Polling on Educational Parcel Tax Set to Begin

Scotts Valley school trustees gave the go-ahead at Tuesday night’s meeting to have the community polled about their support of a proposed educational parcel tax.

Beginning as early as this week, voters in Scotts Valley could receive phone calls asking them questions about key aspects of the proposed tax and what they would be willing to vote for. To pass, two-thirds of the just under 12,000 registered Scotts Valley voters will need to approve it.

Trustees authorized Superintendent Penny Weaver to hire Soquel polling firm Gene Bregman & Associates to conduct the research. Weaver was given a budget of between $8,000-$10,000 to spend.

The results will be presented to the school board at its Jan. 24 meeting. With the poll, trustees are hoping to answer several key questions—the duration of the tax, the amount, and whether it should be a special mail-in ballot in May or be put on the June primary ballot.

“If we can come together and agree on those items and move forward, that level of input protects the resolution,” trustee John Abel said.

The Board also reviewed language in a draft resolution for the parcel tax. The Board had previously reviewed the draft resolution at its last meeting in December but asked that some of the language be cleaned up. Weaver said some adjustments had been made and some things had been removed to be in line with what the Board requested.

The current language in draft resolution exempts parcel owners 65 and older and recipients of Supplemental Social Security with a disability regardless of age.

Trustees are looking toward a parcel tax to help with the budget crisis the district is facing. Since 2007, the Board has been forced to cut approximately $3 million from the budget, resulting in increased class sizes, the reduction and elimination of academic programs and school counseling services, and the layoffs of teachers. At a Dec. 13 meeting, SVUSD Chief Business Official Vicki Clark said that the district is essentially spending about a half a million dollars a year and, with no changes or other money coming in, the district will have burned through its reserves by the 2014/15 school year.

If passed, money from the parcel tax will be used solely for maintaining current programs at the schools, retaining qualified teachers and minimizing further class size increases.

This is the second time the district has polled the community about the parcel tax. In January, . At the conclusion of that poll, the firm citing that the district needed to do more outreach to the community and education people on the issues a bit more.

Since that time, the district had held two community meetings, one in October and one in November, to receive input from voters, which they used to help draft the resolution. With the current poll, trustees hope to tie up the last few loose ends and move forward with getting the resolution on a ballot.

The district will incur the costs of an election. A mail in ballot will cost an estimated $4 to $5 per voter and a precinct election will cost between $2 and $3 per voter.