Barlow-Gresham Union High School District No. U2-20-JT v. City of Gresham

Plaintiffs are school districts that own real property within the City of Gresham. Defendant, the City of Gresham, adopted an ordinance that imposed a “storm water user charge” on properties with impervious surfaces, including plaintiffs’ properties. The city now concedes that that charge was a tax within the meaning of Article XI, section 1 lb, of the Oregon Constitution,1 which had to be certified to the assessor and collected with other property taxes. See Dennehy v. City of Gresham, 12 OTR 194, 196-97 (1992), aff’d 314 Or 600, 841 P2d 633 (1992) (so holding).2 Without having pursued a…