Pair files suit over retirement tax

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. filed a lawsuit this week on behalf

of two Huntington Beach residents who claim the city is charging a tax

that is illegal.

The suit demands that residents Charles Scheid and Charles Davis

receive refunds from the city for a property tax used to help pay for

retirement benefits of city employees. Continuing to collect the tax

allegedly violates Proposition 13, according to court documents filed

Monday.

The tax is based on a percentage of the assessed value of a property.

Scheid is suing for $22.55, and Davis, $122.42.

Without voter approval, the law prohibits the city from charging

property owners the tax to pay for certain benefits that were not agreed

to prior to passage of the proposition in 1978, the suit alleges.

Officials for the city, which will collect about $7 million from the tax

this year, argue that the city’s charter permits them to apply the tax

for more recent retirement obligations.

-- Eron Ben-Yehuda