The Texas Supreme Court decided Jan. 25 that it will not hear the appeal for a lawsuit brought forth by Friendswood residents against the city. The case originally came forward in 2016 contesting the results of a May 7, 2016 election that established new sales taxes to fund a street maintenance program and the Friendswood Downtown Economic Development Corporation. "Unfortunately the city has had to spend a great deal of taxpayer money to defend a really frivolous lawsuit," said Bill Helfand, city of Friendswood's attorney for the case. "There shouldn’t really be any other means by which this would be subject to review." The case had been brought to the district court, which dismissed the case under summary judgment. Plaintiffs then took the case to the state appeals court, which also ruled in favor of the city in April.