Loeber v. Lakeside J. Sch. Dist.

• Court: California Court of Appeals
• Writing for the Court: Danner, J.
• Citation: Loeber v. Lakeside J. Sch. Dist., 323 Cal.Rptr.3d 18 (Cal. App. 2024)
• Docket Number: H050688
• Decision Date: 24 June 2024
• Parties: Carlton LOEBER, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. LAKESIDE JOINT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant and Respondent.

323 Cal.Rptr.3d 18

Carlton LOEBER, Plaintiff and Appellant,

v.LAKESIDE JOINT SCHOOL DISTRICT, Defendant and Respondent.

H050688

Court of Appeal, Sixth District.

Filed June 24, 2024

Trial Court: Santa Clara County Superior Court, Trial Judge: The Honorable Julie A. Emede (Santa Clara County Super. Ct. No. 22CV402078)

Carlton Loeber, in pro. per., for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Seth Eckstein, Fagen, Friedman & Fulfrost, Oakland, for Defendant and Respondent.

Danner, J.

In this appeal, we consider whether a citizen initiative to create an exemption to any parcel tax levied by a school district falls within the initiative power "in matters of reducing or repealing any local tax, assessment, fee or charge." (Cal. Const., art. XIII C, § 3.)¹

Carlton Loeber, representing himself as appellant in this matter, is the trustor of an irrevocable trust that owns two undeveloped properties within the Lakeside Joint School District (the district). Loeber does not live in the district or personally own any property there. Loeber obtained voter signatures to qualify the initiative, which would allow taxpayers over the age of 65 to obtain an exemption from any district parcel tax on undeveloped or unimproved parcels. The registrar of voters informed the district that the initiative petition had qualified for the ballot, but the district declined to call the election, citing cost concerns and legal objections to the applicability of the initiative authority to school districts.

Loeber filed a petition for writ of mandate (petition) seeking a court order that the district must place the initiative on the ballot for the upcoming general election or alternatively must call a special election or an all-mail ballot election to be held the following year. The trial court decided Loeber lacked standing and dismissed the petition without addressing its merits.

On appeal, Loeber maintains that he has standing to bring this petition based on his beneficial interest as the taxpayer for the trust properties and under the public interest exception to the beneficial interest requirement. On the merits, he contends the initiative is authorized by article XIII C, section 3 because it would reduce tax revenue for the school district.

We decide that Loeber has standing to pursue the writ petition. Nevertheless, we conclude the proposed initiative does not come within the language of article XIII C, section 3. We therefore modify the trial court’s judgment to deny the writ petition and affirm the judgment as modified.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Facts

The district, which consists of a single elementary school located in the hills of Los Gatos, serves approximately 72 students in both Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. In 2017, district voters approved Measure A, which imposed a parcel tax to provide funding for core programs in math, science, reading, and writing. Measure A passed with over 70 percent approval, meeting the required two-thirds majority threshold under state law.² Measure A replaced a previous parcel tax with a new parcel tax "for a period of eight years starting on July 1, 2017."

Measure A taxes all parcels within the district assessed at a value over $2,000 at the rate of $647 per parcel. It exempts parcels used for single-family residential purposes if their owners are senior citizens (i.e., aged 65 or older), possess contiguous parcels, and/or receive Supplemental Security Income for a disability. The tax imposed by Measure A provides yearly revenue of approximately $500,000 and is an important source of funds for the district.

In 1999, Loeber and his wife purchased two parcels located within the district (APN 088-101-11, 088-101-16) for $10,000. In 2009, Loeber became the sole owner of the parcels and granted them to the Naschhausen Dynasty Trust (trust), naming Bonnie Vee Loeber as trustee. According to Loeber’s verified petition, he has paid all applicable property and parcel taxes on the parcels, including $10,824 in parcel tax since 2010.³ Loeber states that he "holds the parcels by an irrevocable trust." The parcels consist of "steep forest land" and have not been developed for residential purposes.

