Lejins

BACKGROUND

I. Proposition 218 – A Brief Overview

In 1996, California voters adopted Proposition 218, the “Right to Vote on Taxes Act,” which added articles XIII C and XIII D—the California Constitution provisions the parties reference in this action. As our Supreme Court has explained: “ ‘Proposition 218 can best be understood against its historical background, which begins in 1978 with the adoption of Proposition 13,’ ” which added article XIII A. (Apartment Assn. of Los Angeles County, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles (2001) 24 Cal.4th 830, 836 (Apartment Assn.).) Among other things, Proposition 213 “ ‘limited ad valorem property taxes to 1 percent of a property’s assessed valuation and limited increases in the assessed valuation to 2 percent per year unless and until the property changed hands;’ ” it also prohibited local governments “ ‘from enacting any special tax without a two-thirds vote of the electorate.’ ” (Ibid.; art. XIII A, §§ 1, 2 & 4.) Article XIII D, added in 1996 by Proposition 218, “ ‘allows only four types of local property taxes: (1) an ad valorem property tax; (2) a special tax; (3) an assessment; and (4) a fee or charge’ ” for a property-related service.…