Some applications of the validation statutes are “of doubtful constitutionality.”

At your request: This week's California Commentary by Jon Coupal
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** California Commentary
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** Barring California taxpayers from the courts
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By Jon Coupal

Big government interests – and by “big government interests” we mean elected officials, bureaucrats, public sector unions and private corporations that live off taxpayer dollars – do everything they can to erect barriers to taxpayers seeking to vindicate their rights.

As this column has previously addressed, those barriers include making it difficult to vindicate rights at the ballot box by consistently changing election laws – often in the middle of an election cycle – in a manner designed to protect the existing political power structure.

But there is an equally virulent set of hurdles placed before taxpayers consisting of procedural barriers to obtaining relief in the courts. Just a few examples are short statutes of limitations, requirements that taxpayers must “exhaust administrative remedies” before filing a legal action, requirements that taxpayers must first pay the disputed tax in full before filing suit, and severe restrictions on the use of class actions that preclude meaningful tax relief when entire communities are hurt by an illegal tax.

Another example is the requirement that challenges to certain tax increases be brought exclusively as “validation actions.” Such actions may be brought by government entities to “bulletproof” their tax or fee increases from any future legal attack. Typically, the lawsuit will be filed against “All Persons Interested” in the legality of a bond issuance or other public finance matter and, once filed, taxpayers have only a very limited time to respond.

The short time to respond to a validation action, however, isn’t the biggest headache for taxpayers. Specifically, if the government entity doesn’t file its own action, then the validation action must be filed by citizens (any “interested party”) within 60 days of the resolution authorizing a bond or tax. The citizens’ failure to do so results in the bond or tax becoming automatically “validated” through inaction, and forever insulated from judicial review. This puts the costs of litigation on the shoulders of those having to pay the tax. And those costs include the very expensive price tag of having to “publish” a summons in the local newspaper over several days.

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Click here to listen to this week's Howard Jarvis Podcast, "Ethics on Fire" ([link removed]) The Howard Jarvis Podcast features HJTA President Jon Coupal and VP of Communications Susan Shelley with a lively conversation that takes you inside California government in a way that's fun, interesting and sometimes scary. Check out all the recent podcasts by clicking here: [link removed] -- it's easy to listen on your cell phone, tablet or computer. Just click the "play" arrow next to the title. Questions for Jon and Susan? Email us at [email protected] and tune in!
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Jon Coupal is the President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA). He is a recognized expert in California fiscal affairs and has argued numerous tax cases before the courts.
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