Parcel Tax Discussion Continues

The discussion on a possible education parcel tax continued on Tuesday night when the Board of Trustees held a public hearing on the subject at its meeting.

Though only a handful of people attended and only two spoke, what seemed to be a topic of concern is the language that will be used on the ballot should the Board decide to move forward with a parcel tax.

Michael Hanson, president of the Scotts Valley Education Association, the union that represents the district’s teachers, said that there is some concern among the teacher about the language being too narrow or too broad.

“If it’s too narrow, we get locked into paying for things,” Hanson said. “Then, when things change in the future, as it no doubt will, we don’t have the flexibility to move funds around. On the other hand, if it’s too broad, some of our members feel the public will look at the language and wonder what that money is going too.”

Hanson said there is also some disappointment among the teachers that it is looking like any money coming in from the tax will only be used to maintain current programs and not to bring back things that have been cut.

“Many teachers were worried that with the focus on maintaining programs and covering the deficit of the next year, that if this tax were to go ahead and pass, if the language doesn’t include some small restoration of a program, it’s going to be hard to get public support and it’s going to be hard to galvanize people and get the momentum going,” Hanson added.

Scotts Valley resident Allen Reames voiced his concern to the Board saying that he felt the concept of a parcel tax was unfair and possibly unconstitutional. Reames’ property is actually two parcels of land with one parcel being a rose garden next to his home. He said he would like to know who gets to vote, the parcel or the person, because he may end up with only one vote but paying on two parcels.

“I was well educated at the last meeting on the needs of the school. I recognize that there is a severe problem, but I don’t think you solve a problem by creating this type of unfair tax,” he said. “I don’t know who gets to vote so that’s why I would like to see the legislation. The veracity of my opinion is going to depend on what the legislation says, and if it’s really difficult then you’ll see me walking up and down Scotts Valley Drive with a sign.”

Trustee Michael Shulman said that a lot of options have been explored so far when it comes to the fine print of the parcel tax and the consensus seems to be that simpler is better.

“It’s often a complication to wed simple with fair, and what’s fair for one might be perceived as unfair to another,” Shulman said. “We are just going to need to have a series of conversations with those concerned to see if we can find some common ground and reach an understanding. Like most things in the public sector, there is often a measure of compromise that is needed.”

The Board asked Supervisor Penny Weaver to also bring information on a weighted parcel tax to its next community meeting so they can explore if that could be an option.

The next community meeting to discuss the parcel tax and get public input is on Nov. 3, 6:30-8 p.m., at the , 360 Kings Village Dr.