Weisblat

INTRODUCTION

The principal issue we must decide is whether a 2004 levy imposed by the City of San Diego (the City), without a vote of the electorate, for the primary purpose of recovering the cost of collecting and administering a general tax called the “Rental Unit Business Tax,” is a fee or rather a void general or special tax that should have been approved by a vote of the electorate as required by the California Constitution. We hold that this levy is a general tax that is void because it was not approved by a majority vote of the municipal electorate as required by article XIII C, section 2, subdivision (b) of the California Constitution.

Plaintiffs Sidney Weisblat and Kenneth Ledgerwood (together plaintiffs) appeal from a grant of summary judgment in favor of the City on their complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief, which challenges on state constitutional grounds a “fee” the City imposed on owners of residential real property who are engaged in the rental of their properties within the City limits. The City imposed the levy for the primary purpose of recovering the costs incurred by the City in collecting and administering the City’s rental unit business…