Group Seeks to Put ’94 Tax on ’96 Ballot

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. has issued an ultimatum to the city of Agoura Hills to place on the ballot a utility tax passed in 1994 or face a lawsuit.

Last year, the California Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a 1986 state ballot measure that required voter approval of new general and special taxes. Encouraged by that, the Sacramento-based taxpayer group says it has sent letters to nine government entities throughout the state demanding that they place on the ballot all taxes enacted after the 1986 ballot measure took effect.

Jonathan Coupal, the taxpayer association’s director of legal affairs, said his organization has given the entities until mid-February to pass resolutions to put the taxes on the ballot. “We are not asking for repayment of taxes already paid,” he said.

Agoura Hills, which enacted a 4% utility tax in 1994, decided against placing a referendum on the March ballot, saying it wants to wait until the Supreme Court clarifies the effective date of its ruling. Anti-tax groups say the ruling is retroactive to 1986; Agoura Hills officials say the effective date is Dec. 14, 1995, when the court upheld its September ruling.

In February, the California League of Cities plans to introduce legislation that would establish Dec. 14 as the effective date of the Supreme Court ruling, said Debbie Thornton, a spokeswoman for the league. The bill will probably take six months to work its way through the Legislature, she said.

Commenting on the association’s threat of a lawsuit, Agoura Hills Mayor Ed Corridori said, “We have to do what is in the best interest of the city, and not worry about responding to the threat of a lawsuit by the Jarvis group.”