{"id":44449,"date":"2025-11-08T18:45:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T18:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/44449\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T18:45:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T18:45:10","slug":"judge-rules-long-beachs-early-measure-a-tax-hike-unconstitutional-city-accused-of-misleading-public","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/44449\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Rules Long Beach\u2019s Early Measure A Tax Hike Unconstitutional, City Accused of Misleading Public"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a major embarrassment for City Hall, a Sacramento Superior Court judge has ruled that Long Beach\u2019s attempt to raise Measure A sales taxes two years ahead of schedule was unconstitutional, saving residents roughly $48 million over two years.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On Friday, November 7, 2025, Judge Stephen Acquisto ruled that the city\u2019s December 2024 \u201cemergency\u201d ordinance to begin collecting the higher tax in April 2025 violated the California Constitution\u2019s Proposition 218, which requires voter approval for any local tax increase.<\/p>\n

\"\"LBRC Executive Director Ian Patton addresses City Council calling tax vote unconstitutional<\/p>\n

The Long Beach Reform Coalition (LBRC) filed the lawsuit in February 2025, arguing that the City Council\u2019s move undermined the legally voter-approved timeline in Measure A. Councilmembers Zendejas, Allen, Duggan, Kerr, Saro, and Ricks-Oddie all voted for the early increase, relying on City Attorney Dawn McIntosh\u2019s assurance that it was \u201clegally sound.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But court filings reveal the city already knew the state would not approve the plan. Documents show that by late November 2024 two weeks before the City Council vote the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) had warned McIntosh and the City Manager that starting the tax early would be unconstitutional. That crucial fact was never disclosed to the public or the council before the vote.<\/p>\n

Judge Acquisto agreed with the LBRC\u2019s position, writing that the City\u2019s reading of Measure A \u201cwould require the Court to disregard the dates specified in the measure as to render them meaningless.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ruling not only invalidates the city\u2019s early tax ordinance but raises deeper questions:<\/p>\n

Why did city leaders proceed with a vote after being told by the state their plan was illegal? Why wasn\u2019t that information shared publicly? And can Long Beach residents trust City Hall\u2019s legal guidance moving forward?<\/p>\n

City Attorney McIntosh\u00a0\u00a0who faces re-election in 2026 could see the issue return to the ballot box. Critics argue her advice cost taxpayers legal fees and eroded public trust. Councilmember Megan Kerr, who once dismissed the LBRC as a \u201cfringe group,\u201d now faces scrutiny as the organization she mocked just saved Long Beach taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.<\/p>\n

As Long Beach heads toward another election cycle, residents are left asking: Who at City Hall is truly working for the people and who\u2019s just spinning the truth?<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a major embarrassment for City Hall, a Sacramento Superior Court judge has ruled that Long Beach\u2019s attempt…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-44449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}