Measure C is a new, more expensive, tax
By Jose Granda and Thomas Randall Jr.
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “renewal”: “The act or process of renewing: repetition,” “The act of extending the period of time when something is effective.” Measure C is neither of these. It is a new tax.
Renewal of Measures Q and W would mean that you would pay $1,280 ($320 per year) in four years. Measure C is more expensive, costing $1,600 over five years, and has an automatic Consumer Price Index increase built in. Clearly, it is a new, more expensive, tax. With the automatic increase per year, you will not even know the amount you will pay until you get your tax bill.
The arguments in favor of C are a list of all normal things the school board is supposed to and expected to be doing with $59 million we, the taxpayers, pay them for the education of our children.
Are Davis public schools the best in the area? This is a myth. Please take a look at the statistics published by the California Department of Education at http://tinyurl.com/72c4ezj. Davis schools did not even place within the first 15 in the Sacramento area. Scores for students in Davis schools are going down. How are they asking for more money when the product they deliver is diminishing in quality?
Even with Measures Q, W and A in force, Davis schools cannot place even within the first 15 in the Sacramento area. The school board blames it on the state instead of taking local responsibility for its mismanagement. The superintendent’s salary was $200,000 in 2010, and the salaries of the two assistants superintendents average $157,000.
Unfair tax
The school board is using senior citizens unethically. They will exempt seniors from paying the tax but want their votes to help pass the measure, forcing the rest of homeowners to pay. Either no one should be exempt or those who choose the exemption should abstain from voting and avoid passing the buck to every homeowner.
Besides the new tax, the school board is making you pay $90,000 for this special election. It could have had this election in June and paid $40,000. What a waste of money.
“Public education is not free,” trustee Sheila Allen said in November. If that is the case, those parents with children in public schools, instead of homeowners, should be paying this “forced tuition” for public schools. If Measure C passes and you live in an apartment, the property owner will pass the bill to you and your rent will go up.
The school board is out of control; trustees hit us with Measure A last May, which raised the taxes by 62 percent to $520 per year. Now, trustees hit us again with Measure C. Using a “tax to the max” policy, nine parcel tax measures have been placed on your tax bill already, and five of those relate to the school board plus other local agencies, resulting in an additional average property tax of $1,188 per parcel per year. It’s a terrible burden on all homeowners.
The school board has never discontinued these measures. Every measure since the 1980s has increased the tax, from $45 per year initially to $200 by Measure Q (2007). In addition, Measure W (2008) charged $120 more and Measure A (2011) added another $200. This skyrocketing spiral will continue if Measure C passes and becomes a permanent tax.
The school board will hold the teachers’ jobs hostage and threaten to dismantle programs if you do not agree to pass the new tax. It is time to say no to scare tactics and intimidation. Voting no on C will send a message to balance the budget and operate efficiently. Nowadays, people are losing their jobs and their homes and cannot afford new taxes.
A total of 5,403 Davis residents voted against Measure A last year. Please do the same now. Inform a friend and neighbor and ask them to vote no on C. Send a powerful message by voting no on C.
It’s undemocratic
The all-mailed ballot is an undemocratic, unconstitutional process that violates your constitutional right to vote by secret ballot. See California Constitution Article 2 section VII.
Once you put that envelope in the mail, you have no control. Anyone opening it has your name, address, signature and knows how you voted.
During Measure A, 16,033 (97.3 percent) ballots were opened and scanned before the polls closed. This is a questionable process. Ballots are opened and counted only by the elections office staff, and there’s a significant reduction in oversight to maintain the integrity of an election.
As soon as you get your ballot, fill it out and vote no on Measure C. Enough is enough. No on the new tax. No to unfair all-mailed-ballot elections. Vote no on C.
— Jose Granda, Ph.D., has lived in Davis for 33 years. He is an engineering professor at Sacramento State University. Thomas Randall Jr. has lived in Davis for 39 years. He is a graduate of Davis High School and a notary public.
