LAFAYETTE — A controversial parcel tax proposed by the Acalanes Union High School District is hovering just below the two-thirds threshold required to pass, according to early results from the May 6 special election.
Of the roughly 25,300 ballots tallied by 8 p.m. Tuesday, 62% of voters supported Measure T, which would temporarily charge homeowners an additional $130 each year — the school district’s plan for generating about $4.5 million. Turnout was only 29% of voters, nearly 38% of whom voted against the parcel tax, according to initial reports from Contra Costa County election officials.
Serving roughly 5,500 students and adult learners enrolled in Moraga, Orinda, Walnut Creek and other affluent communities in the East Bay hills, school district trustees claim that the proposed revenue stream is vital to keep up with rising costs of advanced academics and backfill stagnant local revenues for Acalanes Union. The original language in this pitch, however, was rewritten last-minute after sparking indignation among some taxpayers and a Superior Court judge.
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The next batch of updated election results will be posted to the county’s election website by 4 p.m. Friday, according to Dawn Kruger, spokesperson for the Elections Division of the Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder’s Office.
“There’s still probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 ballots that we received as of (Tuesday) that we’re still working through, not including ballots we would have gotten that were either mailed or dropped by 8 p.m, on election day,” Kruger said over the phone Wednesday. “It’s certainly not over.”
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 county election officials have estimated that the ballot measure could cost the district between $800,000 and $1 million in administration fees.
Kruger said she didn’t yet know how well Acalanes’ ballot measure performed compared to other special elections, but she acknowledged that receiving ballots from less than 30% of registered voters is notable for many of the affluent communities in the East Bay hills that feed students into AUHSD.
“That’s low,” Kruger said over the phone Wednesday, “especially in a region that generally — on the low end — has 75 to 80% turnout for the big general election.”
Previous bond measures 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.
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