Few low-income districts pass parcel taxes
Parcel taxes are one of the few ways that cash-strapped school districts can raise money for schools. Few districts try, in part because it takes a two-thirds majority of voters to pass one. And most often, it’s wealthy communities that succeed.
In its report, Educational Opportunities in Hard Times, UCLA’s Institute of Demcracy, Education and Access looked at the 29 districts that put a parcel tax on the ballot last year. In the 20 districts that passed a parcel tax, the average percentage of students receiving free or reduced price lunches — a measure of poverty — was 15 percent. In the nine districts in which the parcel tax lost, an average of 56 percent of students received free or reduced lunches. In not one of the districts that passed a parcel tax was the average percentage of students received free or reduced lunches above 40 percent.
Parcel taxes are a desperate source of revenue for school districts. But they’re not a solution for low-income communities — at least not in their current form.
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Going only slightly further back, there are some local counter examples. Live Oak (44.6% Free/Reduced Lunch) passed a parcel tax in 2008 with 77% of the vote, and the Santa Cruz Elementary District passed one with an 80% yes vote.
In the parcel tax campaigns I’ve worked on the conventional wisdom is that poorer neighborhoods will be more supportive than more affluent ones, and I think the precinct by precinct counts would bear that out. So I think the dynamic is something more complex than that poor communities aren’t willing to pay higher taxes — possibly that with the 2/3 threshold, successful “yes” campaigns are expensive.
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For that school district that is thinking of having parcel tax. They should think two and listen to homeowners’ perspective of the area before they put any parcel tax on their district especially the poor school district. I just buy a home last year in a poor school district 2. My parcel tax for that school district is $1700 something for year. And it is compound 3% each year and if I ever live there for 30 years it will go up to $5000 something. That is just for school district 2 parcel tax not included other part of property tax. For a $200000, I am ending up pay almost double mortgage $10,000 or more for property tax itself. No wonder why homeowners don’t want to pass parcel tax. You, school district kill all good homeowners in your district and make them want to buy their house in a different the area that do not have parcel tax or a very low parcel tax. The Parcel tax will create other housing problems in the near future when the parcel tax go up so high and homeowner can not pay anymore. Who is going to lose out again not only the homeowner but also the school too? Just ask your school this question if you are the homeowner of your area would you want to live in an area that have so high parcel tax that you can not pay.
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Tuyet: just to make clear, a parcel tax is a uniform amount that all homeowners pay, regardless of the property’s valuation. So owners of expensive and most homes, as well as commercial property owners, pay the same amount (an inequity imposed by Prop 13). Most districts have passed modest parcel taxes between $50 and $500 (the latter in rich communities), usually for a set period (five or seven years most often) and for a specific purpose. They can include a yearly inflation factor, but most don’t.
RDT: Thanks for the examples. You are right. In other years, some districts with large numbers of low-income families have passed parcel taxes, including some in my backyard (Alum Rock comes to mind). But the IDEA analysis is useful, if only for one year’s data. I didn’t mention SCA6, which would lower the threshold to 55 percent. So far, Sen. Joe Simitian can’t find one Republican vote needed for Senate passage.
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