Are School Board members really planning to ask voter/taxpayers to renew the Measure EE parcel tax this coming election? Is the Board thinking about floating yet another multi-year, multi-million dollar bond measure this fall?
Conscientious Sympathizers
It has become obvious, with the additions of Nancy Goldberg and Laura Chardiet, that the Board is sympathetic to all District employees, especially to teacher causes, even echoing union talking points during public meetings.
Election Ouija
With three Board seats up for re-election, and the unions’ inability to foretell with paid certainty the outcome of the November election, it may have felt that this year was their last best chance to be sure of getting a quite favorable, multi-year agreement out of the District.
Retro Here, Retro There
The School Board, knowing that the District would not be receiving the necessary state funding to pay for raises this year or next, did not disappoint their wards. They voted to give all District employees a multi-year contract with a 2 percent raise. The Board even went so far as to sweeten their deal by adding a 2 percent retroactive raise all the way back to last July 1.
How Time Flies
Wasn’t Measure EE supposed to be for just five years? Proponents said it was to help tide the District over hard times. Those times turned into the Great Recession. It looks as if the Hard Times must be over. Our Board members just celebrated by handing over a multi-million dollar, across-the-board raise to all District employees.
I Want My Fiscal Fix
It is obvious the School District has become accustomed to receiving our parcel taxes, spending 70 to 80 percent of it the last four years on AP teacher salaries at the high school.
Two, Too Much
There is little doubt the School Board still wants us taxpayers to continue to give them something. How much? Yet to be decided.
The Board may decide not to run the risk of asking the public for two, too much, too soon.
Lowered Expectations
The approval rate for renewal of the local parcel tax is 66.67 percent. The Board may only want to go after the much larger prize worth tens of millions in general obligation or facilities bond money. These types of bonds require a much lower threshold for passage, a 55 percent super-majority.
Ask and You Shall Receive
Proponents of the parcel tax renewal will argue that the School District should not leave this five-year total of over $6M on the table. They rightly point out that if the Board does not ask for its renewal, it will add over a million dollars to the District’s still growing $3M deficit spending figure.
Alms, Alms, Alms …
Any which way you look at it, multi-year, multi-million- dollar bond or parcel tax, you can bet the house (and some of us may have to in order to pay) that this Board is going to be holding its hands out this fall “alming the public” to entrust it with millions more of our money to spend.
Mr. Laase may be contacted at GMLaase@aol.com
