Florida Supreme Court Reverses Part of Ruling on Crist's U.S. Sugar Deal

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court's decision to allow the South Florida Water Management District to use certificates of participation to purchase land from U.S. Sugar Corp., but the high court overturned part of the ruling that would have allowed the district to also finance land in the option with bonds.

Gov. Charlie Crist's land deal with U.S. Sugar was finalized last month in a whittled-down 26,800-acre cash version with $197 million in taxpayer dollars going to the company. The deal also included a 10-year option on the greater balance of the land. The high court ruled that the option lacks a public purpose (in this case, for Everglades restoration), therefore it cannot be financed with Certificates of Participation (COPs).

COPs are a type of bond that requires a stated public purpose.

From the ruling:

"Because no public purpose has been proven as to the land that is the subject of the option, no public purpose has been shown for the option either. Thus, we reverse that part of the circuit courts order validating $50 million in COPs related to the land option."

Look for the full story later in SSN.