Existing law provides that a citizen resident or corporation who is assessed for and is liable to pay, or within one year before the commencement of the action, has paid, a tax in a county, town, city, or city and county may maintain an action to obtain a judgment restraining and preventing an illegal expenditure of, waste of, or injury to the estate, funds, or other property of the political subdivision, as specified. The California Supreme Court in Weatherford v. City of San Rafael (2017) 2 Cal.5th 1241 held that this tax was not restricted to payment of a property tax.

This bill would expand the scope of an action described above by permitting the action to be maintained against a “local agency,” defined as a city, town, county, or city and county, or a district, public authority, or any other political subdivision in the state. The bill would allow any resident of the local agency to maintain an action under those circumstances. The bill would further clarify that a tax that funds the defendant local agency is sufficient to confer standing as a taxpayer, including, but not limited to, an income tax, a sales and use tax or transaction and use tax initially paid by a consumer to a retailer, a property tax, or a business license tax. The bill would define “resident” for these purposes to mean a person who lives, works, owns property, or attends school in the jurisdiction of the defendant local agency.