Menlo Park Voters Approve Parcel Tax Increase to Benefit City's Schools

MENLO PARK, CA — Voters in Menlo Park approved a parcel tax increase to benefit the city's elementary schools in a special election Tuesday, according to San Mateo County elections officials.

About 78.4 percent of voters passed Measure X, a $153 annual parcel tax hike placed on the ballot by the Menlo Park City School District.

The total tax for each parcel in the district will rise to $360, according to the ballot description.

Measure X will raise an estimated $2.83 million annually for seven years for student programs and teacher salaries in the four-campus district.

School district officials say the increase is necessary to forestall an estimated $5 million annual budget shortfall caused by the expiration of the district's existing parcel tax.

The parcel taxes account for about 15 percent of the district's budget, which operated on revenues of $44.6 million last school year.

The money is needed to offset declining state spending, increases to the district's pension costs and growing enrollment, according to the ballot argument in favor of Measure X, authored by retired principal David
Ackerman, among other proponents.

— By Bay City News Service / Image via Shutterstock