Property Tax To Fund Scotts Valley Schools Inches To Ballot

To save vital programs at local schools the will ask voters to pass a parcel tax measure in either May or June of 2012. If passed, the measure will help to fill a growing gap in state education funds.

The Board Of Trustees approved a draft plan Tuesday night after months of polling residents holding community meetings. With the tax, the district could make up a $507,000 budget hole in 2012-13.

Tuesday's draft includes language that reduces the tax if other funding replaces the need.

Godbe Research earlier in the year to gauge community support for a price range from $48 to $96. All prices proposed gathered similar amounts of support, with a majority saying they would "definitely or probably" vote yes for $96 to be applied to commercial and residential real estate parcels.

“This document is not set in stone by any means,” said district Superintendent Penny Weaver. “This is far from being finalized. It may be shredded and reformed by the time we come back for finalization on Dec. 13. We want this process to be as transparent as possible.”

Trustees are concerned that $48 would not raise enough cash and make further cuts necessary. This could leave voters with a sour taste when they are asked to renew the fee in four years. A $96 tax would raise $604,000 each year. Seniors and the disabled will be exempt from the tax, and support from two-thirds of 12,000 registered voters is required to pass the measure.

The tax will apply to more than 6,000 properties and go into effect on July 1, 2012 if passed. It is estimated that a mail-in ballot election will cost the city $48,000 to $60,000. An election with polling places would cost half that amount, and gathered the support of the Seniors Coalition.

“If we spend more money to get more money, we are not being frugal,” said Board president Larry Beaman.

The district has already cut $3 million dollars from budget since 2007 through furlough days and decreased administrative costs. They say they can't trim anymore without eliminating programs. Scotts Valley Middle School Principal Mary Lonhart said that larger class sizes from cuts could be the trigger to a recent decline in assessment scores by seventh and eighth graders.

“I would say this is from higher class sizes, but those are large developmental years as well,” she said.

Resident Alan Reeves of the “rose garden coalition” spoke out as a “strong opponent” of the parcel tax, and asked that properties without habitable structures be exempted.

“The wording of the proposal is very critical for this to go into effect and have this not be challenged constitutionally,” Reeves said. “I am not saying the school doesn't have needs. My concern is with its design.”

Parcel tax revenue will be used to retain existing programs including the arts, athletics and staff for all the basic subjects like math and history necessary for schools to hold on to their accreditation.

Without passing this parcel tax or deleting programs, the district could be more than $2 million in the hole by 2015, assuming that state funding doesn't bounce back.

The Board was briefed on projections of the state budget by district Director Of Business Services, Vicki Clark. She said that the picture is very unclear, but there is a strong chance that more cuts could be on the way.

“Vicki lays this out very succinctly for us. We can either make further reductions or raise local revenues because it is very unlikely that we will be getting more money from the state,” Weaver said.

Several Bay Area school districts have tried to pass a parcel tax measure in recent years, but because of the two-thirds requirement many have failed. Trustee Michael Shulman was not put off by this though.

“Every community is different, and every tax is different,” he said. “We just have to show we have gained the trust to show how we are going to spend the money.”