Amici Curiae Brief filed in defense of Foresthill Public Utility District’s water rate challenge
December 23, 2020
On appeal from the Placer County Superior Court, MCWRA joined the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), California Special Districts Association (CSDA), California State Association of Counties (CSAC), and the League of California Cities in defense of Foresthill Public Utility District’s water rates.
The Local Government Amici wrote to address a single issue – whether the legal doctrine of exhaustion of remedies bars plaintiff Miner’s Camp LLC’s challenge to Foresthill Public Utility District’s water rates under Proposition 218. The trial court found for the plaintiff, relying on a since-superseded Court of Appeal decision that had determined that Proposition 218’s majority protest process was categorically futile and therefore exhaustion of that remedy was never required.
The Amici stated that “the trial court erred by applying the superseded Court of Appeal opinion to go where this Court’s later Plantier opinion does not lead – to a conclusion that exhaustion is never required in a Proposition 218 dispute. The duty to exhaust applies to claims under Proposition 218, just as it does to other constitutional claims.”
According to the brief, the trial court’s ruling “disserves both legislators and courts. Allowing challengers to sidestep Proposition 218 hearings will be costly for courts, agencies, and utility customers, whose rates fund hearing and litigation costs in every venue. Courts will be needlessly burdened to review complex ratemaking issues in the first instance, without the support of a robust record reflecting the agency’s expertise. Agencies incur significant costs to satisfy extensive Proposition 218 hearing requirements, but will not benefit from that expense under the rule applied below, and will lose opportunity to avoid needless litigation by addressing public concerns before suit.”
The Third District Court of Appeal has not yet scheduled oral arguments or a ruling in the case.
Click here for Amici Curiae Brief: 12.23.20foresthillamicusbrief
