California Supreme Court Orders Review of El Dorado County Fee for Potential Violation of Property Rights.

The Supreme Court of California has ruled that a lower court should review a county fee to fund infrastructure upgrades that violated constitutional protections for individual property rights. The court directed a state court to review whether El Dorado County had violated the takings clause, which states that private property owners are entitled to just compensation if their property is taken for public use. The ruling rejected the California Court of Appeal’s ruling that a legal test used to decide whether fees were fair did not apply in this case. The case is being sent back to determine if the fee violated the clause.