League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	San Mateo County, CA February 23, 2010 Election
	Measure A Parcel Tax San Mateo Foster City School District 2/3 Approval Required Pass: 14,689 / 67.0% Yes votes ...... 7,238 / 33.0% No votes See Also: Index of all Measures

Arguments For Measure A

Arguments Against Measure A

We need Measure A to maintain the quality of our local public schools. San Mateo-Foster City schools benefit from our voter approved parcel tax that is scheduled to expire in June 2010. Measure A will extend this local funding for our schools for an additional seven years. Without passage of Measure A, our schools will lose approximately $6 million a year, on top of the over $18 million in State cuts since 2007. Cuts of this magnitude will devastate our elementary and middle schools. To prevent significant cuts to core academic programs, Measure A has been placed on the February 2010 ballot. The existing tax will be increased by a modest $8 a month more than taxpayers currently pay. Passage of Measure A will help prevent the most devastating cuts to core academic programs and will provide stable local funding that cannot be taken away by the State. Independent fiscal oversight and audits are required and seniors are eligible for an exemption. Measure A will help: protect our students and schools from damaging State cuts maintain school libraries attract and retain qualified teachers and staff provide middle school art and music programs, and maintain small class sizes Great schools benefit everyone in our community. We need reliable local revenue to shield our students and schools from the harmful effects of the ongoing State cuts. Every dollar raised by Measure A will stay in our community to benefit our schools and local children. Quality schools help protect property values. Please join us in protecting our local resources and voting Yes on Measure A. /s/ Carole Groom, San Mateo County Supervisor /s/ Melodie L. Lew, Commissioner, San Mateo Service Commission /s/ William Chow, Realtor /s/ Ruth K. Nagler, Community Events Coordinator /s/ Phyllis Harris, President, San Mateo Elementary Teachers' Association

Government's appetite for higher taxes and still higher spending never ends. Consider all the taxes we pay, most of them at record highs: Property Taxes (plus special assessments) School Bond Taxes (districts, county) Sales Taxes (county and state) Income Taxes (state and federal) Vehicle License fees and taxes Gas taxes (state and federal) Telecommunication taxes additional excise taxes on alchohol, tobacco, gasoline, tires, etc. If high taxes encouraged balanced budgets and responsible spending, California would be the best-run state in the nation! But the opposite is true --- Record revenue engendered bloated payrolls and unsustainable benefit schemes; outstripping our ability to pay for them. No amount of revenue can prevent politicians from spending more money than they take in. The state government's school districts are out of control: consuming almost half of the state budget and borrowing recklessly to spend even more. And, on top of all that, they have the gall to ask for higher parcel taxes, too? We couldn't stop Sacramento from raising sales and income taxes last year - but we can finally put an end to one long-standing "temporary" parcel tax. Now is our opportunity. Please vote No. This superfluous surtax is just plain greedy. /s/ Harland Harrison, Chair, Libertarian Party of San Mateo County /s/ John J. Jack Hickey

Full Text of Measure A

By approval of this proposition by at least two-thirds (2/3) of the registered voters voting on the proposition, the District will be authorized to levy a qualified special tax of $180.85 per parcel (adjusted annually by the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose Metropolitan Area Consumer Price Index) for seven (7) years on each nonexempt parcel of land in the District. Parcels which are owned and occupied as the primary residence by at least one person age 65 or older will qualify for an exemption from the tax upon filing of an annual application for such exemption. The provisions in this section are specially included in this proposition in order that the voters and taxpayers in the District may be assured that their money will be spent wisely. The District shall file with its governing board each year a report stating the amount of the funds collected and expended and the status of any project authorized to be funded. As required by the laws of the State of California, the proceeds of the qualified special tax will be deposited into a special account established by the District and will be applied only to the specific purposes identified below: (a) preserving quality education by attracting and retaining qualified teachers and staff; (b) maintaining school libraries; (c) providing middle school art and music programs; (d) supporting small class sizes; (e) supporting programs which will enhance student achievement The District's Fiscal Authority committee shall provide independent fiscal oversight by reguarly reviewing the use of parcel tax funds to ensure that the funds are spent according to the specific purposes identified in this measure and that no parcel tax proceeds are taken away by the State.