Stop, Drop and Roll

21 August 2008 | AUSD, Alameda Community, Elections | John Knox White

What’s a person to do?

As you probably know by know, it is highly likely that a lawsuit will be filed tomorrow against Measure H, the school parcel tax that was passed by nearly 67% of Alameda voters. The picture of who’s involved, etc. is becoming clearer with each passing day and come tomorrow, we’ll know exactly what is being challenged. But most likely the suit will be a two-pronged challenge, with both prongs buried deep in the word “uniform” and what that means.

From Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe a law firm that helps right parcel tax measures:

The tax must be uniform as applied to all real property or to all taxpayers. The tax cannot be related to a taxpayer’s use of the schools.  And the tax rate cannot be expressed in terms of the value of the property (an “ad valorem tax”).

Supposedly, the lawsuit group “Alamedans for Fair Taxation” has raised over $100K for the suit so far. But back to my personal dilemma…..

It turns out that one of these businesses is one that the SD&R household has frequented weekly since it opened. We’re huge fans and have spent thousands of dollars there in the past few years. It is the type of business that we love, a true gem in our fair hamlet. (Should that be “Faire” hamlet?)

And the issue is a tough one, as the owner of multiple properties based on a requirement by the city to provide lots of parking, this business (no names today) will be paying nearly as much as Alameda Towne Centre because of the cap of $9500 per parcel. The laswsuit is going to charge that this is not uniform. And it may be right! (Uniformity has never been challenged, but if this were to go to an appeals court, numerous, possibly 40-50 school districts in the state, may lose their funding….Yay Alameda! We can go from national coverage for rallying around our schools to national coverage for tanking the funding mechanisms for other people’s districts.)

This is difficult. I completely understand the concerns of a small, indendently owned business being upset about this tax and how it hits them harder than it hits Harsch Development and their tenants. But here’s what I don’t get.

Lets pretend for two seconds that nobody knew this was an issue until after the election passed (this is false, lawsuits were threatened well before the election took place. Apparently businesses were afraid of the teachers if they came out against Measure H, but not if they sue and overturned the popularly passed ballot measure!)

But back to pretending…There have been meetings on this issue, a lot of incorrect information is being passed around (I have yet to hear how many businesses are affected by this problem, but more on that later). And yet, I haven’t seen anyone attempting any solutions to possibly come to a non-legal solution.

If this parcel tax was longer than four years, say 10-30, I’d understand it better. But it’s not, it’s four years. I’m not coldhearted enough to say “suck it up!” to small business owners, but I am flabbergasted that businesses who have been directly helped by public funding turn immediately to the courts to overthrow an extremely popular emergency parcel tax without first trying to work with the community to find a solution to fix their concerns.

A solution could be, community fundraising for small businesses that are carrying a high burden in this parcel tax (by the way, how is it “fair” that my neighbor pays the same amount for Measure A (the $189 parcel tax) as does Alameda Towne Centre for their parcel? Parcel taxes are unfair, that’s all there is too it). Another soluion could be a second ballot measure to adjust Measure H after the first year to lower the burden on multiple property owners. Something tells me there might be other solutions.

So while I understand some of the underlying issues of the lawsuit, it’s this lack of positive action that will be changing my personal shopping habits if this lawsuit comes to pass. I don’t like it, I won’t be looking to take my sales tax out of Alameda, but I can’t see how I can support a local business that loses sight of major local issues so quickly and will be supporting those that do, even if it means eating Tuckers Ice Cream for dinner.

There are machinations happening out there to help avoid this lawsuit. Those community leaders looking to find a positive outcome for everyone should be hailed for their efforts, even if in the end, their efforts are unsuccessful.