Opinion ID: 2536580
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Early Cases in Which Property Owners Contested the Validity of Special Assessments

Text: For well over a century, California law has allowed public agencies to use special assessment districts to finance specific types of improvements that benefit the real property located within the district. Many of the early assessment districts were created for the purpose of reclaiming swampland, although assessment districts were also frequently used to finance street improvements. An interested property owner could participate in the proceedings that led to the creation of the assessment district, and after the district was formed and the assessments levied, property owners frequently brought actions contesting the validity of their individual assessments. When the boundaries of the district and the amount of the individual assessments were determined by a local board exercising discretionary authority, property owners could petition the superior court for a writ of review, and in that way contest the validity of the proceedings that led to the assessment. (See, e.g., Miller & Lux v. Board of Supervisors (1922) 189 Cal. 254 [208 P. 304]; Imperial Water Co. v. Supervisors (1912) 162 Cal. 14 [120 P. 780]; Peterson v. Board of Supervisors (1924) 65 Cal.App. 670 [225 P. 28].) In other cases, property owners brought actions for declaratory or injunctive relief (see, e.g., Imperial Land Co. v. Imperial Irr. Dist. (1916) 173 Cal. 668 [161 P. 116]; Imperial Land Co. v. Imperial Irr. Dist. (1916) 173 Cal. 660 [161 P. 113]; Southwick v. Santa Barbara (1910) 158 Cal. 14 [109 P. 610]), or, because the assessment was a lien against the property, they brought actions to quiet title (see, e.g., Larsen v. San Francisco (1920) 182 Cal. 1 [186 P. 757]; Ahlman v. Barber Asphalt Pav. Co. (1919) 40 Cal.App. 395 [181 P. 238]). In addition, property owners could challenge the validity of an assessment as a defense in an action brought to enforce the assessment. (See, e.g., Swamp Land etc. Dist. 341 v. Blumenberg (1909) 156 Cal. 539, 541 [106 P. 392]; Reclamation Dist. 531 v. Phillips (1895) 108 Cal. 306, 311 [41 P. 335]; Reclamation Dist. No. 108 v. Evans (1882) 61 Cal. 104, 107.) In some cases, the legislative act authorizing formation of the assessment district expressly conferred on property owners the right to bring actions challenging their individual assessments. (See, e.g., Stats. 1897, ch. 189, § 69, p. 276.) These were private law actions between the property owner and the public agency levying the assessment, or sometimes between the property owner and the contractor, and no special rules of procedure governed these actions. If a property owner successfully contested the assessment against his or her property, that owner was relieved of the obligation to pay the assessment, but other property owners who had not challenged their assessments remained obligated. (See Reclamation Dist. No. 108 v. Evans, supra, 61 Cal. at p. 107.) Thus, in some cases the revenue of the assessment district might fall short of what was originally contemplated. This shortfall might result in scaling down the planned improvements, adding or increasing financial contributions by the local government, or levying a new assessment to raise additional funds. To address the uncertainties associated with property owners bringing actions to contest their assessments, the Legislature enacted former Political Code section 3493 1/2 (Stats. 1893, ch. 176, § 1, pp. 208-210), relating specifically to assessment districts created to reclaim swampland. (See Swamp Land etc. Dist. 341 v. Blumenberg, supra, 156 Cal. at pp. 541-542; Reclamation Dist. No. 551 v. Runyon (1897) 117 Cal. 164, 166 [49 P. 131].) Former Political Code section 3493 1/2 permitted public agencies to bring validation actions against the owners of properties within an assessment district to have the district (and the individual assessments) judicially approved. If the public agency prevailed, the validity of the individual assessments could not be contested in any later action. [1] This was the first validation provision applicable to assessment districts in California.