School Board Wed., June 26: Vote on Two Tax Measures for Nov. 5, 2019 Ballot
Measure A = $2,763 Uniform per year tax for all parcels
Measure B = Adds an additional tax based on building Square Footage for up to $3,192 more per year.
To view the actual proposed tax on your home or property go to the staff report and read the chart seen below.
The Piedmont School Board will act on June 26, 2019 to place on the November Ballot two new school parcel taxes. Measure A will be a uniform parcel cost of $2,763 per parcel. Measure B is based on square footage of building space. If both measures pass, the smallest square foot building homeowner would pay $2,763 per year, and the largest square foot of building would pay $6,675 per year.
The staff recommendation is 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 $2,763 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 highly qualified teachers and educational support staff.
Renewing the existing parcel tax (“Measure A”) would secure $10.8 million in revenues. Measure A is a continuation, no tax increase measure. We [District Staff] 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.
To view what you would pay if Measure A and/or B pass, see below:
# of parcels
Square Feet of improved property
% of parcels
Measure A $2,763
Measure B @ 0.25 per sq/ft
A+B (total tax)
104
0/vacant
2.6%
$2,763
$0
$2,763
25
557-1,000
0.6%
$2,763
$139 – $250
$2,902 – $3,013
1098
1,001-2,000
27.9%
$2,763
$250 – $500
$3,013 – $3,263
1528
2,001-3,000
38.8%
$2,763
$500 – $750
$3,263 – $3,874
707
3,001-4,000
17.9%
$2,763
$750 – $1,000
$3,874 – $3,763
267
4,001-5,000
6.7%
$2,763
$1,000 – $1,250
$3,763 – $4,013
99
5,001-6,000
2.5%
$2,763
$1,250 – $1,500
$4,013 – $4,263
38
6,001-7,000
1.0%
$2,763
$1,500 – $1,750
$4,263 – $4,513
19
7,001-8,000
0.5%
$2,763
$1,750 – $2,000
$4,513 – $4,763
19
8,001-9,000
0.5%
$2,763
$2,000 – $2,250
$4,763 – $5,013
8
9,001-10,000
0.2%
$2,763
$2,250 – $2,500
$5,013 – $5,263
21
10,001-15,650
0.3%
$2,763
$2,500 – $3,912
$5,263 – $6,675
1
25,635 (apartment)
<0.1%
$2,763
$6,409
$9,172
VI_F_UpdatedBackgroundSchoolSupportTax_0 with chart
Additionally, we [District Staff] recommend that a second measure (“Measure B”) be placed on the ballot. [See above chart.] 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 $2,763 per year, and the largest square foot building owner would pay $9,172 per year.
Together [Measure A and B], both measures would raise $13.4 million.
II. RECOMMENDATION: REVIEW AND ACTION After convening the second of two (2) public hearings—June 12, 2019 and June 26, 2019, District staff recommends that the Board adopt the two subsequent Board Resolutions (Measure A & B) that authorize both the renewal of a qualified special tax and a second qualified special tax for voter approval on November 5, 2019.
VI.F. Approve Resolution 19-2018-19 “Proposing a Qualified Special Tax and Establishing Specification of the Election Order Measure A”
At 8:40 p.m. the Board is requested to approve the attached Resolution 19-2018-19 “Proposing a Qualified Special Tax and Establishing Specifications of the Election Order Measure A”.
The Resolution calls for an election on November 5, 2019 to extend the authorization of the Board to levy the current School Support Tax as permitted in Measure A for eight years starting on July 1, 2020. The new Measure “A” is a renewal of the current School Support Tax—a uniform flat tax on all parcels. The new Measure “A” will continue to provide an exemption for churches, public utilities, and those eligible for Social Security Supplemental Income. The new Measure “A” also continues to permit an inflation growth rate of up to two (2) percent per year.
Attachments:
VI_F_UpdatedBackgroundSchoolSupportTax_0
VI_F_UpdatedResolution19201819MeasureA_0
At 9:00 p.m. ~
VI.G. Approve Resolution 20-2018-19 “Proposing a Qualified Special Tax and Establishing Specification of the Election Order Measure B”
The Board is requested to approve the attached Resolution 20-2018-19 “Proposing a Qualified Special Tax and Establishing Specifications of the Election Order Measure B”.
The Resolution calls for an election on November 5, 2019 to authorize the Board to levy a new School Support Tax as permitted in Measure “B” for eight years starting on July 1, 2020. The new Measure “B” is a uniform tax applied at $0.25 per square foot of building improvements. The new Measure “B” will continue to provide an exemption for churches, public utilities, and those eligible for Social Security Supplemental Income. The new Measure “B” does not include an inflation growth rate.
VI_G_Resolution20201819MeasureBParcelTax_0
READ the above linked reports for further details.
The meeting will be held in Piedmont City Hall, broadcast on Cable Channel 27 and the Piedmont website under School Board.
The tax tables for houses in the 2,000 to 3,000 sq ft and 3,000 to 4,000 sq ft ranges make no sense. It appears our school board staff can’t do simple arithmetic.
“Given the recent poll results” Staff ignored the “recent poll results” in formulating a two tax scheme. The single $1.25 per square foot building tax polled at 73.5% in the final analysis giving the District 25% more tax revenue. This 25% increase square foot tax was polled directly against a 15% increased flat tax. Despite this bias, the 15% increased flat tax only polled at 62.1%. 66.7% is needed to pass.
The district claimed a single tax square foot tax would not work as there would be no way to tax unimproved parcels. This statement by District Staff is contrary to (1) Common practice by Alameda School since 2011 (2) Two court challenges to the Alameda tax in which Alameda prevailed (not the Boricas case), and (3) State Legislation passed in 2018 which specifically allows a separate unimproved parcel rate.