School Tax Ballots Arriving in Mailboxes this Week

This week San Rafael residents can start casting their vote to OK or reject a 24-year-old parcel tax renewal to support San Rafael City Schools.

The ballots for the special mail-in election will be arriving in mailboxes this week. Ballots must be returned by May 7. 

The tax, which excludes north San Rafael, generated $4.8 million last year to San Rafael City Schools.  

The tax currently increases by 5 percent each year and includes two separate amounts. When it expires in June 2014, it will be $203.70 per parcel for elementary schools and $139 per parcel for the high schools.

According to resolutions the school board approved earlier this year, the tax is needed to maintain class sizes, support counseling programs, maintain school libraries and technologies, attract and retain teachers, prepare students for college and enhance core academic programs including match, science and reading. 

No arguments against the measures have been filed with the county elections office, according to the Marin Independent Journal.

Jenny Callaway, co-chair for the renewal initiative, told the IJ that volunteers have been walking door to door and making phone calls, where they have been getting positive responses showing support for the measure.

An independent community-based campaign committee, chaired by San Rafael High School alumnus Patty Garbarino, has been promoting the parcel tax.

The district schools include Madrone High, San Rafael High, Terra Linda High, Venetia Valley K-8,Davidson Middle School and the following elementary schools:

• Bahia Vista
• San Pedro
• Coleman
• Short
• Glenwood
• Sun Valley
• Laurel Dell
• Venetia Valley

Last November, the district avoided $2.2 million in cuts when California voters approved Prop. 30. The district, along with Novato Unified School District and Ross Valley School District, would have been affected more than other Marin school districts because they are the only three “revenue limit” districts, which rely on a larger amount of funds from the state. The other school districts in Marin are basic aid districts and funded largely through property taxes. 

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