State taxpayer group sues Ukiah over voter-approved sales tax

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has filed a lawsuit against the city of Ukiah seeking to invalidate a new, voter-approved sales tax it alleges is an attempt to circumvent the law.

The organization contends Measure Y passed by voters in November was proposed as a general tax, which requires only a simple majority of the vote, but it actually is a special tax, requiring a two-thirds vote. The half-cent sales tax received just under 52 percent of the vote.

The city skirted the rules by placing two measures on the ballot. One was a general tax that would raise an estimated $2.5 million annually for the city; the other an unenforceable advisory measure that asks city officials to dedicate the money primarily to roads.

Such double measures are a growing trend across the state and the taxpayer association wants to stop the practice by challenging Ukiah’s measure, said Brittany Sitzer, Howard Jarvis’ deputy director of legal affairs. The lawsuit was filed Jan. 6 in Mendocino County Superior Court.

“It’s a way of misleading the voters,” Sitzer said of tandem tax measures, which she said violated Article XIII (c) on voter approval for local tax levies in the state constitution.

But city officials say the practice is legal. They noted the tax association mounted a nearly identical challenge in Santa Clara County in 1998 and it failed.

The advisory Measure, Z, is nonbinding, they note. As such, it doesn’t convert Measure Y into a special tax requiring a two-thirds vote, said City Attorney David Rapport.

City Manager Sage Sangiacomo called the lawsuit “ambush litigation” that will cost local taxpayers and hinder funding for essential services.

A court date for the lawsuit has not yet been set.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 707-462-6473 or glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MendoReporter.