City and School Elected Officials Discuss Common Issues –

The City/School Liaison Committee, consisting of Piedmont Mayor John Chiang and Vice Mayor Margaret Fujioka, School Board President  Rick Raushenbush and Vice President Andrea Swenson, will meet on Friday, March 15, 2013, at 4:00 p.m. in the City Hall Conference Room, 120 Vista Avenue.

The Committee meets periodically to discuss areas of interest to the City and the School District and makes recommendations to the City Council and Piedmont Unified School Board.

They will discuss the following issues on Friday.

1. PUSD Construction Update (Modernization Program)
2. School Safety and Security Procedures, On Campus
3. Discussion of Field Use Rules
4. Schedule of Future Meetings – Agenda Topics

The meeting is open to the public.

The Borikas vs Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) case that played a major role in the flat tax design of Piedmont’s recently approved school parcel tax has been concluded in the Court of Appeal.

Upon rehearing, the three-judge First Appellate District court panel ruled that state law didn’t allow AUSD to tax a few commercial property owners 15 cents per square foot up to a $9,500 cap while all residential properties and most commercial properties were taxed $120 per parcel. The court had vacated its December 11, 2012 decision at the school district’s request, after granting a rehearing. The Appellate Court found that state law requires school districts’ special taxes to be applied uniformly and that the only exception the law permits is an exemption for seniors and low-income disabled people.  > Click to read more…

Piedmont’s Election Day was quiet at 6 polling sites as most casting a ballot did so by mail –

Children waved “Vote for Measure A” signs at major intersections to encourage Piedmonters to go to the six polling places that were open from 7am to 8pm on Tuesday, March 5.  Less than two hours after the polls closed the Alameda County Registrar of Voters reported the unofficial resulting vote.  The 52.79% of registered Piedmont voters participating cast 3414 “Yes” votes (76.50%) and only 1049 “No” (23.50%) votes.  In addition, there were nine “under votes”—meaning the voter did not precisely follow the directions for indicating their choice. The majority of votes were mailed in prior to Election Day with only 1,233 voting in person. > Click to read more…

Opponents Support Progressive Tax and Senior Exemption to produce the same budget for the schools-

Piedmont’s Measure A election is unique in that both proponents and opponents want the same full funding for our schools. Opponents believe that the most expensive California school tax requires both a progressive structure and compassion for needy seniors. > Click to read more…

Resident Asserts: The Piedmont School Budget could have survived a low income senior optional exemption –

How School Districts are funded in California is both arcane and extremely complex. Comparing districts is helpful and #1 academically ranked San Marino is probably the best comparable we have with its 13,161 population, similar affluence and limited but larger commercial tax base than Piedmont. Despite Proponent’s Feb. 7 LWV false comparisons necessitating an unusual School District correcting memorandum, Proponents continue to use this comparison in recent comments here at PCA.  > Click to read more…

Opponent of Measure A responds to proponent  –  

The Borikas decision has been vacated by the Court of Appeal.  The lower court decision stands, which does allow a size-based parcel tax.  Mr. Elliott misstates the claim that Borikas needs to be settled before an equitable school parcel tax can be passed in Piedmont.  It does not.  Currently, existing law allows tax based on parcel size.  Furthermore, Borikas did not challenge the per-square-foot tax, it challenged the differing tax rates levied on different types of property (residential, commercial, etc.).  Piedmont could pass a tax that is fair and equitable, based on parcel size, without violating the law.  And we could do so in June, 2013 and still meet the deadlines outlined in Jon Elliott’s opinion article. > Click to read more…

Measure A opponent  asks: Was our School Board too hasty in changing Measure A to a flat tax?

On December 11, 2012, the Board was advised by legal counsel to change Measure A to a uniform flat tax rate that applies to every parcel. His advice followed the ‘Borikas Decision’ wherein an appeals court reversed an earlier judgment that had ruled in favor of the Alameda School District’s 2008 tax measure that had variable tax rates based on use and size of parcel. The Appeals Court concluded that the governing statute (Sec 50079-50079.5) while allowing certain exemptions does not otherwise permit these variances, although this has been an accepted practice for years. A final ruling and its ramifications may not be known for months or even years. > Click to read more…

Memorandum Issued by Piedmont School Superintendent Constance Hubbard –

February 14, 2013

It has come to my attention that erroneous information and conclusions about the use of funds from the sale of surplus property in San Marino Unified School District are being discussed. We are often compared with San Marino in terms of size of student population and achievement levels, > Click to read more…