In a personal triumph for School Board member Scott Zeidman who was out ill, it became virtually official at last night’s Board meeting that a parcel tax will be placed on the November ballot.
When the Board determines the amount of proposed tax per Culver City parcel, the chief question weighing on all minds will be,
How much will residents pay for how long?
The three numbers presently under consideration are:
$96 per parcel, which would be expected to yield $1 million per year from Culver City’s 13.430 parcels.
$120 per parcel.
$144 per parcel, which would yield about $1.5 million annually.
The monthly rates accordingly would be $8, $10 and $12.
The School District of Culver City, like 99 percent of public school groups in the state, has been starved down to skin, bones and assertedly skeletal staffs since going broke became the norm in Sacramento.
Deadline for ballot qualification is Aug. 7.
Then, the tax scheme would be placed on the November ballot alongside an election for three open seats on the School Board — those presently held by Jessica Beagles-Roos, Dr. Dana Russell and Saundra Davis. All have served 8 years and are expected to retire.
Two candidates have filed papers with the County Registrar, Karlo Silbiger and Robert Zirgulis.
Kathy Paspalis, a third candidate, has announced her intention to run. She will be feted at a Sunday afternoon reception in the Sunset Park home of Paul and Madeline Ehrlich.
With measured vigor, Mr. Zeidman, who continues to ail, has been campaigning for weeks for a community-based parcel tax. It would partially replace huge amounts of replenishment funds that were due from Sacramento, which has gone on the dole.
With characteristic aplomb, Mr. Zeidman said this morning that he believes so strongly in this concept he is prepared to literally knock on the door of every likely voter — conventional wisdom says 3,000 —in an effort to convince a majority, a parcel tax is badly needed.
Bonnie Moss, a Northern California-based pollster, told the School Board that a little more than two-thirds of the 400 residents her team telephoned pledged to support a parcel tax.
Since a two-thirds vote plus one is needed to pass, the call is tight 4 months before Election Day.
