In a Rare Pre-Election Review, California Supreme Court Strikes Ballot Measure that Would Revise Constitution to Limit Revenue-Raising Authority of State and Local Governments - On June 20, 2024, the California Supreme Court...more
On April 12, 2024, the United States Supreme Court delivered its highly-anticipated opinion in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, unanimously holding that fees imposed through legislative action as a condition of property...more
Bill Would Have Created a Statewide Water Rate Assistance Program Under Which Local Water Suppliers Would Have Provided Assistance to Eligible Customers -
SB 222, authored by Sen. Bill Dodd, was vetoed by California’s...more
Court Determined City Did Not Show Solid Waste Franchise Fees Were Not Taxes -
This week, the California Supreme Court held the City of Oakland failed to demonstrate that solid waste franchise fees included in the City’s...more
Court of Appeal Strikes Down Minimum 3:1 Ratio Statute for Failure to Comply with Proposition 26 and Provides Guidance on Standard of Review -
The California Court of Appeal has ruled that a statute requiring local...more
Padilla v. San Jose Decision Sheds Light on How Cities Can Obtain Health and Safety Code Protections for Water, Sewer, Stormwater and Solid Waste Fees -
A California Court of Appeal has determined that San Jose ratepayers...more
BB&K's New Law Guidance for a Happy New Year -
In Part Four of our “In With the New” series, BB&K covers important new legislation related to the Brown Act, voting rights, water and sewer rate challenges, and general local...more
SB 323 Signed Into Law and Effective Jan. 1 -
A challenge to new or increased California water or sewer rates must be brought within 120 days pursuant to Senate Bill 323, which was signed into law this week. SB 323 applies...more
For the Second Time This Year, California Appellate Court Upholds Voting Requirement -
Initiative power is the power of the electorate to propose new laws subject to approval by voters, including the right to impose taxes...more
Calif. Supreme Court Decision in Wilde v. City of Dunsmuir -
Local utility charges are not subject to referendum, according to a California Supreme Court decision issued Monday that held that water rates fall within the...more
A “No” Vote is Not Enough, California Appellate Court Holds -
When it comes to assessments for business improvement districts, voting “no” is not enough to exhaust one’s administrative remedies. For a property owner to...more
Court of Appeal Holds Only Simple Majority Needed to Impose Special Taxes by Initiative Power -
While the California Constitution prohibits local governments from imposing a special tax without two-thirds voter approval,...more
California Appellate Court Says Toll is a Fee to Use Government Property, Exempt from Tax Definition-
Tolls imposed for use of state-owned toll bridges are not taxes, and increases to the rates for those tolls are not...more
Franchise Fees Charged to Waste Hauler are Not a Tax if Reasonably Related to the Value of the Franchise -
Franchise fees that exceed the reasonable value of the franchise conveyed may be considered taxes, according to a...more
A ratepayer may challenge the method of allocating property-related fees without first participating in the public hearing for, and filing a written protest against, the adoption of such new or increased fees, the California...more
A special parcel tax is still “applied uniformly to all taxpayers” even though it may affect individual taxpayers differently, a California appellate court recently held....more
Local agencies that provide water service may impose fees to recover the costs of providing water services. Unlike taxes, which require voter approval prior to adoption, water fees are approved by a local agency’s legislative...more
A city’s annual budgetary transfer from its electric utility to its general fund, referred to as a payment in lieu of taxes and known as PILOT, is an electric utility cost and not an exaction subject to Proposition 26, the...more
Last week, the California Court of Appeal clarified what happens to a general tax measure when it is placed on the same ballot as a related advisory measure that asks how revenues from the general tax measure should be spent....more
8/20/2018
/ Ballot Measures ,
Dispensaries ,
General Tax ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Municipalities ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Revenue Procedures ,
State and Local Government ,
State Taxes ,
Tax Revenues
The Tax Fairness, Transparency and Accountability Act of 2018, a ballot initiative that would have amended portions of the California Constitution to further restrict state and local agencies from imposing new or increased...more
The City of Riverside’s transfer of electric utility service charge revenue to the City’s general fund for general purposes was upheld last week by a California Appellate Court. ...more
The power of the initiative is the power of the electorate to propose new laws subject to approval by voters. Filed yesterday, California Cannabis Coalition v. City of Upland et al. looks at the interplay between the...more
Cherrity Weatherford, who was a resident of the City of San Rafael in Marin County, rented (but did not own) property in the City. Although Weatherford’s vehicle was not impounded, she nonetheless took issue with the City’s...more
A ratepayer is not required to file a written protest or appear at a public hearing for the adoption of new or increased property-related fees prior to filing a legal challenge to those fees, a California Court of Appeal...more
Residents need not pay property taxes in their city or county to have standing to sue the entity for wasteful or illegal expenditures, the California Supreme Court said recently in an opinion that overturned lower court...more