Las Virgenes wants to extend school tax

TAXING AUTHORITY--The Measure E parcel tax extension will not give the school district a "blank check," LVUSD board president Terilyn Finders said. Voters who live in the Las Virgenes Unified School District area are likely to pass another parcel tax when Measure E expires next year, according to survey results released at the May 8 school board meeting.

The $98 parcel tax generates $1.9 million in annual revenue for the Las Virgenes schools. It is set to expire in March 2008.

Although voters are inclined to favor a tax extension, they are against increasing the amount they must pay.

Only 57 percent of voters would support a $112-per-year parcel tax and only 46 percent would vote yes for a $125-per-year tax, the survey showed.

Parcel tax measures require a two-thirds majority to pass.

Votes overwhelmingly passed Measure E in 2004 after the state cut $3 million from the school district's budget. Without Measure E funds, the school district said it would have been forced to cut academic, art and music programs and class sizes would have increased.

In 2006 the voters passed a separate bond measure in the amount of $128 million to help pay for facilities and technology. The parcel tax, which is different, pays for programs and classroom items.

The research firm of Goodwin Simon Victoria polled 350 likely voters between April 21 and 24. The margin of error was 5 percent, said Paul Goodwin, founder of the research firm.

Goodwin said the survey revealed that voters have a high degree of faith in the district and that most people believe the district is doing its job effectively.

In comparison to other school districts in California, Goodwin said Las Virgenes is "remarkable" in its ability to connect with the community.

Seventy six percent of respondents ranked Las Virgenes schools favorably, compared to a 2003 survey of the Santa Monica/Malibu school district, whose approval rating was 73 percent.

The research firm conducted surveys for Campbell Union High School District in San Jose, and Berkeley Unified School District in 2006. The Campbell district received a 47 percent favorable rating from respondents, but Berkeley Unified earned only a 22 percent approval rating.

In Las Virgenes, "voters appear likely to approve a renewal of the parcel tax with support at 74 percent," Goodwin said.

According to the survey results, residents expect the money to be used for academic programs, including textbooks, math and science curricula, student achievement programs, arts and music.

Voters also seemed inclined to pass the measure for a longer period of time--up to 10 years, according to Goodwin. "There's clearly no resistance."

Voters in Oak Park passed a $197 parcel tax in 2004 by more than 80 percent, but two years later the district floated an $89-million bond measure that lost. A cheaper version of the same bond was defeated a second time last November.

Board of Education President Terilyn Finders said voters seemed comfortable with a 10-year extension on the Las Virgenes tax as long as the money was spent on specific areas. She said voters would not support writing a "blank check."

Goodwin said the only "wild card" in the polling process is whether or not those who were surveyed represent the people who actually go to the polls.

"A low turnout election poses a challenge," he said.

The positive survey results were attributed to the work of a Las Virgenes citizens' oversight committee.

Goodwin said the committee demonstrated exceptional "talent and commitment."

The deadline to apply for the ballot measure is Aug. 10. District officials must also draft the language for the ballot resolution.

The ballot will include a 75-word summary, but the entire resolution will include information about spending limitations, Goodwin said.

It would go before the voters in November.