While the county is set to impose in November a $157 per parcel assessment on property owners in the newly expanded 19,000-square-mile fire protection district, FP-5, a lawsuit challenging the assessment was in court Tuesday. Reporter Mike Lipsitz has this update on progress of the lawsuit…
The County Fire Department was in Superior Court Tuesday to defend its imposition of a $157 per parcel fire fee and its expansion of Fire Protection zone 5. At the hearing the fire department argued that the California Constitution and state law prohibit injunctions that interfere with collecting taxes and that would give individual taxpayers “hold-up” leverage over the public treasury. The plaintiff, San Diego-based non-profit Red Brennan Group, contends that the parcel fee is a tax that needed to be approved by a two-thirds vote of the electorate. The fire department countered that state law authorizes the expansion of the FP-5 service district’s boundaries and the resulting tax levy on properties in the new boundaries. Judge Donald Alvarez heard the arguments and has taken the matter under consideration. Alvarez will release his decision at a later date.
A second lawsuit brought by an individual plaintiff, Paul Austin, also seeks to invalidate the assessment. That case is expected to be heard March 14.
