In plaintiff's challenge to the constitutionality of the Mental Health Services Act, which expands funding for mental health services for all Californians by imposing an additional tax of 1 percent on annual income in excess of $1 million, trial court judgment is affirmed as there is no constitutional infirmity in the Act as an income tax may be rationally based on a taxpayer's income level and ability to pay, and there is no need to show that a particular taxpayer personally benefits from a tax assessed for the public good.
Read Jensen v. Franchise Tax Bd., No. B211815
Filed October 14, 2009
Judges
Opinion by Judge Boren
Counsel
For Appellant: Lappen and Lappen, Jonathan Bailey Lappen; Moxon & Kobrin, Kendrick L. Moxon
For Appellee: Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, W. Dean Freeman, Felix E. Leatherwood, Anthony F. Sgherzi, Deputy Attorneys General