School Board to Consider Tax

January 11, 2010 -- A special mail-ballot election for a $225-per-parcel tax could take place for Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District residents in May. The tax would raise an estimated $7 million per year and help a financially strained District that is operating on an eight-figure deficit.

The proposal for the election was approved last week by a committee that has been meeting since August. The proposal says the tax should have a five-year life.

The Board of Education is expected to consider the committee’s recommendation on Thursday.

District residents are already paying $346 per parcel to the SMMUSD. Voters in 2008 approved the measure for that tax, which has no expiration date.

The SMMUSD is operating on a $10 million deficit for the current school year. That amount is expected to increase during at least the next two years under the District's current budget plan.

The deficit spending is covered by the District’s financial reserves. But there is not enough money in the reserves to cover the deficit spending much longer.

The District has $8.7 million in cuts on the table. This includes a staff reduction, which means an increase to classroom sizes.

The SMMUSD’s Financial Oversight Committee presented the Board with potential revenue boosters at a November meeting. They included targeted fundraising, licensing the use of District names for merchandise and placing ads on campuses and buses as well as on the District's Web site.