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Raising taxes through the ballot box
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With a bleak economy depleting the local tax base and a state government struggling with an enormous deficit, many local cities and school districts will look to local residents to augment flagging revenues.
According to the county elections web site, no less than five local jurisdictions have placed measures on the local ballot in three separate local elections to raise new revenues.
In the Jefferson Elementary School District, which covers much of Daly City, Colma, Broadmoor and a portion of Pacifica, the local board of trustees has placed an $85 parcel tax measure on the ballot, now known as Measure A.
This would be the first such parcel tax in the district which has one of the lowest per capita incomes in San Mateo County.
Unlike many other districts, the JESD has not levied such taxes in the past although the district was successful in passing a school bond measure in November 2001 with a 68% approval by voters. The parcel tax will need a 2/3 or 66.7% approval rate by voters in order to pass.
Information and efforts to support the Measure can be found on the Yes on A web site.
The San Carlos School District Board of Trustees has placed a $78 parcel tax on the local ballot, now known as Measure B.
In a special election held on June 3, 2003 the San Carlos School District successfully passed a $98 parcel tax that is still in effect today. The previous tax, known as Measure D, is also pegged to the consumer price index and can increase by no more than 3% a year – assuming the CPI increases as well – to keep pace with inflation.
The school district will also need a two-thirds majority vote in order to pass Measure B. Information and efforts to support the Measure can be found on the Yes on B for Schools web site.
And finally, the Woodside School District Board of Trustees has placed a much more ambitious parcel tax on the May 5, 2009 ballot. Measure C – the Woodside Elementary School District parcel tax – will levy a $242 annual tax for eight years and can be adjusted according to the Consumer Price Index at a rate not to exceed 4 percent annually.
The new parcel tax is a renewal of the former Measure A parcel tax which was approved by Woodside voters in a special March 6, 2001 election. Measure A was a $233 annual parcel levy with a 4% CPI adjustment expires this year. Measure A was also a renewal of a previous tax measure.
May 19, 2009
The City of Pacifica has placed a 1-cent sales tax measure, now known as Measure D, on the May 19, 2009 ballot to coincide with the statewide special election. The funding measure is intended to replace funds from the successful $75 per-parcel fire assessment tax approved by Pacifica voters in 2004 which sunsets in June of this year.
According to city estimates, the addition 1-cent sales tax would generate approximately $1.3 million annually and would expire in 2016.
Many local cities and the county itself have had bad poor success when it comes to passing local sales tax measures.
In 2004, the City of Daly City placed a ¼-cent sales tax on the ballot, Measure M, but that measure garnered only a 35% approval but required nearly twice that for passage.
The City of San Bruno also tried to pass a local sales tax measure in the November 2007 election as Measure F. That measure, a ½-cent sales tax, garnered only 49.1% percent of the vote.
In November of 2006, a 1/8-cent sales tax measure that was designated for city and county parks also failed, garnering just over a 54% approval. A repeat of that measure was placed on the June 2008 ballot as Measure O. Although that measure received considerably more support, Measure O failed with only 60.5% of the vote while requiring a two-thirds supermajority for passage.
The city council in the City of San Mateo is also considering placing a quarter-cent sales tax on the ballot this November.
Both Pacifica and San Mateo’s sales taxes would be added to the existing sales tax base in San Mateo County – which just increased on April 1, 2009 by 1-cent as part of the State Legislature’s effort to balance the state budget which may increase the difficulty in passing these measures.
In addition, the Pacifica is host to vocal opponents of this measure and with any organized opposition, the likelihood of passage is slim to none. Opponents, according to the No on D webs site, claim that the current City Council’s failure to champion economic development in Pacifica has caused the budgetary challenges and that the new tax will only further burden local residents and businesses with one of the highest sales tax rates in the state.
June 2, 2009
Finally, the Redwood City School District Board of Trustee has placed a $91 a year parcel tax on the June 2, 2009 ballot. The levy proposal, title Measure E, if approved, would run for five years.
The School District placed a measure on the ballot in a special mail-in election on May 3, 2005 as Measure V, an $85 parcel tax levy. Measure V garnered 61.7% of the vote but failed to meet the two-thirds requirement.
As the economy continues to drag and with a series of taxes on the State Ballot slated for the special May 19, 2009 election, voters may simply be too fatigued to support new taxes or to even show up to vote.
Author's Update: April 9, 2009
Snakes to inherit Sharp Park golf course
Maria Lagos of the San Francisco Chronicle has now become aware of the battle brewing over the Sharp Park Golf Course. We appreciate her investigation and publicizing of the issue to a broader audience. However, I belive there is a serious omission in her article. She does not note, as my article has, that, according to the Sharp Park web site, under the terms of the gifting of the property to San Francisco, that the property, if not used as a golf course or for recreational purposes by the city, will revert to the State of California. If the state does not use the property for the intended purposes as well, then the property reverts back to the heirs of Samuel Murphey, the last exectuor of the estate when it was still privately owned.
Foul politics nets pay cuts in Daly City
I would like to thank the San Francinsco Chronicle's Mattier & Ross for bringing the Daly City salary Pay-gate issue to a broader readership. In their April 6, 2009 column, they wrote about Annette Hipona's drastic salary reduction by the Daly City Council. Keep up the good work, gentlemen!
Contact Bruce Balshone at bruce.examiner@gmail.com
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