Parcel Tax Sends Readers To Their Keyboards

In May, the Lafayette School District will ask voters to approve a five-year $159 parcel tax.  Any school parcel tax proposal should be equitable among residential property owners and should close the loophole allowing owners of apartment complexes to pay a fraction of the parcel tax per unit as compared to owners of single family homes and condominiums. 

Homeowners and condominium owners currently pay a permanent Lafayette school parcel tax of $332.04. Yet property owners of apartment complexes pay just $332.04 for their entire parcel, regardless of the number of apartments.  For example, the County Tax Collector’s records show Lafayette Highlands on Carol Lane, valued at $31,000,000 and comprised of 150 apartments, pays one $332.04 parcel tax -- $2.22 annually per apartment (19 cents/month).  This inequity imposes an unfair financial burden on homeowners, more than 80% of whom do not have school-age children. 

In expressing optimism that the current parcel tax proposal will pass, School Board President Shayne Silva noted that our schools have a positive impact on property values.  This is a benefit enjoyed by all homeowners – with or without children.  However, this benefit is also enjoyed by individuals, partnerships, and corporations owning Lafayette apartment complexes, both in terms of property values and the ability to command higher rents.

Piedmont School District provides a model for a fair parcel tax.  It structured its 2009 parcel tax so that for each unit, owners of multi-family dwelling parcels pay two-thirds of the tax paid by owners of homes under 5,000 square feet. 

Not only should the current parcel tax proposal be drafted to require fair contribution from all residential property owners, but the existing permanent school parcel tax should be modified so that owners of multi-family dwellings pay a fair share for each unit.  For guidance on modifying the existing parcel tax, Lafayette can look to Larkspur, which in 2009 modified an existing parcel tax to increase contributions from property owners beginning in 2011.

If Lafayette adopted Piedmont’s formula, then multi-family property owners’ proportional share of the permanent school tax would be $220 per unit -- $19 per month – and their share of the five-year school tax would be $105 per unit -- $9 per month. 

A prudent approach would involve one measure approving the five-year parcel tax, with a proportional tax for each unit in a multi-family dwelling parcel, and a second measure modifying the existing permanent parcel tax so that beginning in 2013, owners of multi-family dwelling parcels will pay a proportional share of $332.04 for each unit.  If the former failed, the latter could still pass, generating revenue and achieving fairness by closing the existing loophole.

Our commercial properties generate tax revenue and provide jobs.  Rest homes and retirement complexes are exempt from the parcel tax.  These categories should remain unchanged.

The financial burden of supporting our schools should be shared equitably among all residential property owners.  Modifying the existing permanent tax to include fair share contribution from owners of multi-family dwellings would generate additional revenue for our schools and provide the fairness homeowners deserve.

Linda Murphy/Lafayette