the bonds issued under the provisions of this Article or the interest thereon,” to borrow money and issue coupon bonds of said' Everglades Drainage District, in an amount sufficient to meet such bond and coupon indebtedness. The said refunding bonds to be issued in such denominations, bear interest rate, and mature at such time, not exceeding thirty years from the date of issue, as said board might determine, and in all other respects such bonds shall in the manner of issuance and sale be subject to the provisions of this Article.” And with further provision that, “All refunding bonds issued under authority hereof shall constitute an obligation of equal dignity with any and all other bonds heretofore, or that may hereafter be, issued against and by said district.”

That under the provisions of Chapter 6456, Acts of 1913, with the amendments and the codification thereof, as Section 1178, Revised General Statutes, and subsequent amendments thereof, there are issued and outstanding bonds aggregating $9,919,000.00, and that each of said bonds so issued and outstanding is payable to bearer and each sold to bona fide purchasers for value; that each of the refunding bonds was in the denomination of one thousand dollars, and bore interest at the rate of five per cent, per annum, payable semi-annually, and that each refunding bond recited that it was issued for the purpose of refunding certain valid existing and outstanding indebtedness of the said district, under and pursuant to and in full compliance with the Constitution of the State of Florida and statutes of the State, including among others Chapter 10027, Acts of 1925, and in pursuance of resolutions and proceedings of the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District, duly had and adopted.

That each issue of the bonds now outstanding, including the issue of refunding bonds on July 1, 1925, was made pursuant to a resolution, including a provision in language as follows, to-wit:

“Be It Resolved, That there shall be and is hereby created a sinking fund for the payment of the principal of the said bonds, and the Board does hereby set apart and direct to be paid into such sinking fund annually, out of the taxes levied and imposed in said district, and the other revenues and funds of this district, not less than two per cent, of the-amount of bonds outstanding, and in and for each of the years during which said bonds shall mature there shall in addition be paid into the sinking fund, in time to reasonably pay the principal of said bonds after they mature, the amount of bonds maturing in such year. The said sinking fund for the payment of the principal of said bonds, shall not be appropriated for any other purpose than that herein specified.”

That said sinking fund has not been maintained, and that $1,056,715.00 of interest is in default and unpaid, and that $501,000.00 of principal is in default and unpaid, and that in addition thereto $50,000.00 of principal and $253,737.50 of interest will be due January 1, 1933, and $249,000.00 of principal, and $252,547.50 of interest; will be due July 1, 1933.

That there is not in the hands of the State Treasurer sufficient moneys, including moneys in the sinking fund, to pay the amount of a judgment recovered on March 28, 1932, in the District Court of the United, Northern District of Florida, against said district, by H. C. Rorick and others for the sum of $184,349.00.

That by Chapter 10026, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1925, Section 1178, Revised General Statutes, was further amended, so as to authorize said Board and district to have outstanding at any time bonds not to exceed the sum of $14,250,000.00; that no additional bonds were issued under such authorization, but refunding bonds were issued and are outstanding, under the provisions of Chapter 10027, Acts of 1925, amending Section 1179, Revised General Statutes, which was a codification of Section 20, of Chapter 6456, Acts of 1913, as amended; that all the outstanding bonds, including the refunding bonds, were issued under the authority of, and entitled to the full protection of said Chapter 6456 of the Acts of 1915, and its amendments.

That by Section 5 of Chapter 6456, Acts of 1915, as from time to time amended, and subsequently codified as in Section 1164 of Revised General Statutes of Florida, and as amended from time to time, certain acreage taxes were levied on the lands in the district, which by Section 24 of said Chapter 6456, now codified as Section 1183, Revised General Statutes, were appropriated to the payment of interest on the said bonds, and the principal of bonds at the maturity thereof, requiring the State Treasurer as the custodian of the money to apply the same to the payment of such interest and principal.

That refunding bonds were issued, under the authority of Chapter 10027, Acts of 1925, and are outstanding, some of which each of the relators is a holder for value, and which are, .by the provisions of the law, made of equal dignity with all. other bonds-issued by the district.

The alternative writ as amended sets forth in detail a comparison of the acreage tax rate fixed by Chapter 9119, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1923, and the tax rate authorized by Chapter 10026, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1913, showing a substantial increase under the provisions of the latter Act. It then proceeds to further allege, that by reason of the fact that the outstanding refunding bonds dated July 1, 1925, and issued under the provisions of Chapter 10027, Acts of 1923, were of equal dignity with all other bonds of Everglades Drainage District, and by reason of the fact that at the time of the issuance of said refunding bond on July 1, 1925, the rate of acreage taxes from which the same were entitled to be paid, was defined in Chapter 10026, Acts of 1925, and that the holders of such outstanding refunding bonds and' of the other outstanding bonds of the district were and are entitled to the levy and assessment of the taxes against the lands in said drainage district, as defined in said Chapter 10026.

