BONANDER v. TOWN OF TIBURON Part I
Lawsuit challenging a special assessment levied under the Municipal Improvement Act of 1913 for failure to comply with Proposition 218 which requires that certain types of assessments be treated as taxes subject to a public vote is subject to special procedural rules applicable to "validation actions," including requirement that plaintiffs publish notice of the action and file proof of publication within 60 days after the filing of the complaint absent good cause for not doing so. Where plaintiffs made no effort to publish notice of the action until after 60 day period had run, trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that they lacked good cause for noncompliance with the validation statutes even if they acted in good faith by serving all affected property owners by mail and even if defendant municipality suffered no prejudice. Neither defendant's filing of answer and opposition brief addressing merits nor its failure to oppose plaintiffs' ex parte motion to amend summons to include "all interested persons" constituted a waiver of plaintiffs' failure to comply with validation statutes.
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