California Appeals Court Reverses Ruling on Lodging Tax Measure

A San Diego ballot measure that taxed hotels must be reevaluated because the trial court needs to address an affirmative defense argument that hasn’t been assessed sufficiently, a California appeals court ruled.

The local ballot measure—which is known as Measure C and places occupancy taxes on overnight lodging facilities—is presumably a citizens’ initiative and therefore doesn’t require a two-thirds supermajority to pass, the court found, reversing a trial court’s ruling.

A previous, separate state ballot measure called Proposition 13 requires special taxes imposed by local governments to be placed on a ballot, which can only be passed with a two-thirds ...