|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Pleasanton school board trustees will be discussing Thursday whether or not the district should bring a parcel tax before voters next year.
While the board will not be taking any formal action on the topic, Thursday’s initial discussion will allow trustees to explore the costs of placing a parcel tax on a ballot next year, the financial benefits it would have for the district if voters approve it and what it would take for the community to get behind it.
“A parcel tax can provide stable, locally controlled funding to sustain essential programs and services,” according to the Sept. 25 board meeting agenda. “Because it requires strong community support, success depends on timing, broad engagement and alignment with local partners.”
Over the past year and a half, Pleasanton Unified School District leaders and staff members have been telling the board and the community that the district is facing difficult financial challenges — including an $8 to $9 million deficit — that have been caused by declining enrollment, expiration of one-time covid funds and the rising costs for salaries, benefits and other services.
According to Thursday’s staff report, during the 2024-25 fiscal year the district’s unrestricted expenditures exceeded its revenues by $7.2 million and reserves fell to 0.55%, which staff said is “well below the state’s 3% requirement.”
“These variances highlighted the need for improved monitoring and earlier detection, but the broader challenge remains structural deficit spending, requiring both expenditure reductions and consideration of potential new revenue sources,” staff noted in Thursday’s report.
In past months, Superintendent Maurice Ghysels has talked about having the board explore the idea of introducing a parcel tax to the community as a potential new revenue source.
According to the staff report, more than 300 school districts across the state have turned to parcel taxes as a “local revenue tool to stabilize funding and sustain programs.” Staff also noted that 70 out of the approximately 110 Bay Area school districts have some level of parcel tax.
Staff will be presenting information Thursday on the differences between a district-led measure, which would require board action and submissions to the county superintendent, versus a community-initiated measure, which follows a longer process involving the city.
A district-led measure would likely be able to go to voters during next year’s June or November state elections while a community-led measure would likely target a general election cycle.
According to staff, a district-led parcel tax initiative would require a 66.67% approval for passage while a community-led measure would require a simple majority to pass.
In order for the Board of Trustees to place a district-led parcel tax on a ballot next year, the board will also need to decide if the ballot be standalone or if it should be consolidated with either the primary or general state elections next year.
The cheapest scenario would be for the district to place the parcel tax on the Nov. 3, 2026 statewide general ballot, which could cost voters anywhere from $230,000 to $322,000. The most expensive option would be placing it on a standalone special ballot in April 2026, which would cost anywhere from $1.05 million to $1.15 million.
Other options are also available in between those two dates, but a key factor the board needs to consider is that it would need to vote on placing the parcel tax on whichever ballot several months before that corresponding election date.
Whichever date the board settles on would also affect the revenue stream that would come from the new potential tax increase, as well as when the tax will go into effect for tax collection.
“To make the funding available for the 2026/27 school year, the latest election cycle to consider would be June 2, 2026,” according to staff.
Staff said in Thursday’s agenda report that every $50 in a flat parcel tax will generate roughly $1,000,000 in annual revenue for PUSD and that funds from the tax can be restricted, should voters choose to do so, to specific programs.
Staff said language can also be added to the tax measure to include a “duration period after which the tax would sunset or need to be renewed by the voters.”
The board’s open-session meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday (Sept. 25). Read the full agenda here.
In other business:
* The board will be voting on approving a resolution confirming the district’s commitment to fiscal solvency.
This resolution, according to staff, will outline the “timeline, plan, and required minimum reductions needed in 2026/27 and 2027/28 to address the budgetary shortfall.”
Staff will also be going over the district’s 2025-26 adopted budget, which has been conditionally approved by the Alameda County Office of Education. One of the conditions of approval, as noted in the staff report, includes providing the county with a “target amount for budget reductions, or alternative solutions, for 2025-26 that reflects the updated fund balance as a result of the 2024-25 Unaudited Actuals, and any other new or planned commitments not factored into the Adopted Budget.”
The district will also need to review and respond to these concerns from the county by Oct. 8 and include its plans to balance its budget and address shortfalls in the next two fiscal years. Staff will go over some of the actions the district plans to take to address these fiscal concerns during Thursday’s meeting.
* The board will be poised to approve a $319,000 contract agreement with Perennial Construction, Inc. to build a Kids Club portable building at Fairlands Elementary School.
* Trustees will be voting on approving a resolution that formally recognizes Hispanic Heritage Month, which lasts from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, and recognizes the “contributions of the Spanish-speaking families of Pleasanton.”
Interesting article. We were told in the first District Town Hall meeting on 9/18/25, that the $8-9M deficit was due to an oversight specific to substitute and hourly pay for the 25/26 school year*. A quick glance at various much larger school districts shows substitutes and hourly pay for one school year is generally $3-4M.
Covid has been long over and the money should no longer be mentioned. California School Districts had until September 24, 2024 to spend Federal Covid aid granted to them.
As for declining enrollment, staffing would reduce, as well, bringing down the district’s deficit.
I’m not feeling good about a parcel tax. It seems clear as mud that the district is not being transparent about the $8-9M shortfall.
*We were not told this as stated in the article above: Over the past year and a half, Pleasanton Unified School District leaders and staff members have been telling the board and the community that the district is facing difficult financial challenges — including an $8 to $9 million deficit — that have been caused by declining enrollment, expiration of one-time covid funds and the rising costs for salaries, benefits and other services.