San Francisco Parking Lot Tax Set for High Court Argument

Millions of dollars in taxes from university parking lots are at stake in a long-time fight between San Francisco and the University of California now at the California Supreme Court.

The battle, set for oral argument April 3, centers on San Francisco and other “home rule” cities that have broad powers to enact taxes colliding with a 63-year-old doctrine exempting state entities from local regulation when performing state functions.

In this case, it’s San Francisco’s 42-year-old tax on parking fees slamming into the University of California, San Francisco’s and San Francisco State University’s sprawling campuses, medical centers, and two dozen ...