Atherton councilman proposes 20-year parcel tax Atherton councilman proposes 20-year parcel tax (December 22, 2004)

By Andrea Gemmet

Almanac Staff Writer

If at first you don't succeed ... ask for something even bigger. Undaunted by last month's failure of a four-year renewal of Atherton's parcel tax, Councilman Charles Marsala is proposing the town take a 20-year extension of the special tax to voters next June.

The parcel tax, which costs the average Atherton homeowner $750 a year, funds infrastructure projects as well as town services. Without it, the town faces a $1.8 million annual budget gap.

It garnered only 57 percent of the vote, and required a two-thirds vote in order to pass.

Mr. Marsala blamed the lack of an active campaign for the parcel tax's defeat in November, saying an informal poll showed many people did not understand that it was a renewal and mistakenly thought it was an additional tax.

Mr. Marsala said he was inspired by the resounding success of Measure A, the county's half-cent sales tax for transportation projects, which has a 25-year term and was also on the November ballot.

"We need to fix roads, we need to fix drainage problems, so why not make a commitment to it?" he said.

The time that town staff and council members devote every four years to trying to figure what to do if the parcel tax doesn't pass could be better spent, Mr. Marsala said.

He said he is sending letters to his contacts in town soliciting their opinions on the 20-year parcel tax renewal idea. Former Planning Commission member Phil Lively, who co-chaired with Mr. Marsala the last successful parcel-tax renewal campaign four years ago, likes the idea of the 20-year renewal, Mr. Marsala said.

"All I needed was one spark, and I was off and running," he said.

Details, such as how increases to the tax might be built in to a long-term renewal measure, remain to be worked out, he said.

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