KNAPP v. CITY OF JACKSONVILLE, OREGON
In this tax case, court decide whether the City of Jacksonville (city) imposed an unconstitutional tax on property, either when it originally adopted an ordinance requiring persons responsible for paying sewer and water bills to pay a public safety surcharge of $15 per unit or when it adopted an amended version of that ordinance. More specifically, court decide whether the original or amended surcharge constituted a tax on property under Article XI, sections 11 ("Measure 50") and 11b ("Measure 5") of the Oregon Constitution or violated either Article I, sections 20 and 32, of the Oregon Constitution or the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
Court's review of the record does not indicate that plaintiffs argued for an award of equitable attorney fees in the remedy phase of the case before the Tax Court or by submitting a petition for attorney fees. See TCR 68(C) (setting forth procedure for seeking award of attorney fees). That argument is unpreserved, and we will not consider it for the first time here. See Ailes v. Portland Meadows, Inc., 312 Or 376, 380, 823 P2d 956 (1991) (stating principle); ORAP 5.45(1) ("No matter claimed as error will be considered on appeal unless the claimed error was preserved in the lower court and is assigned as error in the opening brief in accordance with this rule * * * .").
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