A SUMMARY OF OUR MOST PROMINENT CURRENT LITIGATION

HJTA v. CA Dept. of Forestry — HJTA is the plaintiff in this class action seeking to invalidate the State's new fire prevention fee on grounds that it is really a tax that needed (but did not receive) two-thirds legislative approval, and seeking refunds for all who filed a Petition for Reconsideration or Claim for Refund. Status: Amended Complaint filed and served; awaiting State's Answer or Demurrer.  Read more >>

Writing for Fox & Hounds Daily, former HJTA President Joel Fox responds to a Los Angeles Times piece on billionaire Michael Dell's attempts to avoid a property tax increase on a recently purchased Santa Monica hotel. He criticizes the article for being slanted against Proposition 13, painting its supporters as advocating Dell's attempts, when the current change in ownership rules actually came from legislative action.

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ABC 23 Bakersfield reports California Democrats adopted resolutions on Sunday affirming many of their biggest political goals, including changing California's landmark property tax limitation law, Proposition 13, supporting more gun control legislation and imposing a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing for oil.

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John Howard of Capitol Weekly explains the continuing debate over the parcel tax and how its passage could lead to the erosion of Proposition 13.

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In his column for the Sacramento Bee, Dan Walters explains State Democrats' strategy to wield the power of their newly established supermajority, not in big sweeping changes, but in slow, incremental changes, starting with a constitutional amendment to reduce the voter approval margin for local government and school district parcel taxes from two-thirds to either a simple majority or 55 percent.

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