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Menlo Park school district's parcel tax Measure B is headed for approval

Updated vote count shows $4.6M with a comfortable lead

Students walk around during recess at Hillview Middle School on the first day of the new school year in Menlo Park on Aug. 19, 2021. A parcel tax measure to keep the Menlo Park City School District financially solvent is on the Nov. 2, 2021, ballot. Photo by Magali Gauthier.

The Tuesday afternoon updated election results show Measure B, a parcel tax measure for the Menlo Park City School District, is getting the votes needed to pass.

Some 74.36% of voters have said yes to the measure, which requires a two-thirds, or 66.7%, voter majority, county election officials reported Thursday, Nov. 4. Some 6,014 voters voted yes, while 2,074 voted no.

The county has just 60 votes left to count in the only two measures on the ballot, Measure B and Woodside's closely divided Measure A race, according to the county's website.

The measure, on the Nov. 2 special election ballot, asks for $598 per parcel annually, a $193 bump from the current rate of about $405. It would raise $4.6 million annually for the district, which serves about 2,700 students in Menlo Park and Atherton.

District officials say they listened to voters who turned down the district's past attempts at a parcel tax, measures A and C, in part, because they were evergreen taxes with no expiration dates. Instead, Measure B on the Nov. 2 ballot would sunset after 12 years, expiring in 2033. This would replace Measure X, a seven-year parcel tax which expires in June 2024. It has been described as a "stopgap" solution and raises $2.83 million annually.

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The county will release its next round of elections results Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 4:30 p.m.

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Angela Swartz
 
Angela Swartz joined The Almanac in 2018 and covers education and small towns. She has a background covering education, city politics and business. Read more >>

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Menlo Park school district's parcel tax Measure B is headed for approval

Updated vote count shows $4.6M with a comfortable lead

The Tuesday afternoon updated election results show Measure B, a parcel tax measure for the Menlo Park City School District, is getting the votes needed to pass.

Some 74.36% of voters have said yes to the measure, which requires a two-thirds, or 66.7%, voter majority, county election officials reported Thursday, Nov. 4. Some 6,014 voters voted yes, while 2,074 voted no.

The county has just 60 votes left to count in the only two measures on the ballot, Measure B and Woodside's closely divided Measure A race, according to the county's website.

The measure, on the Nov. 2 special election ballot, asks for $598 per parcel annually, a $193 bump from the current rate of about $405. It would raise $4.6 million annually for the district, which serves about 2,700 students in Menlo Park and Atherton.

District officials say they listened to voters who turned down the district's past attempts at a parcel tax, measures A and C, in part, because they were evergreen taxes with no expiration dates. Instead, Measure B on the Nov. 2 ballot would sunset after 12 years, expiring in 2033. This would replace Measure X, a seven-year parcel tax which expires in June 2024. It has been described as a "stopgap" solution and raises $2.83 million annually.

The county will release its next round of elections results Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 4:30 p.m.

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