Neilson

A nonresident landowner challenged a flat-rate parcel tax imposed by a city after the city’s registered voters approved the tax by a two-thirds majority. The superior court sustained the city’s general demurrer to the landowner’s complaint, which alleged the parcel tax violated limitations on the taxation of real property contained in the California Constitution and violated the constitutional guarantee of equal protection.

The issues raised on appeal are (1) whether taxes based on the mere ownership of real property are constitutionally required to be ad valorem taxes; (2) whether the flat-rate parcel tax is a general tax and thus unconstitutional or, alternatively, is a special tax and therefore valid; (3) whether California law concerning voter eligibility requires that nonresident landowners affected by the tax be given the right to vote on the taxing measure; and (4) whether the equal protection clause prevents the city from using a residency requirement to determine who may vote on the tax when nonresident landowners are the largest source of revenue under the tax.

We hold that, as presently written, the California Constitution does not prohibit a tax on the mere…