Court Reinstates Suit That May End 6% Tax
The California Supreme Court on Monday reinstated a lawsuit challenging La Habra’s utility tax, a decision that ultimately may doom the city’s 6% surcharge.
The lawsuit by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. seeks to nullify the tax added to utility bills.
La Habra adopted the tax in 1992. The association sued later, saying the city should have gotten voter approval of the tax as required under Proposition 62. That proposition, adopted by state voters in 1986, requires local governments to approve new taxes.
The city did not get voter approval, and the lower courts threw out the association’s suit on a legal technicality that the Supreme Court overturned Monday.
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