Campbell Union School District Parcel Tax, Measure B (May 2015)

Measure info Amount: $49/parcel Expires in: 8 Yrs
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A Campbell Union School District Parcel Tax Measure was on the ballot for Campbell Union School District voters in Santa Clara County, California, on May 5, 2015. Official, final election night results showed Measure B was approved, with the "yes" votes ahead of the required 66.67-percent by a margin of 95 votes.

Measure B authorized the district to impose a parcel tax of $49 per year per parcel for eight years. The measure was also designed to allow exemptions for seniors those with disabilities.

The Measure B election was an all-mail election, with ballots sent to the district's registered voters starting on April 6, 2015. Ballots had to be returned by May 5, 2015, to be counted.

A two-thirds (66.67%) vote was required for the approval of Measure B.

Election results

Campbell Union school district, Measure B
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		7,237	67.56%
No		3,475	32.44%

Election results from Santa Clara County Elections Office

About the district

As of the beginning of 2015, the district had no parcel tax in place. The schools run by the Campbell Union School District included:

Elementary schools

• Blackford
• Capri
• Castlemont
• Forest Hill
• Lynhaven
• Marshall Lane
• Rosemary
• Sherman Oaks
• Village School

Middle schools

• Campbell
• Monroe
• Rolling Hills

Text of measure

Ballot question

The following question appeared on the ballot:

“

To support quality education in local elementary and middle schools and provide stable local funding to maintain excellent core academic programs in reading, writing, math, and science, retain highly qualified teachers; and provide support for struggling students; shall Campbell Union Elementary School District authorize an annual $49 school parcel tax for 8 years with independent fiscal oversight, an exemption for seniors and qualified disabled citizens, no funds for administrators’ salaries and all funds benefitting our schools?

”

Support

Supporters

A Yes on Measure B campaign called Yes for CUSD Schools was started to urge voters to approve Measure B.

The Yes on Measure B website listed the following endorsements of Measure B:

• Santa Clara County School Boards Association
• Evan Low, State Assemblymember, District 28, and Former Mayor of Campbell
• Mike Wasserman, Santa Clara County Supervisor, District 1
• Leon Beauchman, Board Member, Santa Clara County Office of Education, Trustee Area 3
• Jason Baker, Vice Mayor, City of Campbell
• Liz Gibbons, Councilmember, City of Campbell
• Michael Kotowski, Councilmember, City of Campbell
• Paul Resnikoff, Councilmember, City of Campbell
• Howard Miller, Mayor, City of Saratoga
• Manny Cappello, Vice Mayor, City of Saratoga
• Rishi Kumar, Councilmember, City of Saratoga
• Marcia Jensen, Mayor, Town of Los Gatos
• Marico Sayoc, Councilmember, Town of Los Gatos
• Danielle M.S. Cohen, President, Campbell Union School District Governing Board
• Julie Constant, Vice President, Campbell Union School District Governing Board
• Thomas M. Gemetti, Clerk, Campbell Union School District Governing Board
• Michael L. Snyder, Member, Campbell Union School District Governing Board
• Juliet Tiffany-Morales, Member, Campbell Union School District Governing Board
• Stacey Brown, Clerk, Campbell Union High School District Board of Trustees
• Kalen Gallagher, Trustee, Campbell Union High School District Board of Trustees
• Janet Johnson, former Member, Campbell Union School District Governing Board
• Leah Read, former Member, Campbell Union School District Governing Board
• Michael L. Rich, Chairperson, Campbell Union Elementary School District Citizens Oversight Committee
• Rich Waterman, Campbell Chamber of Commerce and Campbell Business Owner
• Renee Small, Campbell Union Elementary School District Parent
• Marcia Parrish, Parent
• Gitte Pope, Parent
• Mary Wirth, retired Campbell Librarian

Yes for CUSD Schools logo

Arguments in favor

The Yes on Measure B website featured the following argument in favor of Measure B:

“	Our local Campbell Union Elementary School District provides the children in our Campbell, San Jose, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Santa Clara and Monte Sereno neighborhoods with a well-rounded education. With highly qualified teachers who deliver excellent classroom instruction, our students enter high school with a strong foundation in the core academic subjects that are essential for success in college and future careers. To continue improving student achievement, Measure B is critical. Unreliable state education funding has impacted our schools for decades. That’s why school districts in our area have passed locally controlled, voter-approved funding to protect educational programs and retain teachers. Campbell Union Elementary School District is the only district in our area that is not supported by a local funding measure like Measure B. Measure B will provide stable, local funding to retain teachers and improve academic programs for the students in our neighborhoods. The state cannot take away a single penny. Vote Yes on B for student success. Maintain excellent core academic programs in reading, writing, math and hands-on science Retain highly qualified teachers and ensure new teachers have adequate training and support Keep schools safe, clean and well-maintained Provide support for struggling students and advanced courses for high-performing students Measure B includes strong fiscal accountability provisions. Every penny of Measure B stays in our neighborhood schools and cannot be taken by the state Independent citizen oversight ensures all funds will be spent as promised No funds can be used for administrators’ salaries Homeowners age 65 and older are eligible for an exemption Measure B expires in 8 years and cannot be renewed without voter approval	”
—Yes on Measure B

The Yes on Measure B website featured the following response to the question "Why do we need Measure B?"

