Hoogasian Flowers, Inc. v. State Board of Equalization

In this action by retailers for a refund of a local sales tax, defendant State Board of Equalization (SBE) and intervener San Francisco Educational Financing Authority (EFA) appeal from summary judgment entered in favor of plaintiffs, Hoogasian Flowers, Inc., Ace Pharmacy, Diane O., and Surf Pharmacy (the retailers). The sales tax at issue in this case was imposed by EFA pursuant to an ordinance approved by a majority (but less than two-thirds) of the qualified electors voting on the measure in the City and County of San Francisco, as authorized by Revenue and Taxation Code section 7286.1. The trial court determined the majority vote was insufficient because the tax was subject to the two-thirds voter approval requirements of Proposition 13 (Cal. Const., art. XIII A, § 4 ) for “special taxes” imposed by “special districts.”

On appeal, SBE contends the trial court erred in failing to require the retailers to join EFA as a defendant and in entering judgment against SBE because SBE did nothing wrong. In an unpublished portion of this opinion, we reject SBE’s contentions. EFA contends summary judgment was improper because the tax was not subject to the supermajority…