Voters in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District narrowly approved the district’s first parcel tax in more than a dozen years by a narrow eight-vote margin, according to the election offices in Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties.
Measure A will 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. It was voted on by residents in the two counties via mail-in balloting that ended May 7.
The certified results released last week reported 7,804 votes in favor of the new tax, with 3,890 votes against – 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 margin of 66.74%, just eight votes 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 is 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 last week, according to a June 6 press release from the Registrar's Office.
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 June 6 to fix any issues with their ballot return envelopes.
“Every vote counts and is important,” said Santa Clara County 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.”
As of today, there were no requests for a recount, which would have to be funded by the requestor.
