The Abridged version:<\/p>\n
Sacramento City Unified leaders are asking voters to approve a parcel tax, the revenue of which would go toward supporting the cash-strapped school district.<\/p>\n
The tax would be on the ballot this November and requires at least two-thirds of voters to approve it.<\/p>\n
Officials emphasized that a tax is one piece of an ongoing fiscal recovery plan, as the district contends with a multimillion-dollar deficit and possible state takeover.<\/p>\n
Sacramento City Unified leaders are asking voters for help keeping programs afloat in the cash-strapped school district.<\/p>\n
Trustees gave staff the green light to pursue a parcel tax, the rate of which remains to be seen, at Thursday\u2019s board meeting.<\/p>\n
As Sacramento City Unified stares down a multimillion-dollar budget deficit and the possibility of running out of cash during next school year, income from a new tax would boost the district\u2019s revenue. These extra dollars may go toward services like special education, athletics or electives.<\/p>\n
Chris Ralston, assistant superintendent of facilities, emphasized that a tax is a piece of the overall, ongoing financial recovery plan. Other actions have included shrinking the district\u2019s central office and slashing department supply budgets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not coming to the community asking for more revenue without doing our own hard work first,\u201d Ralston said.<\/p>\n
What would a parcel tax entail?<\/p>\n
With the board approval, staff are kicking off a short-sprint process to put a parcel tax in front of voters on November\u2019s ballot.<\/p>\n
A parcel tax is different from a property tax, in that it is not based on property value. Ralston said the amount would depend on a customized formula. <\/p>\n
Parcel taxes can be a flat rate, meaning all home and property owners pay the same total amount. They can also be a per-square-foot rate, so larger property owners pay more. <\/p>\n
The tax would be levied on properties within the school district boundaries.<\/p>\n
Board members expressed support for using the money to help with rising special education costs. <\/p>\n
A survey will go out to voters between late June and mid-July, Ralston said. In it, voters will have the chance to weigh in on what they want their dollars to go toward.<\/p>\n
High bar for approval<\/p>\n
Parcel taxes need approval from two-thirds of voters, a high bar that is often difficult to clear.<\/p>\n
The last time Sacramento City Unified asked property owners for additional support, in 2016, the proposed parcel tax failed by half a percentage point.<\/p>\n
Yet, Ralston is optimistic that with enough communication, the district can win over the necessary number of people. Plus, he pointed to a successful track record of passing and using bond measures \u2014 which need 55% approval \u2014 to fund districtwide facilities projects.<\/p>\n
The district\u2019s last bond measure passed in 2024 by 74% \u2014 more than two-thirds.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a very supportive community,\u201d Ralston said. \u201cWe just need to show them the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Savannah Kuchar\u00a0is a reporter covering education. She came to Sacramento to be a part of the Abridged team and contribute to a crucial local news source.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Abridged version: Sacramento City Unified leaders are asking voters to approve a parcel tax, the revenue of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-367061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}