Patch Primer: Measure C Benicia Schools Parcel Tax

What it is
On the Nov. 2 ballot, Measure C will ask Benicia voters to approve a $58 assessment on every parcel in the city. The money would go to the general fund of the Benicia Unified School District.

What it would take to pass
Parcel taxes require yes votes from two-thirds of the voters.

How much Measure C would raise
As much as $580,000. There are approximately 10,000 parcels in Benicia.  Some parcels are owned by senior citizens who have the option of not paying the tax so the actual amount to be raised won't be known for some time.

What it would fund
The revenues would be locally controlled by the Benicia Unified School District board. The funds would not add new programs but would be used to offset cuts in state funding that will total approximately $2 million this year in addition to over $4 million in cuts last year.

Who's for it
Support Benicia Schools is the organization that's running the Measure C campaign.

Who's against it
No formal opposition has surfaced. No one filed a statement opposing the measure for the ballot.

Why $58?
A consultant hired by the school district  to survey Benicia voters found that a $58 could pass, but anything higher was likely to fall short of the two-thirds support needed.

Previous Benicia parcel tax ballot measures

• 2004: Benicia voters narrowly defeated Measure S, a $105 parcel tax. It received 64.6 percent of the vote.
• 2006: Measure I, a $254 parcel tax, garnered 54.3 percent of the vote in the June 2006 primary.

School parcel tax elections in other communities
A study done by EdSource, a nonprofit and impartial source of information on California education, shows that between 2001 and June 2009 of the 132 school parcel taxes voted on in California, 83 passed – a success rate of nearly 63 percent. Over the past 2 years voters have approved 72 percent of all parcel taxes put before them.