TAX NEWS - JUNE 2010
California Tax: Parcel tax for the high schools? Only questions are when and how much
The district is expecting a $1.25 million deficit for the 2011-12 school year and a $3.3 million deficit for the 2012-13 school year. The revenue from a parcel tax would give the district some breathing room in future budget cutting decisions and allow the possibility of not having to resort to more class size increases or faculty layoffs.
In a presentation to the high school district board of trustees on June 1, Brad Senden of The Center for Community Opinion said that a survey of voters in May showed that there was support for a new parcel tax. The support, however, was for a parcel tax set at $49 per parcel, well below the $75 the district was hoping for.
The poll surveyed 654 registered voters in the district's boundary. The telephone interviews were completed between May 18 and 25 and the margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percent.
If passed at the lower amount, the district would expect a net of $800,000 a year, said Cary Matsuoka, superintendent of the district. That is $1 million less than what the district had originally planned for.
The district also looked to put the measure on the November 2010 ballot when it would cost the district $70,000. But Senden said that the district would have a better chance of passing the measure if it waited until May 2011 when only active voters would be participating.
The parcel tax needs two-thirds approval to be passed, and less active voters—those who usually vote only in big elections, such as the upcoming one in November—have shown to be less enthusiastic about the proposed parcel tax.
But Matsuoka said that putting the measure on the May 2011 ballot would be problematic because of the price tag. It would cost the district $400,000 to put the proposed tax measure on the spring ballot.
Senden said that the district could have issues communicating with the public and "rising above the noise" in the November election. The district might have a better chance next spring when there will be less on the ballot for voters to focus on, he said.
"You would be the only show in town," Senden said.
Matsuoka has also discussed the idea of working with the Saratoga Union School District in a combined effort to help save costs if both districts went ahead with separate tax measures.
But Senden said putting two parcel tax measures on the same ballot might make people choose one over the other, which would doom both.
No decision was made and the topic will come back for discussion at the high school district's June 15 meeting.
Both Matsuoka and board members said that what is of major importance is finding out if community members felt they would be able to come up with the estimated $180,000 it would cost for a campaign for the November election.
Although Senden's survey of voters showed more support for a $49 parcel tax, trustee Lorrie Wernick said that the district should still think strongly about going forward with a $75 tax measure.
"With all due respect to Brad," she said, "even though his polling showed only $49 [was supported by the public], if these phone calls are made by students, and these phone calls are made by teachers, parents will say yes."
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