More applications flooding school district than last year
By Daily Press staff
DISTRICT HDQTRS. — With a little more than one month left for senior citizens to exempt themselves from a $225 school parcel tax passed last year, officials said they’ve already seen a noticeable increase in applications.
The flat tax, passed as Measure S last June, applies to more than 32,000 properties in Santa Monica and Malibu. It’s expected to generate about $6.5 million annually for the cash-poor local school district until it expires in 2009.
More than 3,000 senior exemptions were granted last year, for a total of $711,000, said Dawn Smithfield, an administrator for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. The vast majority of the exemptions — 2,280 — were in Santa Monica, while just 880 Malibu parcels were exempted from the tax.
Smithfield said the number of exemptions this year won’t be known until August, but already she’s seen an increase in applications from seniors.
SMMUSD has avoided teacher layoffs in recent years but has been in a constant struggle to maintain services and programs, said officials, who added growth has been delayed until the financial forecast improves.
Residents who will be 65 by June 30 and own their homes can be exempted from the tax by providing the school district with proof of age and ownership. Those seniors who applied for and were given exemptions last year were mailed renewal forms in May. Resubmitting proof of age or ownership is not required, though seniors must file a renewal form by July 31 each year, Smithfield added.
After the parcel tax passed last year, the clerk’s office at City Hall was inundated with calls about the senior exemption — but powerless to help. The same is true this year, as the district is responsible for handling all senior applicants.
For more information on parcel tax exemptions, seniors should contact Smithfield at (310) 450-8338, ext. 269. Smithfield mails exemption applications to fill out, sign and return along with proof of age — a driver’s license, California ID card, passport or birth certificate — and a property tax bill copy. There is no exemption for renters, who share the tax burden with neighbors in their buildings.
Seniors aren’t exempt from Measure Y, a $104.13 school tax passed in 2001.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 29, 2004. Read the original PDF.