Talks for Parcel Tax Specifics Continue

“Be conservative,” was the recommendation given Tuesday by the consulting firm that the hired to conduct a phone survey regarding the placement of a parcel tax on the November 2011 ballot.

Sixty-six percent of the survey responders said they would support an annual $114 parcel tax for seven years to fund local schools.

School officials are anticipating a $2.2 million shortfall for the 2012-13 school year and are considering parcel tax as one of the fundraising options.

Sarah Stern, a partner at TBWB Strategies, told the Board of Education that in her firm’s experience, “those that have been successful were conservative in their amounts.”

“However, based on the results of the phone survey, there is strong support for a parcel tax measure,” said Stern.

In order to win voter approval, the state mandates that parcel taxes must garner a 66 and two-thirds percent majority in favor of the ballot item.

The consultant’s recommendation was in response to the back and forth discussion between school board members regarding the final parcel tax amount.

Superintendent Donald Zimring thought that $98 might be confused with Measure E, which has been in place since 2004 and annually generates $2.3 million for the school district. “People may think they are getting double-billed,” he said.

Board member Lesli Stein agreed with Zimring. “Anything under $100 does look more attractive, but it may be confusing to the public,” she said.

Board member Gordon Whitehead said he was in favor of a higher amount, but also agreed that $98 was probably not a good number.

Stern also cited the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District as an example.

“They went after a higher amount that they wanted but the resolution failed to attract enough votes,” she said.

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District School District already collects $346 annually from its homeowners.

Stern also made recommendations regarding the timing of the initiative. From her firm’s experience, June ballots have high success rates, but low voter turn outs.

Placing the initiative on the November general election ballot may be costlier, but “there’s that opportunity to talk to voters better,” said Stern, citing the usually high voter turn out during this bigger election. 

School Board President Jill Gaines agreed with Stern’s recommendation that next June is not a good time for a special election.

“I’m just wondering whether we can rally the troops in time, in order to get this passed,” she said.

Gaines also pointed out that volunteers need to be comfortable before they can “sell” the idea to voters.

Stern reiterated that it was important to pay attention to the poll results. “At the end of the day, we’re asking voters to open their pocketbooks,” she said.

Next up is the public hearing on Aug. 8. Two things will be decided then: the name of the measure and the final amount of the parcel tax.

If approved in the November ballot, homeowners will begin seeing the new parcel tax in their 2012 property tax bills.