Existing law provides that any person who lives, works, owns property, or attends school in the jurisdiction of a local agency, as defined, who is assessed for and is liable to pay, or within one year before the commencement of the action, has paid, a tax in the local agency, may maintain an action to obtain a judgment restraining and preventing an illegal expenditure of, waste of, or injury to the estate, funds, or other property of the local agency, as specified. Under existing law, a tax that funds the defendant local agency is sufficient to confer standing as a taxpayer, including, but not limited to, an income tax, a sales and use tax or transaction and use tax initially paid by a consumer to a retailer, a property tax, or a business license tax.
This bill would expand the scope of this cause of action and standing to permit a person to maintain an action against the state or a state agency.