Special election scheduled for June 3
By JASON AUSLANDER Daily Press Staff Writer
In a little more than two months, Santa Monica voters will again be asked to give the cash-strapped local school district more money.
This time, however, backers propose a smaller parcel tax, an exemption for senior citizens and will present the question at a June 3 special election called to decide this issue only.
“I think there is a greater willingness now to step up to the plate and provide funding,” said Seth Jacobson, a consultant hired by local businesses to help convince voters to pass the proposal.
“I think there is a greater willingness now to step up to the plate and provide funding.” — – SETH JACOBSON Consultant
Measure S, as it’s known, would levy a $225 flat tax on each of the 32,413 parcels of land in Santa Monica and Malibu. It would run for six years and generate about $6.5 million annually for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, which is facing a $13 million budget shortfall this year and next.
Last November, voters narrowly defeated Measure EE, which would have levied a 12-year parcel tax of up to $300 on landowners in Santa Monica and Malibu, and would have been adjusted annually for inflation. It did not receive the required two-thirds majority and was voted down 61 percent to 39 percent.
If passed, Measure S will not be adjusted for inflation and senior citizens won’t be taxed if they apply for an exemption. It will work out to about $20 per month for homeowners and about $4 a month for renters, Jacobson said.
Measure EE failed because there were so many other issues on the November ballot that polarized voters, there was no exemption for homeowners aged 65 and older and because the depth of the state’s budget crisis wasn’t know then, Jacobson said.
However, Matt Millen, an attorney and Santa Monica resident, called the tax “regressive” and said it was unfair because it put too much of the burden on homeowners.
66B,“They basically left big developers and big businesses off the hook,” Millen said, adding that the tax would be fairer if it was based on square footage or done by dwelling.
He also blamed the city for not adequately funding the school district.
“The city has a lot of money and they’re basically refusing to pay,” Millen said. “They decide they want to push their pet projects.”
Those projects include “too many non-resident” programs, such as those that benefit the homeless or provide low-income housing, he said.
Another Measure S selling point, supporters said, is that the business community was included this time in designing the tax.
“That is a first,” Jacobson said of business owners’ participation in and acceptance of Measure S, “because it’s basically for an issue that won’t directly affect their business.”
Dr. Michael Gruning, a member of Save Our Schools and chairman-elect of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, said there is much more cooperation between the business community and the school district this time around.
“We in the business community are behind this measure,” he said. “It’s perceived as a big deal because of the budget crisis.”
He said he thinks the “state has abdicated its responsibility” on education issues more than the city, though he questioned some of the city’s recent expenditures, including the $72 million it will spend on a new Main Library.
Supporters are planning a fund-raiser for Measure S on April 1 at 7:30 a.m. at the Casa Del Mar Hotel. Millen said he and others are still considering whether to form a “No On S” campaign.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 29, 2003. Read the original PDF.