That notwithstanding the provisions of Section 1167 of Revised General Statutes, the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District have not for the year 1932 prepared for any of the counties lying in whole or in part in said district, a list of the lands lying in such county and embraced in such district, designating upon such list or lists the amount of acreage tax assessed and levied, by Chapter 10026, or any other Act, against the various parcels of land in said district, nor have they prepared a list, and published notice as required by said law, nor have they certified and forwarded such list to the tax assessors of the several counties, that by reason of such.default by the Board of Commissioners, the tax assessors of the several counties have not entered upon the tax rolls of their respective counties for the year 1932, any list of the lands of said district with the taxes levied and assessed against the same, at the rates specified in said Chapter 10026 or any other Act, and that therefore no acreage taxes will be assessed against the lands of the district for the year 1932, as required under the provisions of the law, unless the said Board of Commissioners are required and compelled by mandamus to prepare the lists of land as required by Section 1167 of the Revised General Statutes of Florida, and perform the other duties therein required; and the tax assessors required to enter the same upon the tax rolls of the respective counties as required by 1168, Revised General Statutes of Florida.

That by Chapter 13633, Acts of 1929, the personnel of the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District was increased by the addition of five persons to be appointed by the Governor, who should be land owners within the district, and that by Chapter 14714, Acts of 1931, the personnel of the Board was further changed so as to have it composed only of five persons, land owners in the district, to be appointed by the Governor. The writ also setting forth the names of the respondents herein, as the appointees to said Board by the Governor.

That said Chapter 13633, Acts of 1929, undertook to levy, in lieu of all other acreage taxes or assessments on the lands of said district, certain acreage taxes for 1929 and subsequent years, at rates defined in Section 6 of the Act, which provided there should be deducted from the amount of such taxes provided for on each acre of land within the district for each year, an amount equal to the sum levied for such year upon such land, as an acreage tax under Chapter 13711, Acts of 1929, providing for the creation of Okeechobee Flood Control District; that in addition thereto, it was provided that the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District should have the right^ to reduce the taxes levied in each zone of the district, defined in the Act, to the extent of not more than twenty-five per cent.; that such acreage taxes provided for in Chapter 13633 were less than the acreage taxes provided for in either of Chapter 9119, Acts of 1923, or Chapter 10026, Acts of 1925, and that said Chapter 13633, Acts of 1929, as to the rate of acreage tax therein specified, is unconstitutional and void as to each and every of the holders of the outstanding bonds of Everglades Drainage District, both refunding and original, because it impairs the obligation of the contract of such bond in violation of the Constitution of the United States, by undertaking to reduce the rate of taxation fixed and in force at the time of the issuance of such outstanding bonds both refunding and original.

That by the provisions of Chapter 14717, Acts of 1931, the Legislature of Florida, undertook to levy a Debt Service Tax as defined in Section 7 of the Act, for the purpose of enabling the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District to pay the principal and interest of all outstanding obligations of the district, the said Debt Service Tax being less than the amount of acreage taxes provided for by Chapter 10026, Acts of 1925, in force when the outstanding refunding bonds were issued. That said Chapter 14717, Acts of 1931, in respect to the amount of acreage tax is void and of no effect against the holders of outstanding bonds of the district issued prior to the enactment, because it impairs the obligations of the contract of said bondholders, in violation of the Constitution of the United States.

That no payments have been made upon either principal or interest of the outstanding bonds of the district since July 1, 1930; that all interest on said bonds accruing since that date is past due and in default, and that the State Treasurer has not in his hands funds sufficient to pay the same, nor are the funds in the sinking funds of the district sufficient to pay past due principal and interest of said district bonds.

That the only means of payment of the bonds of said district is the taxes levied under Chapter 6456, Acts of 1913, and its amendments, and the appropriations made by the provisions of Section 1183, Revised General Statutes, being Section 24 of said Chapter 6456, Acts of 1913. That unless the assessment of acreage taxes for the year 1932 is made, as required by law, so that the same may be collected by the tax collectors of the various counties lying in whole or in part in the district, the holders of the outstanding bonds of the district will be deprived of the payment of the interest on, and the principal of, said bonds as they mature.

That the petitioner, J. H. Sherrill, is the holder in due course for value, of seventeen of the refunding bonds issued by said district of the aggregate par value of $17,000.00 bearing interest at five per cent, per annum payable semiannually ás evidenced by coupons attached, fifteen of said bonds maturing July 1, 1949, and two maturing July 1, 1951, and that he is also holder of interest coupons on said bonds, due January 1, 1932, and July 1, 1932.

That the petitioner, D. A. Vann, is the holder in due course for value of eight of the refunding bonds of the said district, each for the sum of One Thousand Dollars, due and payable July 1, 1949, and bearing interest at the rate of five per cent, per annum payable semi-annually, evidenced by coupons attached, and that he is the holder of past due interest coupons on each of said bands.

