Educational Parcel Tax Measure Will Be on June Ballot

After nearly two years of discussing a possible educational parcel tax, school trustees are ready to move forward and put the tax on the ballot.

At a meeting Tuesday night, trustees decided on the key elements of the tax resolution after listening to the results of a recent public opinion poll that they commissioned.

On the June primary ballot, the district will ask voters to support an educational parcel tax of  $48 for a period of three years. Seniors and the disabled will be exempt from the tax.

Though the Board had hoped to ask for a higher amount of money, possibly up to $84 a parcel, Gene Bregman of Soquel-based Gene Bregman and Associates advised against it after conducting a random poll of 250 community members.

Bregman said that at the lower amount of $48, 72 percent said they would vote for it. The percentage went down the higher the tax amount was. Bregman added that the poll has a 6 percent margin of error to consider.

Bregman also told the Board that while 60 percent of those polled felt that there was a great need for more money in the school district, 45 percent had no idea about the parcel tax or had only heard a little about it and had no opinion on it yet.

“There is good news and not so good news,” Bregman told trustees. “The good news is that I think with a good campaign, well run with lots of volunteers, I think you can get something passed here. It won’t be easy. But I think it can happen. The bad news is that I think you have to keep the tax rate under $50.”

There are approximately 6,500 taxable parcels in Scotts Valley. A tax rate of $48 would amount to roughly $300,000 a year, far less than trustees had hoped for and what the district needs.

“It will be difficult to campaign on $48 because it’s hard to justify that when we need so much more,” Trustee Michael Shulman said. “That amount of money doesn’t put much of a dent in the hole for us. It’s going to be a lot more difficult to generate enthusiasm for a campaign that is only going to bring in about $300,000.”

Shulman asked the board if it would be wise to wait until after November when the governor will put a half-cent sales tax increase on the ballot to help prevent more education cuts to make a decision.

If the governor’s tax measure fails the school district will be faced with further budget cuts and a higher parcel tax would be ideal.

However, the other trustees felt that moving forward now, with any amount, was the way to go.

“I don’t think we can wait. We have been waiting, hoping the situation in Sacramento will get better. I think the situation is not getting better, it’s actually getting worse,” Trustee John Abel said. “It’s time to take matters into our own hands as much as possible. Basically, every dollar we can get by ourselves will help us. We’ve got to do what we were planning to do and that is to protect the school district to the best of our ability.”

Superintendent Penny Weaver also agreed that moving forward at this time with $48 is the best plan.

“Any amount to help mitigate the deficit we are facing will enable us to continue delivering programs and services to our children who are our purpose and our future,” Weaver said. “I believe they deserve that we ask the question.”