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MEASURE H
Piedmont Unified School District Parcel Tax
To maintain the high quality of Piedmont schools, continue funding programs in math, science, technology, engineering, English, music and arts, attract and retain qualified teachers, update instructional materials and technology, and maintain manageable class sizes, shall Piedmont Unified School District’s measure be adopted, renewing the expiring school parcel tax at the then-current rate ($3,174 per parcel) until ended by voters, with independent citizen oversight, annual inflation adjustments, and all funds (approximately $12 million annually) benefiting local
students?
Vote Required: 2/3
Criteria:
1-Intent and structure of tax (i.e. a % or rate for a sales or transfer tax, or a $ per parcel for a parcel tax)
2- Amount of the tax generated per year
3 -Duration of the tax
4- Is this a Special or General tax?
5- Where is the money specifically going? (If a special tax)
6-Is there another similar tax already in place? If so that tax info should be included.
7-Will this take 2/3, vote or simple majority to pass?
8.-Extraneous language unrelated to the matter which could be considered as deceptive to the
voter.
SCORE: 4.2
Comments: The essential descriptive criteria were answered in a straightforward manner; however, the score was lowered from the maximum of five because of extraneous verbiage designed to influence a Yes vote such as “until ended by the voters”, which essentially means it’s both a permanent tax, but also with permanent cost-of-living adjustments. The $12 million annual figure should be described as a minimum with anticipated increases. It also says that it would benefit local students. This is extraneous because it’s basically true of all local taxes.
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