Schools consider parcel tax renewal
By Heather Murtagh (Daily Journal)
With its $104 annual parcel tax set to stop in 2011, Burlingame Elementary School District officials are considering asking voters to renew it.
The yearly tax generates $1.4 million in revenue for the district, according to Chief Business Official Robert Clark. In an effort to maintain financial stability, the board will consider a timeline for a tax on the November ballot. Polling is estimated to cost $20,000 to $31,945. Looking ahead, Clark predicts the district will have a $376,000 deficit for the current year. It will end with a revenue reserve of $2.7 million, or about a 13.5 percent.
Considering a parcel tax is part of a normal course for renewing the tax already in place, said board Trustee Marc Friedman. This is not an emergency,? Friedman said.
The timeline before the board would result in a survey being drafted this month, then held in April, according to San Francisco-based TBWB Strategies. Poll results would be presented to the board in May. Informational community meetings could also be held in May. Resolution and ballot language could be finalized in June. At that point, an informational mailer could go out to voters and parents. In July, the board would vote to place the measure on the November ballot.
Burlingame voters approved Measure S, a $104 annual parcel tax for six years, in 2005. The measure was an extension without an increase of a parcel tax set to end in 2005. More than 78 percent of voters favored the measure, according to the county Office of Elections. In 2007, Burlingame voters approved a $48.3 million bond measure for capital improvements. The 30-year measure was slated to cost $30 per $100,000 of the assessed value of a home.
Burlingame is not the only city considering a tax. Jefferson, San Carlos and Woodside elementary school districts all put parcel taxes on an all-mail ballot in May. The Redwood City Elementary School District put a parcel tax during a special election in June.
In other business, the board will consider cutting two positions assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction and director of special education/categorical programs. A new position, assistant superintendent of educational services, will be created to combine the two positions.
The board meets 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 10 at the District Office conference room, 1825 Trousdale Drive.

– Written by Fiona