Parents fighting for Millbrae parcel tax

Comments

 SEE THE LATEST ON THIS STORY

EMAIL STORY

PRINT STORY

61 days ago: SFO-related tax measures on fall ballot

119 days ago: Excuses vary for missing tax deadline

119 days ago: Counties, residents wrestle with tax delinquency rates

158 days ago: Local, IRS officials warn taxpayers of economic stimulus scams

158 days ago: Area taxpayers plan to use stimulus payments to pay down debts, go shopping

173 days ago: Comptroller, IRS help last-minute filers on tax deadline day

174 days ago: Post offices stay open late for tax procrastinators

» 175 days ago: Parents fighting for Millbrae parcel tax «

179 days ago: Tax filing deadline just six days away

184 days ago: House members not eager for higher taxes, highway cuts

(Mike Koozmin/Special to The Examiner)
A group of parents has formed to lobby for a $78-per-parcel tax to fund schools.

MILLBRAE (Map, News) - Julie Turner, like most Millbrae parents, said she figured last May’s parcel tax measure for the city’s cash-strapped school district was a lock to pass.

Turner and other parents did not talk to voters, man phone banks or pass out fliers, assuming the community would support the measure. The city’s 11,500 voters, however, cast about 4,200 ballots and the measure failed by two percent. The district has since added to its budget cuts — now totaling $1.8 million during the past five years.

“I honestly thought that it was kind of a no-brainer, and when it didn’t pass I was absolutely shocked,” Turner said.

A second parcel tax slated for the June 3 ballot might not pass, either, but it certainly will not fail due to parents sitting on their hands. A fundraising group has formed and about 80 parents and rising are pounding the pavement to get the word out about the election.

“Unlike last year I think parents are more engaged,” said resident Rich Reimer, a member of the group.

The organization is called the Friends of Excellent Millbrae Schools and is the sort of civically engaged group rarely seen in the small town of Millbrae.

“They’re a nonpolitical machine,” Mayor Gina Papan said. “They know what’s at stake here.”

What’s at stake is anywhere from $400,000 to $492,000 the district would earn from the $78-per-parcel tax. The district has already slashed 12 percent of its budget and will likely cut at least another $200,000 next year because of state financial shortfalls.

Group co-chair Svetlana Vaksberg has experienced the cuts’ impact in the classroom first hand. Her first-grade son at Green Hills Elementary School had to deal with the layoff of his classroom’s instructional aid.

The parents have already been flooding Millbrae telephone lines with calls, passing out countless fliers in front of Safeway and Trader Joes and meeting with various community groups.

The group has raised two-thirds of its $30,000 goal and the parents, Vaksberg said, are not taking a “no” vote for an answer this time around.

mrosenberg@examiner.com

SEE THE LATEST ON THIS STORY

EMAIL STORY

PRINT STORY

61 days ago: SFO-related tax measures on fall ballot

119 days ago: Excuses vary for missing tax deadline

119 days ago: Counties, residents wrestle with tax delinquency rates

158 days ago: Local, IRS officials warn taxpayers of economic stimulus scams

158 days ago: Area taxpayers plan to use stimulus payments to pay down debts, go shopping

173 days ago: Comptroller, IRS help last-minute filers on tax deadline day

174 days ago: Post offices stay open late for tax procrastinators

» 175 days ago: Parents fighting for Millbrae parcel tax «

179 days ago: Tax filing deadline just six days away

184 days ago: House members not eager for higher taxes, highway cuts