Short URL: http://www.davisenterprise.com/?p=132496
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“Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “renewal”: “The act or process of renewing: repetition,” “The act of extending the period of time when something is effective.” Measure C is neither of these.”
Measure C is a renewal, and extension, a continuation. Measures Q & W funded certain programs through this year; Measure C funds those same programs for an additional 5 years.
“Voting no on C will send a message to balance the budget and operate efficiently. Nowadays, people are losing their jobs and their homes and cannot afford new taxes.”
Mr. Granda, can you offer an example of how you, at Sac State, are operating more efficiently so that students there don’t have to pay more in fees and tuition and become further saddled with student debt? Would it be appropriate to lay off faculty such as yourself at Sac State in order to bring college costs there under control? Your answers might enlighten this community as to what you might consider an appropriate alternative.
No, voting No on Measure C will send a message that you don’t care about the children of Davis.
Yes the example you want, faculty took a 15% cut for two years and furloughs to do just that. Personal attacks have no place in this campaign.
“Voting no on C will send a message to balance the budget and operate efficiently. Nowadays, people are losing their jobs and their homes and cannot afford new taxes.” This is true in Davis.
It is time that school board sets a good example to live within their means and manange properly. Those of us who oppose Measure C pay already 62 million dollars to Davis schools, we are the 92% suporting the schools.
Davis teachers have done that. If they were paid your salary, it would be easier to take deeper cuts.
I lived in Texas where the entire curriculum in public schools is dependent upon standardized tests. My son attended a “top ranking” public school in TX. I noticed that the teachers under this restriction were unhappy as they are limited in creativity because of the pressure to meet the standardized tests; science, art and music were not a priority, and fell to waist side. Also, my son has learning disabilities and the Texan teachers informed me that he needed to “conform” and pass the standardized tests. He was viewed as a nuisance rather than a person. This once vibrant, small Texan community has had a huge depreciation in property value as the school, despite its ranking, lost its reputation as a good school and families moved away.
The Texan school cannot even compare to the elementary school that my children now attend in Davis. In Davis, my children are no longer considered just a data point for a statistic. I do not know of too many communities that are like Davis, where children are seen as people. This is a community. I pay the inflated rent prices to stay in Davis so my children can have this opportunity to be a part of a caring community and to attend the schools. If you really want to know where your tax dollars are going, you should attend some of the music concerts, science fair projects and other events that allow children to interact with the community. Whether you like children or not, is irrelevant. You live in a community; and for a community to function, the wellbeing of all citizens need to be considered.
By the way, the school taxes in this Texan town are very low, and there are many homes there for sale if you are interested in moving.
Like!
Lindsey: “… science, art and music were not a priority, and fell to waist side. ”
The actual expression is “fell by the way side,” not “waist side.” The phrase comes from the King James version of the Christian Bible in Matthew 13:3-4*. It is known as the parable of the sower:
“(Jesus) spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up.”
The “way side” means the side of the road, especially the side of a highway (where the farmers seeds would not produce a crop). When something “falls by the way side,” it means that it was not used for its intended purpose or, more specifically, it means that it went to waste.
*Mark 4:4 and Luke 8:5 have the same story and saying. In that Bible scholars believe that Mark is the oldest of the Synoptic Gospels, it is likely that the authors of Matthew 13 and Luke 8 just copied what the author(s) of Mark had written first. I am not sure why Matthew comes before Mark in the Biblical canon.
Recently, the past several years have been pretty excruciating: teacher layoffs, increased class sizes, and across the board pay reduction for all staff in this school district have hurt. As a community, we see the beauty of our town and in so many ways it ties with the atmosphere of a vibrant, supportive school system — one of the true value factors of Davis. Seniors can opt out of the tax; rental units are costs to the owners only, and even if passed along, it is only half of what home dwellers would pay . . . GO YES ON C!!!
“Seniors can opt out of the tax; rental units are costs to the owners only, and even if passed along, it is only half of what home dwellers would pay .”
Right, you either don’t have to pay or you only pay a fraction. Pass that measure so homeowners can foot the bill.