Potential Parcel Tax on Tap for School Board Discussion

A discussion on possibly pursuing a new parcel tax for upcoming school years is scheduled to take place at Tuesday's meeting of the Board of Education.

The district already has a $98 a year parcel tax in place, approved by voters in 2004 and later renewed to last through 2015, which annually raises $2.3 million, said Chief Business Official Karen Kimmel.

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

Superintendent Donald Zimring said the addition of such a tax could play a key role in the district's finances in the near future.

"It will be one of a variety of critical elements," he said.

Zimring added that the district and the community need to work together because of the budgeting failures at the state government level.

"The only thing we can depend on the state for is further damage," he said. "We need to band together to save our schools."

An April 2010 phone survey of 500 voters in the area conducted by a consulting firm found that about 66 percent of those contacted would support an annual tax of $114.

Any amount higher than that would not get the 66 percent and two-thirds majority vote count needed to pass a parcel tax, according to a presentation of the survey.

The school board decided following that presentation that it would hold off on a parcel tax campaign until at least the next board election, which is this fall.

Last fall, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District fell short of attracting enough voters to pass an additional parcel tax. The one it already has in place collects $346 annually from homeowners.

Although Tuesday night's item is only a discussion, Zimring said the next step could be another survey of local voters to gauge their interest in a new parcel tax and how much they would be willing to contribute each year.

Las Virgenes Unified parents recently stepped up to the challenge of trimming a $3.8 million budget deficit for the 2011-12 school year when it raised $421,000 through the Save Our Schools campaign. Those funds, along with $800,000 the district managed to come up with thanks to retirements and other sources, helped rescind nearly all teaching layoffs for the 2011-12 school year.