Eversheds Sutherland has filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the 550 members of the Council On State Taxation (COST) on the important issue of whether imposition of certain local taxes is required to be passed by a two-thirds vote by the California electorate, or a simple majority. Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, et al. v. City and County of San Francisco. The case is pending in the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, on appeal from a judgment of the San Francisco County Superior Court holding that a special tax imposed by initiative requires only a simple majority, and not a two-thirds, vote to pass. The amicus brief urges the Court to adopt the well-reasoned arguments of the appellants that both Proposition 13 and Proposition 218 require passage by a two-thirds vote and that nothing in the California Supreme Court’s decision in California Cannabis Coalition v. City of Upland (2017) 3 Cal.5th 924 alters that result. This case follows on the heels of the First District’s recent order in favor of the City and County of San Francisco in San Francisco’s Proposition C (November 2018) case, City and County of San Francisco v. All Persons Interested in the Matter of Proposition C.
For more information on California supermajority voting requirement tax cases, check out Eversheds Sutherland’s SALT Scoreboard – CA Local Tax Edition.