Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Los Gatos voters approve the renewal of LGUSD parcel tax

By John Pancharian

Los Gatos voters approved Measure A, the parcel tax, by a vote of 3932 to 963--an 80.3 percent margin. The measure, which needed a 2/3 majority to pass, extends and raises the parcel tax which Los Gatos property owners pay to support the Los Gatos Union School District. The tax, previously $180 per parcel per year, will increase to $250 and continue for another four years.

"Once again, I'd like to thank the community of Los Gatos for the terrific support they've shown to schools," LGUSD superintendent Bert Pearlman said. "We will not disappoint them."

Los Gatans first passed the parcel tax in 1990 with the intention of restoring school services cut by Proposition 13. Voters then renewed the tax in 1994 at the original rate. But LGUSD officials said this year that the tax had not kept pace with inflation, and needed to be raised if schools were to maintain the same level of service to which Los Gatans had become accustomed.

The tax makes up 12 to 15 percent of the district's budget, and has allowed the district to offer curriculum and programs no longer available in many school districts. As a result, Los Gatos homes within the district boundaries average 20 percent higher property value than comparable homes in other districts, according to Realtor Ian Macrae of The Marketing Place in Los Gatos.

Measure B also passed by a 79.8 percent margin, 103 for, 26 against. It also required a 2/3 majority to pass. The measure authorizes a $1.45 million bond for new construction and facilities repair in the Lakeside School District. The one-school district, located in the Santa Cruz Mountains near Lexington Reservoir, now has funding to build a multi-use room, replace aging portables with permanent classrooms and make sundry other repairs.

Measure B appeared on the ballot only within the Lakeside district boundaries and will cost the average home owner there $88.53 per year over the 25 year life of the bond.

[ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ]