After legal ruling leaves some parcel taxes in jeopardy, clarity must come from Legislature - by John Fensterwald
State law mandates that parcel taxes be levied equally on all property owners in a district, regardless of parcel size or number of living units. Some school districts have sought creative approaches to raise additional revenue from larger parcels, but a recent Court of Appeals ruling puts those approaches in jeopardy. Photo: Flickr
The state Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of a parcel tax case with statewide implications, leaving it up to the Legislature, if it chooses, to change the law that undid one district’s parcel tax and left similar parcel taxes in other districts vulnerable. A bill that would do that failed to move this year but will resurface in 2014.
Proposition 13 banned new taxes based on a property’s value, so parcel taxes, most of which impose a flat dollar amount per property, have became one of the few ways that districts can raise extra money. Only about one in eight districts – 124 over the past 30 years – have passed one, according to an EdSource report. Because owners of cottages pay the same amount as ownersof office buildings, about a dozen school districts have explored other approaches to spread the burden, like charging by the lot size or a building’s square footage. Now, a state court has