LAFAYETTE — County officials are finalizing accuracy tests on tabulation machines that will tally the Acalanes Union High School District’s special election on May 6 for a ballot measure that’s sparked indignation among some taxpayers and a Superior Court judge.
The district is asking roughly 87,000 voters to approve Measure T, a parcel tax that would charge homeowners an additional $130 each year and generate about $4.5 million annually for the district.
Serving roughly 5,500 students and adult learners enrolled in Moraga, Orinda, Walnut Creek and other affluent communities in the East Bay hills, Acalanes Union High School District (AUHSD) trustees claim that the proposed revenue stream is vital to keep up with rising costs of advanced academics and backfill stagnant local revenues.
Roughly $85 million is projected to flow into AUHSD’s general fund during the 2024-25 school year, which includes $1.8 million from the state but zero federal funds, according to a March 5 budget report. Of that revenue, more than 62% was earmarked for salaries and other staff benefits.
Previous bond elections have passed in 1988, 1997, 2002, and 2008, according to AUHSD records, while parcel taxes were successful in 1991, 1995, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, and 2014.
If passed by two-thirds of voters, Measure T would authorize a temporary $130 parcel tax in 2026 that would be adjusted annually, capped at 3% each year. It would expire in July 2033.
For homeowners, the total for all supplemental taxes for Acalanes and its feeder districts ranges from about $1,000 to $2,300 annually for a home with an average assessed value of about $1 million — not accounting for other city, county and local taxes.
Dawn Kruger, spokesperson for the Elections Division of the Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder’s Office, said staff started collecting mail-in ballots Wednesday.
“This is a smaller election, so in theory, we’re probably not going to be getting a deluge of ballots all at the same time,” Kruger said. “It’s not something totally out of the ordinary.”
Historically, elections that don’t align with a presidential or other major state race do not receive high turnout. Exact figures are still murky, but Kruger said the ballot measure could cost the district between $800,000 and $1 million in administration fees.
While election staff typically scan envelopes as they arrive so voters know they’ve been received, she said the official counting process will likely wait until a sizable number of votes stack up. Plus, staff have to wait until equipment “logic and accuracy” testing is complete. That count verification process is open to the public.
“So we won’t be counting any live ballots until after that is done,” Kruger said.
Not long after trustees of the Central Contra Costa district voted in January to call the special election, AUHSD quickly fielded pushback that the tax proposal wasn’t fully transparent or impartial.
Two concerned taxpayers challenged the ballot measure in court earlier this year, arguing that it contained false or misleading information that implied schools would be deprived of high-quality education and skilled educators if Measure T failed. Additionally, they criticized the original language’s failure to disclose that the proposed parcel tax would increase annually with inflation – instead referring only to “annual adjustments.”
Some property owners within AUHSD’s boundaries already pay as many as eight different special taxes to supplement education revenue,
But that’s still not enough, according to arguments filed in favor of Measure T, because local funding has not increased in nearly 15 years. Supporters said “cuts will be required” if another parcel tax isn’t approved, threatening the ability to pay for teachers, counselors and courses that have helped many AUHSD schools rank “among the best in the state and the nation.”
Judge Edward Weil sided with many, but not all, of the arguments about transparency and impartiality that were laid out by Marc Joffe, president of the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association, which has opposed Measure T, and Adrian Malagon, who chairs the Libertarian Party of California and sits on the party’s national committee.
Weil’s March 4 order, which was expedited to avoid interfering with voter information guides and other election deadlines, included a mandate that Contra Costa Clerk-Recorder Kristin Connelly tweak the original wording that AUHSD had submitted to county officials to include, in part, the inflationary element of the tax proposal.
The court also required a handful of modifications to the analysis prepared by Thomas Geiger, a Contra Costa County attorney who authored the text, which is printed on official county voter guides.
“Don’t be fooled by scare tactics about ‘protecting’ education,’” Joffe and Malagon wrote in an official rebuttal to the district’s pitch, noting the special election is an “unnecessary rush” that will cost taxpayers upwards of $14 per registered voter. “The district should manage its (multi-million dollar) budget more efficiently, not burden residents with ever-increasing taxes.”
The last day that residents within AUHSD can request vote-by-mail ballots is April 29 — one week before the polls open on election day.
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