Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. v. City of Los Angeles

In Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. v. City of Los Angeles (2000) 85 Cal. App. 4th 79, the appellate court faced the question whether certain municipal water usage rates were imposed as an incident of property ownership, and therefore, required voter approval. The court noted that fees or charges for water services are specifically exempted from the voter approval requirement by California Constitution, article XIII D, section 6, subdivision (c). The court also noted that under the ordinances setting water rates, the supply and delivery of water did not require that a person own or rent the property where the water was delivered; and that the charges for water service were usage rates--basically, commodity charges--based primarily on the amount consumed. Therefore, the water usage rates were not incident to or directly related to property ownership within the meaning of Proposition 218. (Jarvis-L.A., supra, 85 Cal. App. 4th at page 83.)