That the listing of the lands by the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District, and the forwarding thereof to the tax assessors of the several counties as required by 1167 of Revised General Statutes, and the extension of such lists on the tax rolls of such counties by the tax assessors thereof, as required by Section 1168, for the year 1932, is essential to the collection of the acreage tax for such year, to which petitioners and other bond holders have the right to look for the payment of their bonds and coupons.

The questions raised by the motion to quash may be summarized as follows:

That Chapter 14717, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1931, defines the duty of the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District as to the assessing of acreage tax, and it is not shown in the alternative writ, that the statute is void.

That it affirmatively appears from the alternative writ that the relators are not entitled to have taxes assessed at the rate fixed by Chapter 10026, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1925.

That upon the face of the alternative writ, the relators are not entitled to have the command of the writ enforced as a whole, that the command of the writ exceeds the legal duty of respondents.

That it affirmatively appears from the allegations of the alternative writ, that the increased tax rate provided by Chapter 10026, over that provided for in Chapter 9119, Acts of 1923, was to provide for payment of additional bonds, authorized by Chapter 10026, and that no additional bonds have been issued under the Act.

That bonds issued under Chapter 10027, were renewals ■of existing bonds, and not “additional bonds,”' within the meaning of Section 10, Chapter 6957, Acts of 1915, and no increase of tax rate was authorized by the refunding Act, Chapter 10027, Acts of 1925, which became a law June 4, 1925, seven days before Chapter 10026 became a law.

That there being no additional bonds issued, there was no consideration for the increase in tax rate provided for in Chapter 10026, Acts of 1925, and that the maintenance of such increased rate did not become a part of the bond contract.

That there is no allegation in the alternative writ that the total assessments levied under Chapter 14717, Acts of 1931, are less than the total assessment authorized in either Chapter 9119, Acts of 1923, or Chapter 10026, Acts of 1925.

That the allegations of the alternative writ, that the total faxes levied under provision of Chapter 13633, Laws of Florida, 1929, is less than taxes levied under Chapter 9119, Acts of 1923, is not borne out by a computation of the total levied under the respective Acts.

That the provisions of Section 1167 and 1168, Revised General Statutes, are not now the law of Florida, the same having been repealed, by Chapter 14717, Acts of 1931.

That it appears from the allegations of the alternative writ, that there has been unreasonable delay on the part of relators in applying for relief, and that the issuance of a peremptory writ of mandamus would cause confusion and disorder.

It will be seen from the foregoing summary of the allegations of the alternative writ of mandamus as amended, and the grounds of the motion to quash the same, that the proposition raised, involve the consideration of the statutes establishing, and providing for the government, control and maintenance of Everglades Drainage District, originating with Chapter 6456, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1913, and amended by Chapter 6957, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1915, Chapter 7305, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1917, and Chapter 7863, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1919, all of which are codified in Revised General Statutes of Florida, under Title VII, Article IV, and found in Sections 1160 to 1188, inclusive. (Compiled General Laws, Sections 1530 to 1543, and Sections 1545, 1546, 1547, 1552, 1553, 1554, 1555, 1556, 1557, 1560, 1561, 1562, 1563, 1564 and 1565.) There is also involved a consideration of Chapter 8413, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1921, Chapter 9119, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1923, Chapters 10026 and 10027, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1925, Chapter 13633, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1929, and Chapter 14717, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1931.

In previous decisions of the Court we have held, that where a motion is made to quash an alternative writ of mandamus, all the allegations of such alternative writ, sufficiently pleaded, are admitted to the true. State v. Jacksonville Terminal Co., 71 Fla. 295, 71 So. 474; State v. Florida East Coast Railroad Co., 71 Fla. 433, 71 So. 543. In our consideration of the motion to quash the alternative writ in the instant case, we therefore, for the purpose of considering the motion, consider that all' the allegations of the alternative writ as amended, which are properly and sufficiently pleaded, are true. As we view the grounds of the motion to quash there is no question raised as to any defect in the alternative writ, as a pleading, but it questions the sufficiency of the facts alleged, to warrant the relief asked for.

Inasmuch as Mr. Justice Whitfield in a carefully prepared statement in the opinion prepared by him, in the case of Martin v. Dade Muck Land Company, 95 Fla. 530, 116 So. 449, has given a full and instructive history of the statutes above referred to, up to the time the opinion was written, and inasmuch as another complete history of all the enactments herein above referred to has been recently given in the able opinion prepared by Federal Judge Strum, former Chief Justice of this Court, in the case of Rorick v. Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District, 57 Fed. 2d., 1048, we deem it unnecessary in our discussion of the instant case to review these statufes, except insofar as we may be required to quote such portions as are pertinent to the questions raised herein.

The two principal questions involved in this case are, First: Have the Relators as holders of negotiable coupon refunding bonds, of Everglades Drainage District issued under the provisions of Chapter 10027, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1925, the right by mandamus to compel, the present Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District, to prepare tax lists for the year 1932, of the lands subject to drainage tax in said district, and send down such lists to the tax assessors of the counties affected, and to require the tax assessors to enter such lists upon the tax assessment rolls of. their respective counties, in accordance with the provisions of Sections 1167 and 1168, Revised General Statutes of Florida, Compiled General Laws, 1927, Sections 1537 and 1538? The Revised General Statutes of Florida, 1920, is the last revision of the General Statutes of the State to be enacted as a whole by the Legislature.

