New Piedmont School Tax Measures Considered – Wed. May 8
Recommendation:
Two parcel tax measures: one for each separate parcel and a second measure, an additional add on tax based on square footage of each Piedmont building including single family residences. See full report linked below.
The School Board will discuss potential School District parcel tax measures at their Wednesday, May 8, 2019 Board Meeting in City Hall, 120 Vista Avenue. The meeting will be broadcast live on cable Channel 27 and the Piedmont website under videos/school board. The tax measure agenda item is set for 8:40 p.m.
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Recommendation for 2 Measures on the November 2019 Ballot
Given the recent poll results and Piedmont’s current educational needs, District staff recommends that the Board of Education consider asking voters to support the renewal of its existing parcel tax to maintain current programs at the $2,656 flat rate (“Measure A”) and in a separate measure (“Measure B”) asking voters for an additional amount ($0.25 per building square foot) to ensure that Piedmont schools will be better able to attract and retain qualified teachers and staff. Renewing the existing parcel tax (“Measure A”) would secure, $10.5 million in revenues. Measure A is a continuation, no tax increase measure. We would also recommend an 8-year “duration” of the tax to provide a stable ongoing source of revenue to the District and fulfill the description as a pure continuation of what is in place today. Additionally, we recommend that a second measure (“Measure B”) be placed on the ballot. This second measure would be set at $0.25 per building square foot and would also have an 8-year duration.
Passage of Measure B would result in an additional $2.6 million to the Piedmont schools. Importantly, the entire community would share the burden of an increased tax (although larger properties would pay more and smaller properties less – $139 per year for the smallest residential parcel). An added benefit is that if this tax were challenged from a legal standpoint, only the supplemental tax would be at legal risk.
If both measures pass, the smallest square foot homeowner would pay $2,795 per year, and the largest square foot homeowner would pay $6,568 per year. Together, both measures would raise $13.1 million.
Read the full staff report on the tax measures: > VII_C_BackgroundSchoolSupportTax_0
Read the full May 8 School Board Agenda > https://agendaonline.net/public/Meeting.aspx?AgencyID=1241&MeetingID=72017&AgencyTypeID=1&IsArchived=False
The current flat rate tax generates $10.4M in revenue. The proposed additional $0.25 per square foot of building tax will generate $2.6M for a $13M total, a 25% per cent increase over current revenue. This is excessive. The Survey polled the maximum tax increase at $3,056, a 15% increase over $2,656. An appropriate additional per square foot building tax is $0.15 per square foot and the 15% increase is consistent with previously provided information.
The District has not levied Measure A as passed. Resolution 10-2012-13 defines a parcel as “receives a separate tax bill from the County of Alameda.” The text of Measure A: “The special tax shall be assessed at the rate of $2,406 per parcel. For parcels divided by Tax Code Area lines, the payment for the portion of the parcel within the Piedmont Unified School District shall be the same as the above.” However all parcels receiving a separate tax bill are not taxed.