California High Court Backs Ratepayers in Sewer Fees Dispute

A water district must show how it reached decisions on setting rates, a unanimous California Supreme Court said May 30, rejecting utility arguments that ratepayers must exhaust other approaches when challenging how rates are set.

In a case over sewer fees, the court agreed with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, an anti-tax group, that a 1996 ballot initiative doesn’t require ratepayer protest to seek administrative relief before going to court.

The initiative, Proposition 218, requires all taxes and most fees to go before voters for approval. Fees under Prop 218 are limited to the cost ...