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LWV League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Smart Voter
San Mateo County, CA May 8, 2007 Election
Measure R
Millbrae Elementary School District 2007 Education Parcel Tax Measure
Millbrae School District

Special Tax - 2/3 Approval Required

See Also: Index of all Measures

Information shown below: Official Information | Impartial Analysis | Arguments | Full Text

With a full tax exemption available to senior citizens, and to ensure that the children of Millbrae receive a quality education and have safe and healthy classrooms, shall the Millbrae Elementary School District be authorized to levy an annual tax of seventy-eight dollars per taxable parcel, limited to five years, to provide funds to reinstate custodians, maintenance personnel, librarians, music instruction, and technology and instructional aides, and support the District's high quality academic programs?

Official Sources of Information
Impartial Analysis
The California Constitution and state law authorize a school district, upon approval of two-thirds of the voting electorate, to levy a qualified special tax for specified purposes.

By this measure, the Board of Trustees of the Millbrae School District proposes to levy a special tax for a period of five years beginning July 1, 2007 and ending June 30, 2012. This tax shall be at a rate of $78 per year per parcel on all taxable parcels in the District. A parcel shall be defined as any unit of real property in the District which receives a separate tax bill for ad valorem property taxes from the San Mateo County tax collection officials. Any property owner aged 65 years or older may qualify for an exemption from the special tax if that property owner occupies the parcel. All property which would otherwise be exempt from ad valorem property taxes will also be exempt from the imposition of the tax.

The stated purposes of the special tax are to fund safe and healthy classrooms; to ensure quality education, including increasing the budget for music instruction, librarians, and technology and instructional aides; and to provide other financial support to maintain the District's academic programs and facilities, including the purchase of instructional equipment, materials and supplies.

The proceeds of the special tax will be placed into a special account. An independent citizens' oversight committee will be established to monitor the expenditures of the parcel tax revenues. An annual report is required that accounts for the parcel tax revenues collected and the manner in which they have been spent.

A "yes" vote on this measure would allow a special tax to be levied on property within the boundaries of the Millbrae School District for a period of five years beginning July 1, 2007 and ending June 30, 2012 in an amount of $78 per year per taxable parcel. The special tax would be used to fund safe and healthy classrooms; to ensure quality education, including increasing the budget for music instruction, librarians, and technology and instructional aides; and to provide other financial support to maintain the District's academic programs and facilities, including the purchase of instructional equipment, materials and supplies.

A "no" vote on this measure would not allow the special tax to be levied.

This measure passes if two-thirds of those voting on the measure vote "yes."

 
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Arguments For Measure R Arguments Against Measure R
Millbrae Elementary School District has worked hard to increase test scores and to provide a safe, healthy environment where children can learn at their highest ability. Unlike neighboring districts, MESD has not asked voters for tax increases to accomplish this. Instead they sold property, trimmed administrative costs, and made difficult cuts to programs. Parents, teachers, and local residents engaged in fundraising to supplement these efforts. Unfortunately, all of this is not enough, and our students and classrooms are suffering.

For our children, cutting librarians, music programs and teachers' aides, have had a negative effect on the quality of the education we offer. Because volunteers are constantly raising money to pay salaries, they are unable to supplement educational programs that allow us to better prepare our students for secondary education. Cuts in custodial and maintenance staff have impacted health and safety at the five schools, and buildings and grounds are showing wear and tear from lack of attention. The outside appearance of a school has a significant impact on property values within a community.

Measure R on the May 8 ballot will restore librarians, music programs, teachers' aides, custodians, and maintenance staff to our schools. By law, residents 65 and older can apply for an exemption to Measure R. Measure R would be in effect for five years, and could only be extended by voters.

Measure R, to restore our Millbrae Elementary Schools, needs 67% of the vote to be successful. The cost would be $78 per parcel, per year. This is only $6.50 per month. This small cost will make a big difference to our children and our community. We believe it is a small price to pay to improve our local schools.

Please join us in voting Yes on Measure R. It is the right thing to do.

/s/ John R. Ford February 13, 2007 Parent

/s/ Daniel F. Quigg February 15, 2007 Former Mayor

/s/ Kay Runkle February 15, 2007 Man/Woman of the Year, Chair

/s/ Mel Pincus February 15, 2007 Friends of the Millbrae Library

/s/ Marian Kong February 15, 2007 Millbrae Out - Reach Committee, President

No Arguments Against Measure R Were Submitted

Full Text of Measure R
This Proposition may be known and referred to as the "Millbrae Elementary School District 2007 Education Parcel Tax Measure" or as "Measure R".

FINDINGS

The Millbrae Elementary School District (the "District") strives to provide elementary school-age children with a safe and healthy environment in which to learn, and to give those children a quality education. Due to inadequate and uncertain funding for education from the State of California, the Board of Trustees of the District has been forced to eliminate and curtail essential education and support services, and risks losing experienced teachers. The District has engaged in a variety of efforts to generate funds to meet its needs, including lobbying in the State Legislature, local fundraising, and cost-cutting measures; but these efforts have not produced sufficient revenues. Sales of surplus property, federal funding, and the State Lottery, do not and cannot legally provide what is needed to educate our children.

