Budget/Taxes

In August the school board, in the wake of the Borikas v. Alameda Unified School District decision, decided to preemptively and unilaterally make major changes to the parcel tax.

According to a statement from Superintendent Roberson in August, “The District desires to implement Measure E in accordance with the intent of the voters and consistent with current legal requirements.  As a result, the District has decided to implement Measure E in a way that is consistent with Borikas by levying one uniform rate for all parcels of taxable real property.”

Given the Severability Clause, the District Should Have Taken this to Court: On Thursday the school board quietly, before school started, made a huge change to the parcel tax in hopes of warding off a legal challenge.

Measure E was passed by voters on November 6, 2012, by a 69-31 margin and would have charged local single-family homes and multi-unit dwellings at different tax rates.  Measure E was a parcel tax designed to offset the continued loss of state funding and maintain the educational programs at a level Davis citizens have come to expect.

In June the Supreme Court issued a ruling on  the Alameda Unified School District’s parcel tax that Superintendent Winfred Roberson acknowledged would impact the pending legal challenges with Measure E.  At the time they hoped that the legislature would be able to pass a bill that would bring about a more favorable resolution to the district’s pending legal matter.

The legislation has stalled, and with the pending challenge in the court filed by Jose Granda, Thomas Randall and Janet Zwahlen, the district on Thursday decided to be proactive and alter the portion of the parcel tax impacted by the court ruling.

Borikas Decision Based on Specifities in Alameda Law, Did Not Result in Measure H Being Thrown Out in Its Entirety – Jose Granda is a frequent critic of the Davis Joint Unified School Board and their efforts to pass parcel tax measures as a means to bridge funding gaps from the state.  Following the passage of Measure E by the voters of Davis by a nearly 70% vote, Mr. Granda, along with several co-conspirators, challenged the legality on the basis that the district exceeded their authority by charging homeowners and commercial property owners at different rates.

A recent decision by the California Supreme Court not to review a Court of Appeal decision that invalidated the creation of different classifications of taxpayers in that district’s parcel tax has led Mr. Granda to send out a press release, essentially declaring victory and arguing that “Davis Measure E effectively struck down by Supreme Court decision.”

The Vanguard on Thursday afternoon received a release from Jose Granda, the frequent critic of the Davis School District’s parcel tax who ran in an unsuccessful bid for a school board seat last fall.

He argues, “Davis Measure E effectively struck down by Supreme Court decision.”

Davis will go into the spring, for the first time in a long time, not talking about layoffs or school cuts.  That is the good news, but it was a rough ride last year getting to that point.