2 Cities Challenge Prop. 62 Decision

The cities of Agoura Hills and Westlake Village have joined in a battle to prevent a California Supreme Court decision to uphold Proposition 62 from being applied retroactively to local taxes, officials said Thursday.

The proposition was approved in 1986 and requires voter approval of general and special taxes.

The city councils decided recently to join in a League of California Cities-coordinated amicus curiae brief that is expected to be filed this month in the 3rd District Court of Appeal in the case of Turner vs. County of Butte. The case concerns the retroactivity of the state Supreme Court’s Santa Clara County Local Transportation Authority vs. Guardino decision.

Turner addresses the question of whether Guardino applies to taxes established by cities before the decision last year and whether cities are obligated to refund the tax collected.

Agoura Hills City Atty. Greg Stepanicich said many cities have joined in the amicus brief because it has “great financial consequence for cities across the state.” Agoura Hills voters recently repealed the city’s utility users tax.

City officials in Westlake Village say they are awaiting this appellate court decision before they determine if they need to seek voter approval of a 4% increase in the city’s transient occupancy tax enacted in 1990.

Westlake Village Mayor Pro Tem Doug Yarrow said the council joined because it would like to see the issue of retroactivity clarified.

“It’s important for cities across the state that there is a resolution to this once and for all,” he said.

Calabasas Mayor Bob Hill said his city is sympathetic to what its sister cities are dealing with, but decided not to join in the brief because it has no taxes in question.

The decision of the Agoura Hills council comes at a time when some residents are calling for a complete refund of the money paid out over the two years the utility tax was on the books. Activist Barbara Murphy said she opposes spending city funds to direct the city attorney to join the brief.

Stepanicich said no city money is being spent to join, since it is just a matter of giving the city’s name to the League of California Cities.