In order to meet the basic needs of our community's elementary students, the District must find alternative sources of revenue. A local district parcel tax is the only realistic source available to provide additional funds for local schools.

Many of the District's neighbor school districts in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties have already approved local parcel taxes to give their children the safe and healthy classrooms and education they deserve.

TERMS OF 2007 EDUCATION PARCEL TAX

Terms and Purposes. Upon approval of two-thirds of those voting on this measure, the District shall be authorized to and shall levy a qualified special tax of $78 per year on each parcel of taxable real property in the District, for a period limited to five years commencing July 1, 2007. The qualified special tax shall be known and referred to as the "2007 Education Parcel Tax". Proceeds of the 2007 Education Parcel Tax shall be authorized to be used to provide financial support to school programs, as follows:

1. to fund health and safety support for schools, including to reinstate budget cuts made to custodians and maintenance personnel

2. to ensure quality education, including to reinstate budget cuts made to music instruction, librarians at all schools, and technology and instructional aides and to provide other financial support to the extent of available funds to maintain the District's academic programs and facilities, including for purchase of instructional equipment, materials and supplies. Senior Citizen Exemption. In order to provide tax relief to senior citizens in the community, any parcel owned and occupied by a person 65 years of age or older shall be exempt from the 2007 Education Parcel Tax upon proper application to the District. The exemption shall be available pursuant to procedures to be prescribed by the Board of Trustees or otherwise as required by law or by the San Mateo County Tax Collector.

ACCOUNTABILITY PROVISIONS

Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee. The Board of Trustees shall establish an independent Citizens'Oversight Committee to ensure that proceeds of the 2007 Education Parcel Tax are spent wisely and only for the purposes named in this measure. The Board of Trustees shall provide by resolution for the composition, duties, funding and other necessary information regarding the Committee's formation and operation.

Annual Audit. Upon the levy and collection of the 2007 Education Parcel Tax, the Board of Trustees shall cause an account to be established for deposit of the proceeds. For so long as any proceeds of the 2007 Education Parcel Tax remain unexpended, the Superintendent or chief financial officer of the District shall cause a report to be filed with the Board of Trustees no later than December 31 of each year, commencing December 31, 2007, stating (1) the amount of 2007 Education Parcel Tax received and expended in such year, and (2) the status of any projects or description of any programs funded from proceeds of the tax. The report may relate to the calendar year, fiscal year, or other appropriate annual period, as the Superintendent shall determine, and may be incorporated into or filed with the annual budget, audit, or other appropriate routine report to the Board of Trustees. Specific Purposes. All of the purposes named in the measure shall constitute the specific purposes of the 2007 Education Parcel Tax, and proceeds of the tax shall be applied only for such purposes.

LEVY AND COLLECTION

The 2007 Education Parcel Tax shall be collected by the San Mateo County Treasurer-Tax Collector at the same time and in the same manner and shall be subject to the same penalties as ad valorem property taxes collected by the Treasurer-Tax Collector. Unpaid taxes shall bear interest at the same rate as the rate for unpaid ad valorem property taxes until paid.

The collection of the 2007 Education Parcel Tax shall not decrease the funds available from other sources of the District in any period from the effective date hereof. "Parcel of taxable real property" shall be defined as any unit of real property in the District which receives a separate tax bill for ad valorem property taxes from the San Mateo County Treasurer-Tax Collector's Office. All property which is otherwise exempt from or on which are levied no ad valorem property taxes in any year shall also be exempt from the 2007 Education Parcel Tax in such year. In addition, parcels owned and occupied by persons 65 years of age or older may be exempt from the 2007 Education Parcel Tax as described above. The District shall annually provide a list of parcels which the District has approved for a Senior Citizen Exemption from the 2007 Education Parcel Tax as described above to the San Mateo County tax collection officials. The San Mateo County Assessor's determination of exemption or relief for any reason of any parcel from taxation, other than through the Senior Citizen Exemption, shall be final and binding for the purposes of the 2007 Education Parcel Tax. Taxpayers wishing to challenge the County Assessor's determination must do so under the procedures for correcting a misclassification of property pursuant to Section 4876.5 of the California Revenue and Taxation Code or other applicable procedures. Taxpayers seeking a refund of 2007 Education Parcel Taxes paid shall follow the procedures applicable to property tax refunds pursuant to the California Revenue and Taxation Code.

SEVERABILITY

The Board of Trustees hereby declares, and the voters by approving this measure concur, that every section, paragraph, sentence and clause of this measure has independent value, and the Board of Trustees and the voters would have adopted each provision hereof regardless of every other provision hereof. Upon approval of this measure by the voters, should any part be found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid for any reason, all remaining parts hereof shall remain in full force and effect to the fullest extent allowed by law.


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Created: July 30, 2007 17:54 PDT
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