Articles

Well, that was fast!

December 22, 2016 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

Yesterday, the California Supreme Court denied without opinion our petition for review in Building Industry Association — Bay Area v. City of San Ramon (a mere two days after we filed our reply brief!). The case challenged San Ramon’s new Mello-Roos special tax and levying ordinance under the Act as well as the federal and state const ...

Articles

San Ramon briefing complete

December 19, 2016 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

Today we filed our reply brief on the petition for review in our challenge to a special tax levied by the City of San Ramon’s community facilities district. Our petition asks the California Supreme Court to review the court of appeal’s first-impression interpretation of the Mello-Roos Act’s limitation on municipal services financi ...

Articles

Loss in San Ramon tax case

October 13, 2016 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

This afternoon we received the disappointing news that the California court of appeal has upheld the City of San Ramon’s “special” tax on new development within its territory. Our lawsuit, Building Industry Association — Bay Area v. City of San Ramon, challenged the tax on several grounds. First, the tax violates the statut ...

Articles

Briefing begun in challenge to Mello-Roos district tax

October 09, 2014 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

This week, we filed our opening summary judgment brief in Building Industry Association — Bay Area v. City of San Ramon.  We are challenging the City’s levying of a tax on potentially all new development in the City.  We contend that the tax violates the Mello-Roos Act’s limitations on landowner-approved taxes, as well as the & ...