Golden Hill Neighborhood Ass'n v. City of San Diego

In August 2007, the City of San Diego (the City) formed a special assessment district known as the Greater Golden Hill Maintenance Assessment District (the District) for the purpose of providing various services and improvements for the benefit of properties in the District. The same month, Golden Hill Neighborhood Association, Inc.—an association of property owners in the Golden Hill area—and individual property owner John *421 McNab 1 filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the District and its initial assessments under article XIII D of the California Constitution, 2 which was enacted by the voters’ passage of Proposition 218 in 1996. The Association filed a second suit in 2008 challenging the District’s assessment charges for fiscal year 2008-2009 and decision to carry over to that fiscal year unspent funds from the assessments collected for fiscal year 2007-2008. The court consolidated the two actions and tried the case on documentary evidence and the parties’ oral argument. The trial court entered judgment for the Association on the first cause of action, “For Writ of Mandamus,” in their 2007 complaint and entered judgment for the City on every other cause of…