On Tuesday, January 12, the Palo Alto Board of Education voted unanimously to place a measure on the May 4 ballot to renew our expiring school parcel tax for six years and increase the rate by $96 ($8 per month). 66.7% or more of voters must approve the measure for it to pass. The renewal of this parcel tax is critical to our school district. The District is already facing projected deficits of over $5 million arising from state budget cuts. Without the parcel tax renewal, an additional $9.4 million of funding will sunset. The combined effect of these funding losses will be devastating to our schools.
Background: The PAUSD parcel tax was originally approved by over 70% of local voters in 2001 and renewed by over 70% of local voters in 2005. Now this funding is once again set to expire. If the parcel tax expires, our schools will lose $9.4 million in annual funding on top of the other funding reductions arising from the state budget cuts.
How is the parcel tax revenue utilized? It pays for people and programs. It pays for teachers, small class sizes, course offerings and instructional programs.
Didn't we just pass a bond measure in 2008? Yes, but it pays for buildings, not operational costs like teachers and programs. The bond measure allows the District to provide physical facilities to meet growing enrollment needs. It does not provide the staff and resources to deliver instruction out of those facilities.
Who receives the revenue generated by the parcel tax? All of the parcel tax funds flow to the Palo Alto Unified School District. It is not a City of Palo Alto tax. Voters include the whole school district: Palo Alto, Stanford and parts of Los Altos Hills and Portola Valley. All registered voters will receive a mail ballot.
This election will be vote by mail ballot only, with postage provided with the ballot. No polling places will be open on May 4. Voters must mail their ballots by April 30 at the latest because the ballots are due by May 4 and postmarks don’t count. There is an exemption available for senior citizens (age 65 and over) for which they must apply annually.
More information is provided in the attached flyer.
The success of this campaign depends on parent and student volunteers getting the word out. The Gunn PTSA needs a Volunteer Coordinator to lead the charge in recruiting approximately 35 phone bank volunteers and six individuals to deliver campaign signage. With 1,900 students and over 3,000 parents in our school community, this is not a daunting task. Please contact Diane Downend at diane@edenbridgehomes.com if you are willing to lead this effort. Thank you!
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