City of Huntington Beach v. Superior Court

Opinion

TAMURA, J.

The central issue presented by this original proceeding is whether a real property transfer tax imposed by a city is an excise tax or a real property tax.

In a bifurcated trial of a taxpayers’ class action to recover real property transfer taxes imposed and collected by the City of Huntington Beach, the trial court determined the liability issue in favor of real parties in interest (hereafter plaintiffs) and entered findings of fact and conclusions of law in accordance with that determination. The matter is before us on an original proceeding in mandamus or prohibition…