The second question involved is: What is the acreage tax rate applicable in a mandamus proceeding by the holders of negotiable coupon refunding bonds, issued by virtue of Chapter 10027, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1925?

Chapter 6456, Acts of 1913, established the Everglades Drainage District and provided for. a Board of Commissioners for said district and for the levy of taxes and for drainage operations for the reclamation of the lands in the district.

Under the provisions of Section 5, Chapter 6456, now, with certain amendments hereinbefore referred to, codified as Section 1164, Article IV, Revised General Statutes of Florida, Section 1534, Compiled General Laws, 1927, an acreage tax was levied and imposed, for the purpose of “constructing, completing and maintaining the work of drainage and reclamation,” etc., authorized by the Act. In Section 6 of Chapter 6456, now codified as Section 1165, Revised General Statutes of Florida, Section 1535, C. G. L., it is provided among other things that “the proceeds arising from the acreage tax levied by this Article shall be used by the said Board in the construction and maintenance of canals, the purchase of land and personal property and to repay loans, and the interest thereon, and to the creation of a sinking fund for the retirement of the principal of the bonds that the Board may issue under the provisions of this Article and to the payment of interest thereon.” (Italics supplied.)

Section 19 of Chapter 6456, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1913, which as amended by Section 10, Chapter 6957, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1915, and Section 3 of Chapter 7862, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1919, is now Section 1178, Revised General Statutes of Florida, provides among other things as follows:

“The Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District, is hereby authorized and empowered to borrow money on permanent loans, and incur obligations from time to time * * * for the purpose of raising funds to continue and prosecute to final completion, the canals * * * and all other expenses necessary or needful to be incúrred in carrying out the purposes of this Article, and the better to enable said Board to borrow the money necessary to carry out the purposes aforesaid, the said Board is hereby authorized and empowered to issue in the corporate name of said Board negotiable coupon bonds of said Everglades Drainage District!’ (Italics supplied.)

According to the allegations of the alternative writ of mandamus as amended, the Board of Commissioners, under the authority given in Section 1178, Revised General Statutes, supra, had issued and there were outstanding, up to and including January 1, 1925, negotiable coupon bonds aggregating several million dollars. On June 4, 1925, Chapter 10027, Laws of Florida, became a law. It was passed to amend Section 1179, Revised General Statutes of Florida. Under the provisions of Chapter 10027, Laws of Florida, the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District, were authorized, in the event they should, “for any reason deem it advisable for the best interests of the District to refund any of the Bonds issued under the provisions of this Article, or the interest thereon to borrow money, and issue in the name of said Board, notes or negotiable coupon bonds of said Everglades Drainage District, in an amount sufficient to meet such bonds and coupon indebtedness.” (Italics supplied.)

It is further provided in Chapter 10027, Laws of Florida, supra, that all refunding bonds issued under its provisions shall constitute an obligation of equal dignity with any and all other bonds theretofore issued or that might thereafter be issued against the district.

' According to the admitted allegations of the alternative writ of mandamus' as atnended, the relators herein are holders for value of negotiable coupon refunding bonds, authorized by, and issued under, the provisions of Chapter 10027, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1925, supra; and such bonds are, by virtue of this law, of equal dignity with any bonds issued by the Board of Commissioners either prior, or subsequent to the enactment.

What are some of the contract rights of the holders of negotiable coupon bonds of Everglades Drainage District?

Section 23 of Chapter 6456, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1913, which is now codified under Article IV, Title VII, “Everglades Drainage District” as Section 1182, Revised General Statutes of Florida, provides as follows:

“This Article shall without reference to any other Act of the Legislature of Florida be full authority^for the issuance and sale of the bonds in this Article authorized, which bonds shall have all the qualities of negotiable paper under the law merchant, and shall not be.invalid for any irregularity or defect in the proceedings for the issue and sale thereof, and shall be incontestible in the hands of bona fide purchasers or holders thereof for value. No proceedings in respect to the issuance of any such bonds shall be necessary, except such as are required by this Article.”

“The provisions of this Article shall constitute an irrepealable contract between the said Board of said Everglades Drainage District■ and the holders of any bonds and the coupons thereof issued pursuant to the provisions hereof. Any holder of any of said bonds or coupons may either at law or in equity by suit action or mandamus, enforce and compel the performance of the duties required by this Article of any of the officers or persons mentioned in this Article in relation to the said bonds, or the collection, enforcement and application of taxes for the payment thereof.” (Italics supplied.)

Section 1179, Revised General Statutes of Florida, is a codification of Section 20, Chapter 6456, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1913, supra, as amended by Section 6, Chapter 7305, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1917. It is found under Article IV, Title VII, of the Revised General Statutes.