In 2021, Loeber, who is over the age of 65, began to speak with district residents about an additional parcel tax exemption. Loeber met William Bull, a district resident, who agreed to be a proponent of the proposed initiative. Bull authorized Loeber to act on his behalf for the petition and initiative process in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. Loeber paid the administrative fees and spent approximately 60 hours gathering signatures for a petition to mandate an election on a proposed initiative to add a new parcel tax exemption. The proposed initiative, titled "Citizens’ Initiative within the Lakeside Joint School District for the Purpose of Allowing a Parcel Tax Exemption to all Owners of Unimproved Parcels who are Over 65 Years of Age" (initiative), would create a parcel tax exemption for certain payers of property tax on undeveloped or unimproved parcels in the district.⁴

Loeber submitted the signatures to the County of Santa Clara Registrar of Voters (Santa Clara County or county) and the County of Santa Cruz Registrar of Voters (Santa Cruz County) for signature count verification. (See Elec. Code, §§ 9308, 9309.) On June 16, 2021, Santa Clara County, as the lead agency, informed by letter the district’s superintendent, Sean Joyce, that the initiative had secured enough qualifying signatures. (Art. XIII C, § 3, art. II, § 8, subd. (b).)

The June 2021 letter from Santa Clara County to the district advised, pursuant to Elections Code sections 9310, subdivision (a)(2) and 1405,⁵ that the district "may" "submit an ordinance, without alteration, to the voters pursuant to subdivision (b) of Elections Code [s]ection 1405," or "may call an all-mail ballot election" under conditions set forth in Elections Code section 4000. The letter encouraged the district "to seek legal counsel to determine how to proceed with the initiative including whether to call for an election, the type of election if so, and on what date." The letter requested that the district advise the registrar of voters in writing of its decision on the initiative.

In February 2022,⁶ the district inquired with Santa Clara County and the Office of the Attorney General regarding its legal obligations with respect to the proposed initiative but received no response. The district thereafter determined that the initiative process "did not apply to school districts" and "a citizen’s initiative petition could not expand an exemption to a parcel tax levied by a school district."

In July, while awaiting action by the district, Loeber contacted the county and spoke on at least two occasions with deputy county counsel Mary Hanna-Weir. Loeber’s position was that Santa Clara County, as the elections official, could place the initiative on the ballot without any action by the district’s governing board. Hanna-Weir informed Loeber that the district must act in the first instance.

Hanna-Weir informed Loeber of the relevant election deadlines, including that a resolution to place the initiative on the ballot of the November 8 general election must be received by the county by August 12 (88 days before the election). Loeber indicated that he understood he could file a court petition for writ of mandate but hoped to settle the matter with the district without resorting to litigation. Hanna-Weir conveyed to Loeber that if he filed a writ petition, the county should be named as a respondent and the matter should be filed "expediently to ensure resolution prior to the [general election] printing deadline."

The district did not take any action to place the initiative on the ballot by the August 12 deadline for the general election.

B. Petition for Writ of Mandate

On August 17, Loeber filed this action for writ of mandate in the Santa Clara County Superior Court. On August 19, the trial court granted Loeber’s ex parte application for an order to shorten time. (See Code Civ. Proc., § 35, subd. (a) [granting precedence to proceedings involving certain election related matters].)

Loeber’s petition named the district as the respondent and others as real parties in interest, including the county, the initiative’s proponent William Bull, and the unnamed "63 voters who signed the petition and have a right to put the measure on the ballot." The petition asserted that under article XIII C, section 3, voters in school districts have the right to petition for elections on tax matters, with a signature requirement no greater than that for statewide initiatives. It further alleged that insofar as the county’s June 2021 letter confirmed adequate signatures to place the initiative on the ballot, the district must submit the initiative to the voters.

The petition alleged that Loeber has a personal beneficial interest in the outcome of the proceedings because he pays the taxes on the two parcels held by the trust and must continue to do so "to maintain the property for the use of his family and children." It also alleged that according to the trust terms Loeber has the ability to reacquire the trust property and "redeem the land into his own name." If the initiative passes, Loeber alleged that he may qualify for the newly allowable tax exemption. The petition also alleged Loeber’s "public interest" in the operation of the citizen initiative process concerning taxes as set forth in article XIII C, section 3. The petition asserted that the district has a clear and present legal duty and ability to perform, and Loeber has no other adequate remedy.

The petition sought a writ of mandate "ordering the district to call the election on this measure for the November 8[ ] general election date" and for daily penalties if the district fails to do so, or, alternatively, to pay a penalty sanction of $10,000 each to Loeber and Bull and to call by October 1 for either a special election to be held by March...