Parcel Tax Opponents Launch Legal Challenge to Measure A

Opponents of , the school parcel tax approved by more than , have filed suit against the Alameda Unified School District, saying the tax is unfair, the Alameda Journal reported late Friday.

, which taxes commerical and residential properties at 32 cents per square foot and is capped at $7,999 per parcel, was the product of months of , and . 

"Measure A implements the same unfair tax structure as its predecessor," plaintiff Ed Hirshberg, who was also involved in the legal challenge to Measure H after that parcel tax passed in 2008, told The Journal.

Under H, which will be replaced by Measure A this year, homeowners paid $120 per parcel and commercial property owners paid 15 cents per square foot of lot per parcel. The tax was capped at $9,500 per parcel.

In June, 2010, an Alameda Superior Court Judge ruled against the challenge to Measure H, saying that the tax was legal.

A school official reached for comment late Friday said a reporter's call was the first he'd heard of the lawsuit.