When the term “this Article” is used in the several sections of the Revised General Statutes and the subsequent amendments thereto, it has reference to Article IV of Title VII of said Revised General Statutes, above mentioned, under which all the laws concerning Everglades Drainage District are codified.

In the enactment of the statutes providing for the Everglades Drainage District (Chapter 6456, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1913, supra) it was the legislative intent that its several provisions form and each become a part of one general scheme, or program for the drainage and reclamation of the lands embraced in the district.

It will be noted in the original Act, viz., Chapter 6456, Laws of Florida, supra, that in Section 6 thereof the words, “this Act,” are used in referring to the acreage tax authorized in Section 5. In Sections 8 and 9, the words “this Act” are used in referring to the listing of the lands for acreage tax, and the assessment thereof by the tax assessors. In Sections 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, we find the same term, “this Act,” used, thus indicating the intention that the entire law was one general plan for the drainage of the district.

When the Revised General Statutes were written and adopted, the same purpose and intent is manifest in the codification therein of all these sections of Chapter 6456, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1913, and the amendments thereto under Title VII, Article IV. Each section of the Revised General Statutes as codified under this Article and Title, substituting the words “this Article” for the words “this Act’,’ found in the original law. It will be noted further ■that in each of the'Acts of the Legislature amending certain sections of Revised General Statutes pertaining to Everglades Drainage District, the lawmakers use the term "this Article ” still carrying out the idea that such amendments should be a part of the general scheme or program provided for in the original Act.

When, therefore, in Chapter 10027, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1925, supra, amending Section 1179, Revised General Statutes, supra, it is provided that “in the event the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District, shall for any reason deem it advisable and for the best interest of the district to refund any of the bonds issued under the provisions of ‘this Article’ or' interest thereon, said Board of Commissioners may borrow money and issue in the corporate name of the said Board, notes or negotiable coupon bonds, etc., and when in the same Act it further provides, “Said refunding bonds shall be issued in such denominations, bear such interest, rate, and mature at such time or times, as said Board may determine, and in all other respects said bonds shall in the manner or issuance and sale be subject to the provisions of ‘this Article,’ ” it necessarily gives such refunding bonds the same standing as the bonds issued under any of the provisions of the law found in the sections of the Revised Statutes codified under Article IV, Title VII.

The holders of refunding bonds issued under the authority of Chapter 10027, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1925, had therefore, the irrepealable contract provided for in-Section 1182, Revised General Statutes of Florida, and the right, as such bondholder, to “either at law or equity by suit action or mandamus to enforce and compel the performance of the duties required by this Article of any of the officers or persons mentioned in this Article in relation to the said bonds or to the collection, enforcement and application of the taxes for payment thereof!’ (Italics supplied.)

Under the admitted allegations of the alternative writ of mandamus as amended, the relators are as we have already observed holders for value of negotiable coupon refunding bonds, authorized by and issued under the provisions of, Chapter 10027, Laws of Florida, supra. Such bonds being, under this law, of equal dignity with any and all other bonds of the district, issued prior or subsequent to the enactment, the relators therefore have, under the provisions of Section 1182, Revised General Statutes, the right by mandamus to enforce and compel the officers of Everglades Drainage District, to perform their duties, in relation to such bonds, and the collection, enforcement and application of the drainage taxes as required in said section.

Section 1167, Revised General Statutes of Florida, Sec^ tion 1537, Compiled General Laws, requires the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District to perform the ministerial duty of preparing the lists of lands subject to drainage tax in each county embraced in the district, with the amount of tax on each parcel, and forward to the tax assessors, before the drainage acreage tax can be entered on the tax rolls of the respective counties. The tax assessors are not authorized to enter such drainage acreage tax on the tax rolls, and the tax collectors cannot collect the same, unless and until the Board of Commissioners prepare and forward to the assessors the lists of land with the amount of the tax fixed by the law.

The admitted allegations of the alternative writ of mandamus as amended, show that the respondents, members of the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District, entirely failed to perform their duty in preparing the lists of lands, and levying the rate of acreage tax for the year 1932, as required by Section 1167, supra. Necessarily the respondents, tax assessors, have been unable to function as required in Section 1168, Revised General Statutes, Section 1538, Compiled General Laws.

The relators, as holders of negotiable refunding bonds issued on July 1, 1925, have the right under Section 1182, Revised General Statutes, by writ of mandamus, to compel the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District and the tax assessors of the district to function for the year 1932, as required in Section 1167 and 1168, Reivsed General Statutes.

Furthermore, the provisions of the several statutes and the amendments thereto regarding the issuance of the Everglades Drainage District bonds, and the levying, assessing and collection of the acreage tax for drainage, and also for the application of the proceeds thereof to the payment of interest and the creation of a sinking fund for the payment of principal when due, in effect at the time of the issuance of the refunding bonds held by relators, became a part of the contract between the Board and such refunding bondholders.

