San Rafael schools deserve small increase

There are better times than during a yearlong pandemic to ask voters to increase their taxes.

ButtheSanRafaelCity Schools District is running up against a deadline when its elementary school and high school parcel taxes are going to expire.

Today, those taxes count for about 10% of the budgets of the two districts and a larger part of the sum pays for about 60 teachers and educational support staff.

Officials say losing that revenue would mean layoffs, larger class sizes and the loss of funds needed to maintain the math, science, music, art and technology courses and instruction offered to the roughly 6,800 youngsters who attend those public schools.

The school board has put measures on a May 4 special ballot for renewal and a modest increase in the two taxes — levies that have been on local bills since they were first endorsed by voters in 1989.

This is local money that goes directly to the schools and classrooms. It doesn’t go to Sacramento and the state cannot take it away. It is local funding for local public schools.

In addition, compared to other districts in the county, San Rafael’s taxes are significantly lower, in large part due to the size of the districts.

On the ballot, Measure G is the high school district revenue measure, applying to San Rafael taxpayers on both sides of Puerto Suello Hill. It would renew the eight-year tax and raise the current annual levy of $196 per parcel by $36 to $232.

Measure H is the elementary school district measure, applying to taxpayers in Central San Rafael and portions, such as the Santa Venetia area, on the north side of the hill. Most of North San Rafael is in the Miller Creek School District, which has its own parcel tax for its elementary schools.

Measure H raises the parcel tax for elementary schools, now $287, to $323.

There is a continuation of the annual increase built in to both Measures G and H, but the school board wisely scaled it back to 3%, a reduction from the 5% inflator that has been on the books.

In the past, we have argued that the inflator levy should be an annual cap on the amount of the yearly increase set by a public vote of the school board. That would keep the rate in line with the fluctuations of cost-of-living demands on the district’s budget, rather than providing a blanket increase. The taxes’ senior exemption will continue.

However, the school board made the right decision to lower the annual increase.

Taxpayers in other Marin communities are paying a lot more when it comes to school parcel taxes.

For example, Kentfield School District residents are paying over $2,000 per year in parcel taxes for their elementary school district and the Tamalpais Union High School District.

San Rafael’s Measures G and H total $555 per year.

The district faces challenges that make passage of Measures G and H even more important.

It has seen a marked drop in enrollment in both its elementary and high schools.

In the elementary schools, where state funding is based on enrollment, every student lost from its attendance rolls costs the district about $10,000 per year in local revenue.

The elementary school enrollment is down about 400 students since 2017, a trend that has already forced the district to make cuts, including laying off teachers, to balance its budget.

Parcel taxes have reflected local taxpayers’ support for their public schools and the vital job they do in building academic achievement and providing local youth with educational opportunities that can shape their lives and careers.

Measures G and H are about those opportunities for more than 6,800 San Rafael youth and their futures.The IJ editorial board encourages San Rafael voters to support Measures G and H on their May 4 ballot.