BY STEPHANIE LAM
Daily Post Correspondent
The Palo Alto school board yesterday unanimously voted to put a parcel tax renewal on the June ballot.
The tax will be at a lower rate, at $800 per parcel over four years. Right now, residents pay $904.92 per parcel.
For months, the school board has been debating whether to put the parcel tax, which will expire in 2027, back on the ballot this June to extend it.
Palo Alto Unified has benefited from the parcel tax since 2001. The current tax is set at $904.92 per parcel, generating approximately $16.5 million per year and is typically used by the district for staffing, compensation and other student-focused programs. The district’s total budget for the 2025-26 year was $354 million, according to documents.
Former board member Todd Collins told the board that, because of an increase in property tax revenue, the district no longer needs the parcel tax because traditional property taxes have increased by a greater amount than what the parcel tax generated. He urged the board to be good financial stewards of the district.
One of the driving considerations of including the tax stems from the district negotiating union proposal that calls for increasing salaries by 28% for teachers and 47% for non-teachers, according to Superintendent Don Austin.
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Aren’t we taxed enough? You’d think so, especially with the city OVERcharging us for utilities by $25,000,000 each and every year.
But no, “our leaders” want to raise our sales tax even more — …
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It’s good. If anybody in town didn’t already know about the 28-47% pay increase, they surely will by the end of the campaign.
If we’re really tired of Supt. Austin, the dumb-it-down curriculum, the hostility to parents, excessive taxes … then we need to vote down the parcel tax and find some new school board members to replace Shounak Dharap and Shana Segal. With those two gone, it won’t entirely solve the problem because we’ve seen how the three remaining board members go wobbly at times, particularly when they’re under attack by Ken Dauber and his surrogates. But if there was any time Palo Alto needed a new school board and new administrators, it is now. If you’ve ever thought about running, you need to put together a campaign now. You can’t wait until the filing period opens to launch your campaign. Dauber will smash you like a bug.
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We don’t need a parcel tax, we need to end the top heavy pyramid and back room deals as well as a end to the “me too” clause for administration.
Anecdotal question:
Why was the board’s sitting changed recently? There is a new bigger distance between the current president of the school board and the other members who are on the side now. This seems to be a total new sitting. The board members used to sit pretty close to each other, all could be easily seen.
Above visual change “just” added to previous changes relating to public access/allotted time, constellation of many more items under consent, etc.
Is enrollment down again? Why is a parcel tax needed?
Austin and his Chief of Staff are finally getting exposed. Why does a sup even need a Chief of Staff? It seems last night was the beginning of the end for Austin AND the Daubers, who work behind the scenes through Austin.
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Stay tuned for some real PAUSD drama.
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When cities and school districts run out of money in the Bay Area they never cut anything, they just raise taxes. Palo Alto is a prime offender.
The PAUSD board is going to keep the parcel tax money in some kind of slush fund in case they have to pay off some more defamation of character settlements.