A Tuesday court ruling is another setback for a proposed parcel tax that would upgrade parks and libraries in the city of San Diego.
Superior Court Judge Marcella McLaughlin issued a tentative ruling that rejects nearly every argument in a voting rights lawsuit filed last year by supporters of the parcel tax.
The lawsuit, which seeks to place the tax on the November ballot, says city and county officials improperly determined that supporters hadn’t collected enough signatures in support of the tax.
The suit argues that officials invalidated signatures on flimsy grounds and set the number of required signatures artificially high by basing it on the number of registered voters in the 2020 general election instead of the 2022 general election.
McLaughlin disagreed.
“The court finds that petitioners have failed to meet their burden of showing that the City Clerk acted arbitrarily or capriciously in using November 2020, rather than the November 2022 election, as the baseline election,” McLaughlin wrote.
She also rejected the idea that signatures were nullified on flimsy grounds, such as addresses that were slightly off or dates that were inaccurate.
McLaughlin, who heard arguments from both sides in the case Tuesday, is expected to finalize her ruling in coming days.
Supporters said they are still hopeful.
“We made arguments in front of the judge today, and we will await the final ruling and evaluate next steps based upon that decision,” said Patrick Stewart, chief executive of the San Diego Library Foundation.
The tax would create a $250 million dedicated funding source for city parks and libraries.
If the measure makes it onto the ballot and gets approved by a majority of voters, properties in the city would be taxed annually at 2 cents per square foot, up to a maximum of one acre, for 30 years.
Exemptions would go to properties zoned agricultural and to property owners making less than 80 percent of the area median income — $104,110 for a family of four.
“Our libraries and parks desperately need help, and we will continue to fight for San Diego’s civic infrastructure,” Stewart said.
