|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Atherton voters are being asked to renew the town’s parcel tax next month, a tax that’s been in place for nearly 40 years. The annual per-parcel tax rate has been the same for 22 years – $750 for most homeowners in the affluent town.
Opponents argue that the tax, which raises about $1.86 million for the town each year, is obsolete. That argument is bolstered by the fact that, with the wildly escalating property values in town, the increase in property tax revenue that reaches the town coffers – about 9 percent of the total collected – is more than adequate to keep the town fiscally healthy and operational.
Tax proponents, which include all five City Council members, point to the services the tax has funded in recent years, including the long overdue Marsh Road Channel project, drainage projects, bicycle and pedestrian roadway improvements and general road maintenance. The spending of parcel tax revenue is restricted to capital projects and another budget item Atherton residents have indicated should be a funding priority: police services.
Approval of Measure F on the November ballot would renew the parcel tax for three years, which is one year less than the typical renewal. We think voters should support the measure.
Longtime town residents and observers have undeniably seen periods when Atherton was governed with a loose rein, with some elected leaders paying inadequate attention to spending priorities and accumulating debt from unfunded liabilities. This council and the council that preceded it cannot be accused of that.
With the help of sharp and savvy Town Hall staff, the council has shown concern about spending public money wisely and responsibly. And it supports a Finance Committee of volunteer residents who review town spending and the big-picture financial outlook, including long-term liabilities stemming from employee costs.
This council has also taken on projects that some would argue should have been addressed years ago but that were shunted into the “deferred maintenance” column in the budget, such as drainage, park and roadway improvements – all costly but necessary. And with funding for these projects coming in large part from the parcel tax, the town has more flexibility in directing revenue from other sources toward further paying down unfunded liabilities and another major capital project that’s long overdue: the replacing of decrepit, substandard buildings that now house the town’s police force and other staff as a new civic center is built.
Atherton’s leaders have shown responsibility in identifying the town’s needs and spending the public’s money, and they have earned the confidence of voters. Renewing the parcel tax for another three years is the wise thing to do.
I want to thank the Almanac for this well stated editorial. I do think that passing this Parcel Tax is important and that approving it wasn’t just seeking the ability to spend more tax dollars. The Atherton Council has been extremely conservative in authorizing any spending. It’s easy for Council to spend lots of money on consultants without great results and we have tried to be very, very careful about this, while still moving forward to implement the decisions of the four Master Plans that we approved between 2014 and 2017. We have been able to generate a surplus in each of the past four years and, per the voter decision in June 2017, that surplus is going to be used to build a critically needed, conservatively designed civic center. The Parcel Tax will enable us, during the three year period of this civic center construction, to continue to pay for two police officers and continue to provide the level of road work and drainage work that the Parcel Tax has paid for, ie $1.8m per year. This is why we need the Parcel Tax.
It is important to highlight the decision to make this Parcel Tax for only three years. That is because we will be done with the civic center in three years and if our property taxes continue to increase faster than our expenses, then three years will be the right time to seriously debate whether or not we need the Parcel Tax. Now is a time that we definitely need it.
Prop 13 was passed June 6th, 1978.
The properties “frozen” at 1978 assessed values have increased in value by 100% by 2017.
More than 50% of the properties in Atherton have been scrapped and replaced by much higher value properties since 1978.
Prop 13 is NOT a justification for the 2017 parcel tax.