The Davis school board voted Thursday night to put a five-year, $320-per-year parcel tax before voters in a mail-only election next spring. Apartment dwellers would be charged $150 per year.

Trustees took action after reviewing the results of a poll conducted last week that indicates continued support for extending the long-standing local school tax at the current dollar figure. The election will end March 6.

The new tax would replace Measures Q and W, which expire June 30, 2012.

Consultant Jay Ziegler, a Davis parent, presented the results of the poll, which were based on 12-minute phone interviews with 400 local voters. Ziegler said the poll indicated 90 percent of voters regard the Davis schools as either “among the best” or “better than most” in the region — confirming results of surveys conducted during other parcel tax renewal campaigns.

When poll participants were asked “would you support an extension of the existing parcel tax?,” 70 percent said they either “definitely” or “probably” would.

Ziegler also polled voters about the duration of the tax. Earlier this month, a school district in Palos Verdes, an affluent seaside suburb of Los Angeles, approved a $374-per-year tax that has no set expiration date. A school district in southern Marin County approved a 10-year tax charging $238 per year per single family home, with 72 percent of voters supporting the measure. And in Davis, voters approved a non-expiring ongoing tax to support local library services (Measure P) in 2007.

Ziegler told the board that “voters (here) are most supportive of extending the parcel tax for five years.” Sixty-eight percent were in favor of five years, while 64 percent favored seven years. An ongoing tax with no expiration date polled only 57 percent approval. Both of the latter options fell below the two-thirds majority required for passage of a parcel tax.

He also found that while 70 percent of voters were willing to extend the parcel tax at the amount they are paying now, “support drops off for higher amounts. Only 58 percent would approve the tax if it were increased by $100, Ziegler said.

“The appetite to increase the amount of the parcel tax is not there,” he said.

At the same time, the poll found that “reducing the parcel tax by $100 does not generate additional support,” Ziegler told the board.

Measures Q and W generate a combined $6.5 million in revenue each year, accounting for about 12 percent of the school district’s payroll.

In May, local voters also approved an emergency two-year $200 tax on single-family homes — Measure A — designed to offset recent state budget cuts. Revenue from Measure A will start reaching the school district in December, after local property tax payments have been processed by Yolo County.

The March tax renewal measure contains a couple of new elements: an exception that can be claimed by SSI (Supplemental Security Income) recipients, in addition to the existing senior citizen homeowner exemption, and a modest annual adjustment for inflation.

Several members of the public spoke in support of the parcel tax extension. Student-athletes Daniel Gonzalez and Andrew Croft, wearing blue-and-white Davis High School jackets, spoke of their appreciation for the support the parcel tax provides for athletic programs.

Parent Hiram Jackson talked about the importance of school music programs, which are also supported by the parcel tax. Parent Barbara Archer mentioned that the tax helps pay for school librarians, science teachers and reading specialists.

Gail Mitchell, president of the Davis Teachers Association, told the board that the association’s members expressed “virtually unanimous support for programs that the current parcel tax measures fund.”

Da Vinci Charter Academy student Weston Crites and his mother Juliet also spoke in support of the tax, as did librarian Nora Brazil.

Jose Granda, who has opposed recent school parcel tax measures, urged the board to “take a step back and investigate whether you have support to pass this.” He noted that Measure A only narrowly achieved the required two-thirds majority.

Granda also described school parcel taxes as “forced tuition to public school” and said, “If you don’t pay these taxes, they will take away your house.” He suggested an optional tax: “Send the bill to everybody, and those who support you will send money.”

Trustee Tim Taylor said he was “unpersuaded” by Granda’s argument, and noted that Davis voters have expressed “overwhelming support” for the parcel tax “going back over 20 years.” (Davis voters approved the first such tax in the early 1980s, after 1978’s Proposition 13 triggered massive budget cuts in school districts across the state.)

With Thursday night’s unanimous decision by the school board to place the parcel tax measure before voters in March, the next move will be made by the Yolo County Elections Department, which will assign a title to the ballot measure and print ballots.

— Reach Jeff Hudson at [email protected] or (530) 747-8055.

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