California Court of Appeal Dismisses AT&T, T-Mobile’s Property Tax Appeal Against Santa Clara County

The California Court of Appeal Jan. 6 dismissed the property tax challenges filed by AT&T and T-Mobile (Taxpayers). Taxpayers alleged that Santa Clara County violated article XIII, section 19 of the state constitution by taxing their property at a higher debt-service tax rate than non-utility property. Taxpayers had argued that the state constitution required that utility property should be subject to taxation in the same manner as other property. The court of appeal noted that: 1) the language of the constitution doesn’t require that the state-assessed property of certain regulated utility companies should be assessed the same as other properties; ...