Cable Firms’ Suit Against Assessor Is Dismissed : Litigation: A Superior Court judge rules that the companies had no cause to bring a suit until the assessment-appeals process is completed.

The Orange County tax assessor’s office won a round in its battle with 10 Orange County cable television companies Friday when a Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit against the county and Assessor Brad Jacobs.

The cable firms, outraged over a new method of valuing their property that has led to a doubling and tripling of their property taxes, alleged in the lawsuit that their civil rights were being violated by discriminatory tax treatment.

But the assessor countered that a clear appeals process existed for contesting property tax assessments and that a lawsuit could not be brought until after administrative remedies had been exhausted.

Superior Court Judge Gary Taylor, who was nominated by President Bush on Friday to become a federal district court judge, ruled that the cable companies had no cause to bring a lawsuit until the assessment appeals process had run its course.

A three-member assessment appeals panel late last month ruled in favor of Cablevision of Orange in the first of a series of similar cases brought by the cable firms. The assessor’s office is expected to appeal that board’s decision to the Superior Court, a common procedure in controversial assessment cases.

One of the companies contesting its tax assessments, Dimension Cable, is owned by Times Mirror Co., which also owns The Times.

Taylor’s ruling Friday allows the cable companies to refile an amended complaint within 90 days. A spokesman for the companies said no decision had yet been made on whether to do so.

The lawsuit, which named Jacobs personally as well as the county and the tax collector, alleged that Jacobs was discriminating against cable firms by applying a tax assessment method that is not used for other businesses, thereby violating their constitutional right to equal treatment.

The assessor says the new assessment method is necessary to determine a fair market value for cable operations and reflects the unique market position and use of public rights of way by cable companies.

Taylor ruled that until the outcome of the assessment appeal is known, the cable firms cannot make a bona fide allegation that there is a controversy that needs to be resolved by the courts.