The general rule is, that included within the obligation of such a contract, is the power of taxation, the rate of taxation, the rate of taxation if such is prescribed, and the remedies generally existing for the enforcement of such tax at the time the contract was entered into. U. S. ex rel. Von Hoffman v. Quincy, 4 Wall, 535, 18 S. Ed. 403; Galena v. Amy, 5 Wall. 705, 18 L. Ed. 560; Mobile v. Watson, 116 U. S. 289, 29 L. Ed. 620; State v. Lehman, 100 Fla. 1313, 131 So. 533; Meyer v. Brown (Cal.) 26 Pac. 281; Rorick v. Board of Commissioners Everglades Drainage District, 57 Fed. 25, 1048, 6 R. C. L., page 325.

In the case last cited Federal Judge Strum, in the opinion ■.of the Three-Judge Federal Court, under Section 266 of the Judicial Code, Section 380, Title 28 U. S. C. A., says:

“Statutes under which drainage district bonds were issued, and acreage tax levied to pay them, constituted a contract, which could not be impaired by withdrawing tax legislation or diverting the proceeds for other purposes.”

We shall next take up for consideration the second question involved in the adjudication of this case, that is: What is the acreage tax rate applicable in this mandamus proceeding by the relators as holders of negotiable coupon, refunding bonds issued by virtue of Chapter 10027, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1925 ?

A reading of the statute (Section 1164, Revised General Statutes, supra) and the several amendments thereto, providing for the levy of an acreage tax on the lands embraced in Everglades Drainage District, reveals that from time to time the rate of such tax has been changed by the Legislature. From the creation of the district, the rate per acre of drainage tax has been fixed by the Legislature. There is no limitation upon the power of the law makers to fix and determine the amount , of such tax. -

When Everglades Drainage District was established, under the provisions of Chapter' 6456, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1913, supra, the amount of drainage tax per acre on the lands within the district was fixed by the provisions of Section 5 of the Act, and the amount of such tax on each parcel of land was doubtless fixed as nearly as possible in proportion to the benefits received by such parcel from the drainage project. At each biennial session of the Legislature, subsequent to the passage of the Everglades Drainage District Act, in 1913, up'to and including the session of 1925, the Legislature, by amendments to Section 5 of Chapter 6456, Laws of Florida, codified as Section 1164, Revised General Statutes, supra, changed the rate of acreage tax. It also appears that at each of the biennial sessions above referred to, the Legislature passed Acts amending Section 19 of Chapter 6456, Laws of Florida, codified as Section 1178, Revised General Statutes of Florida, supra, providing for the issuance of additional bonds of the district.

At the regular biennial session of 1925, the Legislature passed Chapter 10026, Laws of Florida, amending Section 1164, Revised General Statutes, as amended by Chapter 8413, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1921, and as amended by Chapter 9119, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1923, so as to fix a higher rate of drainage tax per acre, than had been previously provided. This same Act (Chapter 10026) also amended Section 1178, Revised General Statutes of Florida, so as to authorize the district to issue and have outstanding $3,000,000.00 of additional bonds.

As we have already observed in this opinion, Chapter 10027, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1925, supra, amending Section 1179, Revised General Statutes, supra, provided for the issuance of negotiable coupon refunding bonds, some of which, according to the admitted allegations of the alternative writ of mandamus as amended, are owned and held by the relators. Chapters 10026 and 10027, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1925, were both passed at the same session of the Legislature, and inasmuch as both have reference to the same general subject, and undertake to amend different sections of the Revised General Statutes, codified under the same Title and Article, they must be construed in the light of each other. It appears that Chapter 10027, Laws of Florida, authorizing the issuance of refunding bonds, and providing for the status of such bonds when issued, became a law on June 4, 1925. This was seven days prior to the date that Chapter 10026 became a law.

There is found no special provision in Chapter 10027 for a tax to pay the' interest or retire the principal of the re-i funding bonds, that might be issued under the authority of this law. When we construe these two enactments, Chapters 10027 and 10026, passed at the same session of the Legislature, and relating to the same general subject, in the light of each other, it is evident that it was the legislative intent that the payment of the interest and the retirement of the principal of refunding bonds, issued under Chapter 10027, would be provided for with the tax authorized in the concurrent enactment, viz.: Chapter 10026, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1925.

According to the admitted allegations of the alternative writ of mandamus as amended, the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District, on July 1, 1925, under the authority given in Chapter 10027, Laws of Florida, supra, issued and sold negotiable coupon refunding bonds of the district, and that certain of these refunding bonds are owned and held by the relators; that the interest of these bonds has not been paid; that there is $1,056,715.00 of interest in default and unpaid on all the bonds of the district and that $501,000.00 of principal on all bonds is in default and unpaid, and that no provision for sinking fund as required by Section 1183, .Revised General Statutes of Florida, Section 1560, Compiled General Laws, is being made. From further admitted allegations of the alternaive writ of mandamus as amended, it is shown that other bonds of the district are outstanding, with maturity dates approaching, and that one judgment has already been recovered against the Board of Commissioners for a substantial sum, which remains unpaid.

