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INTRODUCTION

In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 218, also known as the Right to Vote on Taxes Act, as an amendment to the California Constitution. (See Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. v. City of Roseville (2002) 97 CalApp.4th 637, 640.) This measure was intended to fortify Proposition 13, the landmark 1978 ballot measure which required local governments to obtain supermajority consent from the electorate in order to enact any special property tax. (See Apartment Assn. of Los Angeles County, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles (2001) 24 Cal.4th 830, 836 (Apartment Assn.).) By way of Proposition 218, the voters of California added “‘assessments, fees, and charges’” to the list of taxes which had to be approved through a vote. (Id. at p. 837, quoting Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Assn. v. City of Riverside (1999) 73 Cal.App.4th 679, 682.) Proposition 218 added articles XIII C and XIII D to the Constitution. (Ibid.) Article XIII D, subdivision 6 provides the procedures and criteria by which a local government can lawfully impose or increase any fee or charge, as those terms are defined in the article. (Cal. Const., art. XIII D, § 6.) The government agency must first identify parcels upon…