SILICON VALLEY TAXPAYERS' ASSN., INC. v. SANTA CLARA COUNTY OPEN SPACE AUTHORITY

No. S136468.

44 Cal.4th 431 (2008)

SILICON VALLEY TAXPAYERS' ASSOCIATION, INC., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. SANTA CLARA COUNTY OPEN SPACE AUTHORITY, Defendant and Respondent.

Supreme Court of California.

July 14, 2008.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Law Offices of Tony J. Tanke, Tony J. Tanke; Law Offices of Gary Simms, Gary L. Simms; Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and Timothy Arthur Bittle for Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Aaron L. Katz as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiffs and Appellants.

James Sherman Burling and Harold E. Johnson for Pacific Legal Foundation as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Pahl & Gosselin, Fenn C. Horton III and Karen Kubala McCay for California Apartment Association as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk and Thomas W. Hiltachk for Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, Apartment Association of Greater Inland Empire, Burbank Chamber of Commerce and Lodi Association of Realtors as Amici Curiae on behalf of Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Jack Cohen for Jonathan M. Coupal as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Eric Grant for Alameda County Taxpayers Association, Association of Concerned Taxpayers, League of Placer County Taxpayers, Pomona Coalition for Better Government, Sacramento County Taxpayers League, Solano County Taxpayers Association, United Organization of Taxpayers, Valley Taxpayers Coalition, Ventura County Taxpayers Association and Yolo County Taxpayers Association as Amici Curiae on behalf of Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Nielsen, Merksamer, Parrinello, Mueller & Naylor, James R. Parrinello, John E. Mueller, Christopher E. Skinnel and Sean P. Welch for Defendant and Respondent.

Hopkins & Carley and Jay M. Ross for San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce and Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Respondent.

McMurchie Law Firm and David W. McMurchie for The Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California and California Special Districts Association as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Respondent.

Steven M. Woodside, County Counsel, Sue Andra Gallagher and Kathleen Larocque, Deputy County Counsel; and Elizabeth Strauss for California State Association of Counties and League of California Cities as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Respondent.

Timothy N. Washburn for Sacramento Area Flood Control District as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Respondent.

Willoughby, Stuart & Bening and Bradley A. Bening for San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce and Silicon Valley Leadership Group as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Respondent.

Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, Ellen J. Garber and Winter King for Committee for Green Foothills, Greenbelt Alliance, Planning and Conservation League and Sierra Club as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Respondent.

Ann Miller Ravel., County Counsel (Santa Clara), and Katherine Harasz, Deputy County Counsel, for County of Santa Clara as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Respondent.

Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, Vanessa Ottilie Wells, Ingrid S. Leverett and David A. Thomas for The Trust for Public Land as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Respondent.


OPINION

CHIN, J.

In 1996, Proposition 2181 limited local government's ability to impose real property assessments in two significant ways. An assessment can be imposed only for a "special benefit" conferred on real property (art. XIII D, § 2, subd. (b)), and the assessment on any parcel must be in proportion to the special benefit conferred on the particular parcel (art. XIII D, § 4, subd. (a)).

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