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# New measure comes up short
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/new-measure-comes-up-short/
- Published: 2008-01-07T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T17:52:19.000Z
- Author: Bill Bauer
- Tags: Opinion, Malibu, #archive-import

MEASURE R, THE SANTA MONICA/MALIBU Unified School District’s Feb. 5 ballot proposition which combines and extends measures “Y” and “S” school parcel taxes is only one of a flurry of new tax proposals coming our way.

The current Measure Y, expiring in 2011, is the replacement of an earlier $73 per-parcel tax. Starting at $98 per parcel in 2001 and with a Cost Of Living Adjustment (COLA), it is now at $120.97 per parcel — and with no senior exemption.

Measure S, expiring in 2009, sets a flat $225 tax on every one of some 32,000 land parcels in Santa Monica and Malibu. The measure has no COLA, but senior (those over 65) property owners who live on their property can apply for a waiver.

Combining Y and S creates a new parcel tax of about $346 per parcel. Called Measure R, it allows a senior exemption for the entire $346 instead of $225 permitted by the current Measure S. A COLA applies to the entire amount, not just the $121 of the current Measure Y.

With “R,” a 4 percent COLA would add about $9 annually to a property owner’s tax bill. So, when "Yes on R” proponents, say that “R” won’t increase taxes, it’s just not true. The increase is modest, but there. Exemptions only apply to property owners. Tenants will pay for “R" if approved because landlords will likely get approval to pass it on as they do with other taxes and bond expenses.

The committees who write these measures play all the angles. Exempting senior property owners eliminates elders who generally oppose tax measures. Taxing multimillion dollar properties at the same rate as small properties buys big business support. Allowing landlords to pass on costs buys their endorsements. It’s all about reducing opposition and currying favor. The little person takes it in the shorts and schools actually lose revenue, too.

A “Yes on R" flyer recently mailed to renters and signed by Santa Monica for Renters Rights (SMRR) Co-Chair, Denny Zane, states "Santa Monica Renters Support Measure R.” I’m one of many renters who say, “Bullcrap." “’R’ renews existing taxes... permitting adjustments of about 14 cents a month for the average renter,” the flyer states.

Unfortunately, this is misleading. Incremental adjustments aside, the actual cost, if passed, will be about $4 per-month (per renter in a seven-unit building) — not 14 cents.

Renters in older, smaller buildings pay the most while tenants in large and generally pricier digs skate free.

These taxes are divided by the number of units and paid monthly with rent. A triplex tenant will pay $9.63 per month. A tenant in a 100-unit building will pay 29 cents a month.

Although Zane casts himself as a "protector of renters,” he makes a good living managing campaigns for political issues and candidates. Various school parcel tax and bond committees and Santa Monica College are his better clients. Renters already pay $12 per-month in my seven-unit building for various Zane-promoted school and college tax and bond assessments.

Zane consulted on Measure V, last election’s successful “Clean Beaches and Oceans” parcel tax measure.

Thursday, Zane’s 100 percent SMRR-endorsed Rent Control Board will probably approve “V"’s cost to be paid by renters, adding a few more bucks to our monthly rents.

I phoned Zane and asked him if he was receiving remuneration from "Yes on R" or other entities supporting the measure. He said, “None.” When asked if this was a “freebie,” he responded, “When it comes to our schools, it always is." Well, not always. SMRR Co-chair, Zane’s paid involvement in political campaigns that always receive SMRR endorsement and consistently result in rent increases smacks of big conflicts of interest.

“Tax and spend” Zane is executive director of the L.A. County Transportation Funding Collaborative — a new organization composed of labor and political leaders, transit advocates and owners of firms that run political campaigns who, like Zane, will profit from any county-wide initiatives to raise public monies for transit. Tomorrow, LACTF is hosting a conference in downtown Los Angeles to address ways to fund projects such as the proposed $5 bill i o n, MTA "Subway to the Sea."

Topics on the agenda include a state constitutional amendment per-mitting a 55 percent voter approval of transportation funding ballot measures. A host of new taxes, surcharges and fees, state or county gas tax increases, sales tax increases, parcel taxes, congestion pricing, driver’s license and motor vehicle registration fee increases, parking fees and/or surcharges and developer mitigation fees are all up for discussion.

When politicians, special interests and political consultants get through, you can bet your Prius that taxes will go up, sky-high up! The poor and middle classes will be hit the hardest while Zane and his cohorts do their business and profit handsomely.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 7, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/010708.pdf?ref=smdp.com)