California Court of Appeal Finds No Tax Rate Protections for Utilities in California Constitution

The California Court of Appeal Feb. 24 affirmed a judgment dismissing a tax refund case brought by public utility companies against Merced County. The utility companies alleged that Merced County’s application of Revenue and Taxation Code section 100 to calculate the debt service component of their property taxes for fiscal years 2017 through 2018, and 2018 through 2019, resulted in tax rates exceeding those permissible under section 19 of article XIII of the California Constitution, which states utility property “shall be subject to taxation to the same extent and in the same manner as other property.” The Court held that ...