Voters to Be Polled on Tax Options

By Erica Williams

Jan 7 -- Santa Monica and Malibu voters will have a chance this week to weigh in on three parcel tax options that would each pump an estimated $6.5 million a year into the cash-strapped school district.

With the filing deadline for initiatives on the summer ballot fast approaching, the district's Save Our Schools Committee met Monday night to review the scaled-back alternatives to the flat parcel tax initiative defeated by voters in November.

Unlike the straight $300 flat tax rejected at the polls, two different hybrids combining a flat tax with a tax based on the size of an improved property, as well as a straight-out flat tax, will be presented to 400 randomly selected registered voters.

The options being floated are either a flat tax of $60 per parcel plus 7 cents per square foot of improvement on a property, or a $110 flat tax per parcel and 5 cents per square foot of improvement. A third option, a $225 flat tax per parcel, will also be tested.

The options -- all of which would be in effect for six years -- will likely include an exemption for property owners 65 years and older who occupy a parcel as a principal residence.

At the SOS committee meeting, Supt. John Deasy stressed the need to be clear with voters that "this [the parcel tax] is not a panacea."

The tax, Deasy noted, would still leave the district, which faces an $11 million shortfall next school year, with a $4.5 million funding gap that would have to be addressed through "real cuts" in district programs and services.

In an address to the Government Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Commerce shortly before the tax committee met, Deasy said a hybrid tax would have less of an impact on homeowners than a flat tax.

It would allow owners of larger residential and commercial structures to make a larger contribution, Rochelle Fanali, a member of the polling subcommittee, said after the meeting.

The six-year term, Deasy said, is based on projections by California State University economists, who predict it will take that long for the State to return to fiscal health.

A major focus of the poll will be to determine why voters rejected the $300 parcel tax that would have pumped $9.6 million a year into the district. While the previous tax -- which was placed on the ballot before the extent of the State budget crisis came to light -- was intended to enhance programs, the proposed tax will merely keep existing programs and services off the chopping block as the State looks for ways to bridge an historic $34.5 billion shortfall.

The committee hopes to use the information gleaned to put together a campaign that will win over a required two-thirds majority of the electorate. November's initiative fell short, garnering 62 percent of the vote.

During the SOS committee meeting that lasted nearly three hours, members discussed a range of issues beyond the imminent poll. Most of the discussion centered on the wording of a preliminary draft of the initiative that has not yet been finalized.

A majority of committee members agreed that not only did the language have to be clear and precise about the actual cost to voters, but that most of all, it needed to convey the severity of the financial crisis the district faces.

Voters need to understand, many said, that their help in bridging the funding gap is crucial to the survival of many programs unique to the district and to maintaining quality instruction.

Indeed, the School Board attempted to drive the point home with voters when it changed its name from the "Parcel Tax Committee" to the "Save Our Schools Committee" last month.

The board will need to bridge a $3.4 million midyear budget shortfall and the looming $11 million funding gap next school year, which translates to approximately 60 faculty and 40 classroom positions and as well as funding for some programs, Deasy told the chamber.

Deasy last month fired off a series of proposals he hopes will forge a movement to address the local funding crisis at its root -- the top levels of state government. His proposals include shutting down schools for two weeks and canceling summer school programs, boosting state taxes on cigarettes and liquor and dramatically downsizing county offices of education.

"We are not alone," Deasy told the chamber committee, referring to the district's financial crisis. "But I firmly believe we do not need to be in this position."

SOS committee members also began discussing when to place the tax on the ballot. Some members, such as Steve Alpert, questioned whether placing the initiative on a June ballot left enough time for SOS to "make our case to the voters and raise the money" necessary to mount a successful campaign. The committee agreed to take up the issue at its next meeting on January 13.

Results of the poll are expected on January 20. SOS plans to meet the following night to assess the results. At two subsequent meetings, the committee will begin finalizing the initiative's language and deciding on funding scenarios based on the findings of the poll.