“	Measure B is critical to continuing to improve student achievement. Unreliable state education funding has impacted our schools for decades. That’s why school districts in our area have passed locally controlled, voter-approved funding to protect educational programs and retain teachers. Campbell Union Elementary School District is the only district in our area that is not supported by a local funding measure like Measure B. It will provide stable, local funding to retain teachers and improve academic programs and the state cannot take away a single penny.	”
—Yes on Measure B

Total campaign cash as of March 21, 2015
Support:	$46,882
Opposition:	$0

Campaign finance

As of the campaign finance filing that covered through April 18, 2015, the PAC registered in support of Measure B, called Friends of Campbell Union School District, Supporting Measure B, had raised $46,882 to support the pro-Measure A campaign. As of April 18, the group had spent $34,784, nearly all of which was spent between March 21 and April 18.

No committee filed in opposition to Measure B.

Opposition

If you have an argument you would like to see posted here, please email the Local Ballot Measures Project staff writer.

Campaign finance

No committee filed in opposition to Measure B.

Problems with exemptions

The situation

Early in 2015, the Santa Clara County Counsel informed the Campbell Union School District Board that it reevaluated its interpretation of the parcel tax exemption clause of the state statute that allowed parcel tax exemptions. The statute in question was writtent to allow, "... exemption from those taxes for all of the following taxpayers:" (1) seniors, (2) taxpayers receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and (3) taxpayers receiving Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) benefits. Previously the county allowed districts to offer a single exemption or any combination of the three. The county later said that the interpretation of "all of the following taxpayers" must be more strict and that districts must offer all or none of the exemptions, making a parcel tax measure that offers exemptions only to seniors illegal. The statute was amended in 2016 to clarify that the exemptions applied to "any or all of" the three groups.

The districts, however, disagreed and claimed that school districts all over the state had been allowed to pick and choose from the three allowed exemptions. In fact, Palo Alto District's 2010 tax, which 2015's Measure A was designed to replace, offered an exemption only to seniors.

Speaking of the statute, Harold Friedman, an attorney for the Palo Alto School District, said, "We have understood that from the beginning to mean 'any or all.' So you could have one; you could have two; you could have three. That is how it's been applied around the state."

The county counsel admitted that the measures were not certainly illegal but insisted that there was a "legal question" and planned to include this warning in the impartial analyses of the two measures if the district had not taken certain steps.

The Palo Alto Unified School District, which also had a parcel tax measure with a sole senior exemption on the May 5 ballot, was affected by this situation as well.

Legislative background

Before 2012, the state statute governing parcel taxes stated that exemptions could be offered "for any or all" of the three groups discussed above. In 2012, Senate Bill 874 was approved removing the words "any or" from the law. This led to the controversy over whether or not districts could offer some but not all of the allowed exemptions.

The solution

Friedman told the Palo Alto board that they had three options - presumably the same three options that the Campbell USD Board had:

• The district could do nothing, allowing the impartial analysis to include a "legal question" warning.
• The district could file a lawsuit against the office of the county counsel, hoping to force it to rescind its stricter interpretation.
• The district could follow the county's interpretation and pass a resolution to include the other two exemptions - SSI and SSDI beneficiaries - and claim that such a change does not constitute a significant change to the measure.

Ultimately, without altering its position on the interpretation of the law, the Palo Alto board passed a resolution asserting the superintendent's authority to offer all three exemptions in the future upon the approval Measure A, as written. This gave time for the district to further discuss the issue with the office of the county counsel and gave the district wiggle room to apply all three exemptions later on. Palo Alto's action set a president for the Campbell district as well.

2016 amendment

In 2016, the California State Legislature passed Senate Bill 371 to clarify that the exceptions apply to "any or all of" the three different groups. This legislation could have been the result of the interpretation debates in the Palo Alto school district, the Campbell school district and others.

See also

• Parcel tax
• California parcel tax on the ballot
• Parcel tax elections in California
• Local school tax on the ballot
• May 5, 2015 ballot measures in California
• Santa Clara County, California ballot measures

External links

Suggest a link

• Santa Clara County Elections Office website
• Yes for CUSD Schools website

Additional reading

• San Jose Mercury News, "Campbell schools' parcel tax barely passing," May 5, 2015
• San Jose Mercury News, "Campbell schools seek $49 parcel tax," May 4, 2015