Local Tax Measures Piling Up for June Ballot

Faced with likely budget cuts due to a massive state budget deficit, local school districts and possibly cities will look to local residents to help supplement lean budgets on the horizon.

According to an article in the Daily Journal, the Millbrae School Districts is considering placing a $78-per-parcel tax on the June 3, 2008 ballot. A $78 tax could generate up to $492,648 for the district annually. The parcel tax would be the district’s second attempt in 13 months. On May 8, 200y, Measure R, the district’s first attempt at passing such a tax failed by just over three percentage points, garnering 64.4 percent of the vote of the necessary 66.7 percent in a special mail-only election.

The Millbrae School District may be joined by a slew of others including a possible effort to renew or augment an existing parcel tax in the San Carlos Elementary School District.

According to an article in the Daily Journal, in 2003 voters in San Carlos passed Measure D — a $98 per year parcel tax that will expire in 2011. The tax covers about 10 percent of costs for many programs like counseling and reading comprehension.

A parcel tax could be coming to San Bruno as well. School Board Trustees in the San Bruno Park Elementary School District will discuss the possibility of placing a parcel tax on the June ballot at the board’s Wednesday, March 12 meeting.

That district is currently reviewing over $1 million in budget reduction proposals to offset a likely deficit.

According to an article in the Pacifica Tribune, the Pacifica School District is also considering a June parcel tax to offset likely budget cuts due to significantly less state funding. The amount of that parcel tax has not yet been formalized.

All of the school tax measures will be forced to compete with a countywide tax in that of a 1/8-cent sales tax to generate dedicated revenue for county and city parks throughout San Mateo County. That Measure has already been placed on the June ballot by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors at the board’s Feb. 12, 2008 meeting.

County taxpayers will remember the former Measure A, the failed sales tax measure that appeared on the November 2006 ballot. The former “Parks for the Future” tax required a 2/3 supermajority for passage but garnered only 55.4 percent approval, according the League of Women Voters web archive.

The new measure will be an exact replica of the failed measure of two years ago offered by the “Parks for the Future” campaign.

The sales tax would generate approximately $16 million a year to be shared by the 20 cities in San Mateo County, the county government itself and three special parks or recreation districts. Under the formula devised for the failed Measure A tax 52 percent would be divided among the 20 county cities, 42 percent would go to the county government itself and the remaining 6 percent would be shared among three local parks districts.

Cities would divide the share of the sales tax windfall on a per capita basis – which will benefit the larger cities in the county – with a minimum distribution equal to 1.357 percent of total net tax revenues and the remaining City allocations will be adjusted accordingly. For example, Daly City, the county's biggest city, would get $1.1 million, followed by San Mateo, which would receive about $987,000. Smaller cities such as Brisbane and Half Moon Bay would be guaranteed a minimum of $205,000 a year.

With multiple taxes on the ballot in so many communities, voters will have a variety of hard choices to make.