In 1976, MidPeninsula Regional Park District(MRPD) annexed San Carlos, Redwood City, Woodside, Atherton, Menlo Park , Portola Valley, East Palo Alto and surrounding unincorporated areas. The vote: Yes: 18,820 No: 17,708. Portola Valley and Menlo Park YES votes led by 2,115 votes. San Carlos, Redwood City and Atherton rejected the annexation by 1,514 votes. A ~$17 per $100,000 tax rate was established. MROSD’s Coastside annexation failed to obtain a share of existing property taxes. Taking ~$17 per $100,000 from existing taxes would not require a tax increase. That should be done. In 1977 MRPD became MROSD reflecting a de-emphasis on Parks and Recreation. With more than 62,000 acres of tax-exempt land, they are unable to finance their operation. Their debt service for more than $100,000,000 in bond obligations exceeds $10,000,000/year. They collect $10,000,000 in property taxes from South San Mateo County. They are burdened with employee retirement benefits. Parcel taxes are discussed. Proper stewardship of Open Space land should include revenue producing land use, such as golf courses, under a land lease agreement. Palo Alto based Robert Trent Jones II, world renowned architect of environmentally friendly golf courses, could effectuate a plan to produce sufficient revenue for Open Space land maintenance . Golf courses require less than 90 acres of active area. Creation of six golf courses would need less than 1% of MROSD’s open space land. There is no need for a $300,000,000 Bond. Vote NO on Measure AA
Jack Hickey