Under such circumstances as these, we have already determined herein, that the relators as holders of negotiable coupon refunding bonds have vested contract rights to have the tax provided by law, at the time their bonds were issued, assessed, collected and disbursed, as the law requires.

The question most seriously controverted before us, is the acreage tax which under the law is applicable, in the enforcement of the relators’ contract rights, as holders of refunding bonds of the district issued July 1, 1925.

The respondents contend, in the first place, that Chapter 14717, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1931, is the law of Florida, applicable to the levy of acreage tax for Everglades Drainage District, and that such tax is the rate applicable under the relators’ contract with the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District.

We consider this contention untenable, for the following reasons. Chapter 14717, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1931, was enacted long after the issuance and the sale of the bonds held by the relators. If the provisions of this subsequent Act of the Legislature in any way lessens, retards or diminishes the means of paying the interest and principal of the bonds existing at the time they were issued, then such provisions of such subsequent Act cannot control, because it would impair the obligation of the contract between Everglades Drainage District and the relators as holders of the refunding bonds in violation of Section 10, Article I, Federal Coristitution.

Let us look at some of the provisions of Chapter 14717, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1931, supra. It undertakes to rezone the lands embraced in Everglades Drainage District, and to provide for the grouping of certain areas, to be fixed by the Board of Commissioners, into units designated as “Maintenance Units.”

Sections 7 and 8 of the Act require a division of the acreage tax fixed by the same Act,- into a “Debt Service Tax” and an “Administration Tax,” the total of which is much less than the acreage tax authorized in either Chapter 10026, Acts of 1925, or Chapter 9119, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1923. The “Debt Service Tax” is made applicable for the payment of the principal of, and interest on, all obligations of Everglades Drainage District, incurred prior to that date and then outstanding, whether they are obligations for outstanding bonds or otherwise. It is also provided that the “Administration Tax” shall be used solely for the payment of costs of administration, for which purpose there is also provided an annual ad valorem tax of one mill on each dollar of valuation for State and county taxation. Under this Act of 1931 provision is also made for a “Maintenance Tax” to be fixed by the Board of Commissioners not to exceed fifty cents per acre, on all lands embraced in such “Maintenance Units” as may be created under the law. This “Maintenance Tax” is to be used only “for the purpose of maintaining and operating the works of the District,” beneficial to the “Maintenance Unit” affected.

When the negotiable coupon refunding bonds now held by the relators were issued on July 1, 1925, Chapter 10026, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1925, supra, fixing the amount of the acreage tax to be annually assessed, was in effect. Section 1183, Revised General Statutes of Florida, was also in effect, its provisions being as follows:

“It shall be the duty of the State Treasurer, or his successors in office, as custodian of the funds belonging to s.aid Board of Commissioners and the said Drainage District, out of the taxes levied and imposed by this Article, and out of any other moneys in his possession belonging to the said Board or to the said Drainage District, which moneys so far as necessary are hereby set apart and appropriated for the purpose, to apply said moneys and- to pay the interest on said bonds, as the same shall fall due and at maturity of said bonds out of said moneys to pay the principal thereof, and there shall be and there is hereby created a sinking fund for the payment of the principal of said bonds, and the said Board shall set apart and pay into such sinking fund, an nually out of the taxes levied and imposed by this Article, and other revenue and funds of said district at least two per cent, of the amount of bonds outstanding. The said sinking fund for the payment of the principal of said bonds shall not be appropriated for other purpose than that herein specified.” (Italics supplied.)

The above quoted provisions of Section 1183, as also the acreage tax provided for on July 1, 1925, entered into and, under the provisions of Section 1182, Revised General Statutes, became a part of the “irrepealable contract” between the Board of Commissioners, and Everglades Drainage District, with the relators as holders of the refunding bonds and coupons thereof issued by virtue of Chapter 10027, supra, on July 1, 1925.

It is further alleged in the alternative writ of mandamus as amended, that each issue of the outstanding bonds, inr eluding the refunding bonds issued July 1, 1925, was made pursuant to resolutions of the Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District, in each bond referred to, and such resolutions as to each issue included the following paragraph:

“Be It Resolved, That there shall be and is hereby created a sinking fund for the payment of the principal of the said bonds, and the Board does hereby set apart and direct to be paid into such sinking fund annually, out of the taxes levied and imposed in said district and such other revenues and funds of said district, not less than two per cent, of the amount of bonds outstanding, and in and for each of the years during which said bonds shall mature there shall in addition be paid into the sinking fund, in time to reasonably pay the principal of said bonds after they mature, the amount of bonds maturing each year. The sinking fund for the payment of the principal of the said bonds shall not he appropriated to any other purpose than that herein specified.”

We see, therefore, that not only is the “irrepealable contract” provided in Section 1182, Revised General Statutes of Florida, a part of the relators’ contract as bondholders, but this statute in substance has also, by resolution of the Board of Commissioners containing the above quoted language, been made a part of such contract.

