After a court determined last fall that the city of Canyon Lake’s utility users tax imposed on water and sewer customers is unconstitutional, the city is issuing refunds, officials said earlier this month.
The tax, which voters approved in 2014 and 2018, applied to customers of the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District and Eastern Municipal Water District.
In Beck v. City of Canyon Lake a panel from the California Court of Appeal, 4th District, found that the city’s water and sewer UUT was unconstitutional under Article XIII D of the California Constitution, a law voters established under Proposition 218. The court held that the tax was imposed “as an incident of property ownership” and used for general governmental purposes beyond the cost of providing water and sewer services, according to a Canyon Lake ordinance passed in November…