With revenue to Arcadia School District dropping at a rate of about $5 million annually since 2007-08 — now down about 20% — and with AUSD losing about 100-120 students per year for this past five years, the District is considering asking voters to approve a parcel tax that could result in annual taxes of anywhere from $50 to $250 or more.
At a recent school board / study session, consultants for the District presented many scenarios of possibilities for elections that could be held anywhere from as early as March with an all-mailed ballot, to general elections in June or November 2012.
A tax of $50 would generate $748,000 while a tax of $250 would raise $3.7 million, still far short of the $5 million loss. Taxes of $118 and $148 would raise $1.7 mil. and $2.2 mil., respectively. Several school and city leaders strongly urged the District to go after a tax that would cover the entire $5 mil., but consultants said that a survey of 480 Arcadians indicated that as the amount of the potential tax rate increased incrementally in the survey from $98 to $118 to $148, responses indicated that the likelihood of getting the required two-thirds favorable votes for even a percentage of the $5 mil. declined significantly with each increased rate of potential tax. And as one consultant pointed out, if the vote fails by even one vote, the District gets no additional money at all. So, is it better to ask for less money to be sure to get something, or more money with the risk of getting nothing?
Superintendent Dr. Joel Shawn has repeatedly emphasized in various presentations to local groups that the $218 mil. in bond money being spent on improvements to schools currently under construction, cannot be used on anything else at the District. But he has noted that Arcadians are really getting their money’s worth with that bond passage, with state matching funds raising the actual dollars available to spend to $300 mil., and with the competitive climate created by the poor economy resulting in the District getting a value of $400 mil. worth of improvements for the $218 mil. they are spending.
Of the potential election date options, the consultants said the November 2012 Presidential election ballot would bring more voters and more of them would likely be in favor of passing a parcel tax, but it would also be a more crowded ballot and the issue may get lost, while revenue — if it passed — would not be available until te 2013-14 school year. An all-mailed ballot in March 2012 would be more expensive and probably generate more negative votes.
— By Scott Hettrick