In our discussion of the provisions of Chapter 14717, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1931, we have already observed that the acreage tax levied under such provisions is less than that fixed in Chapter 10026, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1925, and furthermore that the division and appropriation of such drainage tax, made in Chapter 14717, Laws of Florida, are contrary to the provisions made for the appropriation of such drainage tax money, for the retirement of bonds found in Sections 1165 and 1183, Revised General Statutes of Florida. We also call attention to the fact that the rate of certain of the acreage tax provided for in Chapter 14717, Acts of 1931, is left to the discretion of the Board of Commissioners.

Under Section 10, Article I, of the Constitution of the United States, no State can pass a law impairing the obligation of contracts.

“The obligation of a contract, in the constitutional sense, is the means provided by law by which it can be enforced— by which the parties can be obliged to perform it. Whatever legislation lessens the efficacy of these means impairs the obligation. If it tend to postpone or retard the enforcement of the contract, the obligation of the latter is to that extent weakened.” State of Louisiana ex rel. Morris v. City of New Orleans, 102 U. S. 203, text 207 (12 Otto) 26 Law Ed. 132, text 133. (Italics supplied.)

■ “Conformable to the well established' rule the laws which subsist át the time and place of making the contract, enter into 'and form a part of it, as if they were expressly referred to or incorporated in its terms, the obligation of a contract is measured by the standard of the laws in 'force at the time it was entered into, and its performance is to be regulated by _ the terms and rules they prescribe. There can be no other standard by which to ascertain the extent of the obligation than that which the terms of the contract indicate according to their settled legal meaning.” 6 R. C. L., pages 325, 326. (Italics supplied.)

“Laws requiring taxes to the requisite amount, to be collected to pay municipal bonds, which were in force when the bonds were issued cannot be annulled by subsequent legislation.” United States ex rel. Hoffman v. Quincy, supra.

“A subsequent Act restricting the power to tax, so far as it affects bonds is a nullity.” Ibid.

In the case of State ex rel. Hoffman v. Quincy, supra, Mr. Justice Swayne, in speaking for the Court, says on pages 408, 409, 18 Law Ed. (text) :

“It is also well settled that the laws which subsist at the time and place of the making of a contract, and where it is to be performed, enter into and form a part of it, as if they were expressly referred to or incorporated in its terms. The principle embraces alike those which affect its validity, construction, discharge and enforcement. * * * Nothing can be more material to the obligation than the means of enforcement. Without the remedy the contract may, indeed, in the sense of the law, be said not to exist, and its obligation to fall within the class of those moral and social duties which depend for their fulfillment wholly upon the will of the individual. The ideas of validity and remedy are inseparable, and both are parts of the obligation which is guaranteed by the Constitution against invasion. The obligation of a contract ‘is the law which binds the parties to perform the agreement.’ ” (Italics supplied.)

Authorities sustaining the proposition that subsequent Acts of the Legislature cannot annul, nor diminish, retard or lessen the efficacy of prior laws entering into and forming a part of the contracts’ with bondholders, might be quoted from indefinitely. The following are cited as some of the decisions sustaining the rule: Galena v. Amy, 5 Wall. 705, 18 L. Ed. 560; State ex rel. Wolfe v. New Orleans, 103 U. S. 358, 26 L. Ed. 395; State of Louisiana ex rel. Southern Bank v. Pilsbury, 105 U. S. 278, 26 L. Ed. 1090; Mobile v. Watson, 115 U. S. 289, 29 L. Ed. 620; County Court of Ralls County v. Douglas, 105 U. S. 753, 26 L. Ed. 1220; State ex rel. Gillespie, et al., v. Carlton, 103 Fla. 810, 138 South. Rep. 612, 619 (Text); Trustees of Internal Improvement Fund v. Baily, 10 Fla. 112, text 129, 131; Rorick v. Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District, 57 Fed. (2nd) 1048, supra. Humphries v. State, 108 Fla. 92, 145 So. 858; State ex rel. v. St. Petersburg, 106 Fla. 742, 144 So. 313.

In the Rorick case above cited Judge Bryan, Circuit Judge, and District Judges Shepard and Strum, sitting as a statutory three-judge court for the Northern District of Florida, had before them this identical question; that is, the effect of Chapter 14717, Laws of Florida, Acts of 1931, in providing an acreage tax applicable to the contract with bondholders of Everglades Drainage District, issued prior to its enactment. In the opinion of the three judges, written by Judge Strum, they say:

“Statute fixing new district acreage taxes and creating administration fund from proceeds, held, inoperative against holders of outstanding District bonds so far as reducing or diverting tax proceeds available for payment of bonds, interest and principal,” and again they say:

“Proceeds of administration fund, created by statute from proceeds of drainage district acreage taxes, cannot be pledged to repay money borrowed against anticipated revenues therein as authorized thereby to prejudice of bond interest and sinking fund requirements of previous Acts.”

We concur in the holding of the three Federal Judges, in the case of Rorick v. Board of Commissioners of Everglades Drainage District, th