New tax would net more than $6 million for district
Chances are if you live in Santa Monica or Malibu, someone from the school district may be calling you in the next week.
School officials want to know if residents will support a tax increase to pay for the faltering school district, which is facing a multi-million dollar shortfall.
Beginning tonight, the Santa Monica- Malibu Unified School District will conduct a poll of residents over the next week to gauge support for its parcel tax proposals.
The three schemes residents will be asked to rate include an annual flat tax of $225 for every property, a $60 flat fee on properties with a 7-cent assessment for every square foot of improvements, or a $110 flat property fee with a 5-cent assessment per square foot.
An owner of a 1,000-square-foot condominium would pay $225 under the first proposal, $130 under the second and $160 under the third.
Each plan exempts residents over 65 years old and each would net the school district between $6 million to $6.5 million annually for six years. Officials say the money would be used exclusively to fill the projected $11 million in state funding cuts slated for the school district next year.
To make up for the remainder of state cuts, the school district will have to make deep budget cuts and raise fees on many services.
“The state government has basically reneged on making education a priority,” said school board member Oscar de la Torre. “There’s going to be lives affected by these decisions. Real lives are behind these numbers, and real jobs are behind these numbers. It’s not an easy position to be in.”
School officials are leery of even suggesting the new tax proposals since they’ve never been done before. The tax structures have only been used by a few cities and counties throughout the state, and have never been used exclusively for school districts.
The courts haven’t even ruled yet whether or not taxes like the ones being considered are legal under the state’s educational code.
“It’s clear it’s relatively new and there is little case law dealing with them,” said Ralph Mechur, a volunteer on the school district’s parcel tax committee. “With available information and our legal counsel, we are trying to make a prudent decision about a form of parcel tax that would be as acceptable to the residents and the courts that will at the same time provide substantial revenue to the district.”
The school district was sent into an economic tail spin last year with the precipitous drop-off in state funding. As the legislature wrangles with closing California’s $35 billion budget deficit, the economic picture has only become more bleak.
The school board already has approved nearly $4 million in budget cuts this year. But it still must find another $3.5 million more by the end of the school year, which ends on June 30.
School superintendent John Deasy has proposed that the state allow the school district to close for one straight week and then a succession of five Fridays this year. By not paying its employees during that time, the district could save nearly $3.2 million in payroll.
The savings would prevent the school board from having to increase class sizes, cut academic programs, and eliminate more than 100 positions, Deasy said.
Deasy’s proposal is still in the drafting stage, and the district’s attorneys are determining if its even legal. The school district would need a waiver from the state board of education to reduce the number of school days in the year, according to a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education.
“I think we have to consider everything we can do short of ending programs for students,” Deasy said. “It’s reprehensible what these state cuts mean to our kids.”
However, some have said they are uneasy with the proposal. Parents question how the loss of days will affect middle and high school students who must pass state tests before they can graduate.
Other parents wonder how the school district can expect them to find daycare for their children while the school district is closed. And they ask what poor families who can’t afford daycare will do with their children.
“There are a lot of issues that still need to be addressed,” said Leslie Wizan, president of the Franklin Elementary PTA. “And as far as we know, nothing has been put in stone that this is what (the district) is going to do.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 7, 2003. Read the original PDF.