California's Court of Appeal will revisit its Dec. 6, 2012, decision that overturned portions of Measure H, an Alameda school parcel tax passed in 2008, according to an article published Monday by the San Jose Mercury News.
That decision, in the case of Borikas v. Alameda Unified School District, held that school district parcel taxes must be uniform for all parcels within the district other than two narrow exemptions in the state statute, based on the Legislature's authorizing language for school districts to levy special qualified taxes such as parcel taxes.
The decision had implications for public school districts throughout California, many of which have levied varying tax amounts based on size or usage of parcels. It prompted the Piedmont Unified School District to amend a parcel tax measure that will come before voters on March 5, 2013, substituting a flat tax for a graduated tax based on parcel size.
The decision also mentioned "further remedies" in the case, which could include the possibility of refunds to some tax money collected between 2008 and 2012.
The AUSD on Monday announced the court's decision to reconsider its own ruling. The Alameda district had petitioned the Court of Appeal for a rehearing, according to the Mercury News.
You may read the complete Mercury News article here.
For more information about the Dec. 6 ruling and its potential effects on school districts, see "Appeals court imposes restrictions on parcel taxes" at EDSource.org.
