Posted by Steven Nelson
a resident of Cuesta Park
on Nov 2, 2023 at 2:46 pm
Steven Nelson is a registered user.

How can Los Altos district / with includes about ?1/5? of the City of Mountain View - run such a big Total parcel tax? This tax would be almost $900 per parcel (Flat Tax) for the Total per parcel.

Economics research has show (though it is a very small research field!) that wealthy homogeneous-parcel districts can pass the taxes because the residential properties are very similar, and so the Fairness of the tax seems not unreasonable. In heterogeneous-parcel districts (like very mixed residential, and large Commercial Businesses) there is a better chance to pass a Per Square Foot tax, it seems 'fairer' to the more numerous small-property owners/voters).

Los Altos SD has much less commercial Assessed Valuation (per pupil) than MVWSD does. It makes it up - with these relatively large Parcel Taxes. MVWSD also has a very aggressive surplus property Lease (at Market) program, which also helps it's General Fund revenue.

Posted by LongResident
a resident of another community
on Nov 2, 2023 at 3:58 pm
LongResident is a registered user.

LASD has grown its reserves by $12 Million dollars during the time that this 2nd property tax has been in effect. It has collected about $14 M from the tax not counting the sharing with the charter school.

The charter school is what equalizes funding in LASD compared to MVWSD. The charter school is educating 1000 of the students from LASD but not costing LASD anywhere near the same amount. LASD is collecting about the same per student enrolled from property taxes as does MVWSD. The parcel taxes are huge and the 2nd one is no longer justifiable. The $7.5 Million from the original parcel tax collected each year equalizes with all the extra revenue sources available to MVWSD so both districts get about the same total revenue per student. The 2nd parcel tax would make LASD have more per student than does MVWSD.