A parcel tax for property owners in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District appears to have narrowly passed following a mail-in election last month.
Measure A, which proposed to add a $79 tax per parcel on top of renewing an existing $49 tax to fund educational programs at Los Gatos High School and Saratoga High School, was voted by residents in two different counties, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties, on May 7.
The latest results released this week had 7,196 yes votes in Santa Clara County and 608 yes votes in Santa Cruz County, compared to 3,424 no votes in Santa Clara County and 466 in Santa Cruz County, for an overall total of 66.7 percent, narrowly above the two-thirds threshold required for the parcel tax to pass.
Proponents of the increase in the tax said in a ballot argument for Measure A that the existing $49 tax hadn’t been increased in more than a dozen years and was the lowest among all Silicon Valley districts that rely on parcel tax funding.
Opponents, including the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association, argued that the tax was excessive because enrollment had declined in the district in the past five years while the percentage of its students who fell below state standards had increased during that same period.
The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters certified the election results for the election this week, according to a Thursday news release from the Registrar’s Office.
Measure A proponents argued that the existing $49 tax hadn’t been increased in more than a dozen years and was the lowest among all Silicon Valley districts that rely on parcel tax funding.
Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District is part of both Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties. Santa Clara County’s part of the district included 10,630 ballots, or about one third of voters registered in the county.
The certification was part of the completion of the official counting process. Voters had until Thursday to fix any issues with their ballot return envelopes.
“Every vote counts and is important,” said Registrar of Voters Shannon Bushey, “It is especially important for voters to make their voices heard on matters that have a direct impact on their communities.”
Voters can request a recount of votes within five days after certification.
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