A recipe for success WEEKEND | 21 SEPTEMBER 11, 2015 VOLUME 23, NO. 33
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MOVIES | 26
School board weighs parcel tax renewal DISTRICT LIKELY TO DITCH TIERED TAX TO AVOID LEGAL BATTLE double the tax in a single election, saying that it would be an aggreschool board members say if sive approach. The legal basis behind ditching voters renew the Mountain View Whisman School Dis- the tiered system comes primartrict’s parcel tax next year, revenue ily from the Alameda Unified from the tax could fund class-size School District, where property reduction, a robust science cur- owners filed a suit against the riculum and new ways to attract district in 2008 claiming the tax teachers amid a statewide teacher had to be uniform. In the end, the California Court of Appeals ruled shortage. But selling the idea may not that taxing properties varying be easy, as most property own- amounts violates state governers are likely to be asked to pay ment code, which requires that more just to keep funding at a school districts’ parcel taxes be break-even level. Due to recent applied “uniformly to all taxpaylegal decisions, parcel taxes must ers or all real property within the be uniform, meanschool district.” Board member ing the owner of a Steve Nelson argued 45,000-square-foot “I am totally that while the disbuilding will pay the same as the uninterested trict may be barred from a tiered tax, owner of a condo. it could still levy a It’s a big change in spending tax based on square from the parcel tax structure the dis- district money footage. He said he to vote no trict now has in on a lawsuit planned on a parcel tax that place. The current was uniform for all again.” parcel tax, passed properties. “I’m going to with Measure C, BOARD MEMBER vote no if a parhas most owners ELLEN WHEELER cel tax is ‘Google’s of property under headquarters gets 8,000 square feet paying $127 annually. For proper- taxed the same as a condo,’” Nelties at or over 44,000 square feet, son said. “If the law doesn’t allow that number jumps to $1,016. The a progressive tax, I’m not going to Measure C tax brings in about vote for a regressive tax.” Phil Henderson, the district’s $2.8 million annually, according to Charles Heath, a political con- legal counsel, explained that the sultant for the district. Measure C verdict from the Alameda Unified case was clear in saying districts is set to expire June 30, 2017. If the district adopts a flat tax, cannot assess properties differwhich it will likely have to do, ently. Doing a tax based on square property owners would have to footage, Henderson said, would pay $191 — a 50 percent increase be potentially subject to a legal from the tax now paid by most challenge. When Nelson asked if Henderdistrict property owners. This leaves little room to increase the son knew of any legal firms that parcel tax’s total revenue without would support a measure based a higher risk that the tax mea- on square footage, Henderson sure will fall short of the two- told Nelson that law firms would thirds vote needed to pass. Heath advised that the board not try to See PARCEL TAX, page 12 By Kevin Forestieri
S MICHELLE LE
Protesters rally outside of Mountain View City Hall on Tuesday, asking the City Council to take action to alleviate the city’s soaring rents and evictions.
Huge crowd pushes for MV to address housing crisis By Mark Noack
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ike so many other residents, Leticia Rios is wondering if her family has a future in Mountain View. Since 2009, the six-member Rios family has lived in a twobedroom apartment off Higdon Avenue, east of Rengstorff Park. Recently, it has become abun-
dantly clear that her landlord wants her family out. Through a series of increases over the last year, Leticia Rios her monthly rent nearly doubled, jumping from $1,100
to $2,000, she said. Just three weeks after the latest rent hike, her landlord, Golden State Property Management, sent her an eviction notice. No reason was given, she said. Now her family is dealing with a multi-pronged crisis, all too common for those See HOUSING PROTEST, page 8
Growing city aims to expand park space By Mark Noack
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n an effort to expand Mountain View’s parkland, the City Council on Wednesday approved a series of ordinance tweaks designed to help the city compete for scarce real estate. With more than 196 acres of parks — a number that includes parts of public school campuses — Mountain View is considered
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to have a generous amount of open space when compared to nearby cities. But local officials say that parks could soon get crowded as the city grows in the coming years with denser housing in areas like North Bayshore. Through a series of meetings earlier this year, city staff and parks commissioners recommended streamlining the process for acquiring new parks. They
recommended giving new discretionary power to City Manager Dan Rich, allowing him to negotiate for land purchases without first getting approval from the City Council. This would potentially allow city staff to better compete with private developers for the limited real estate on the market. See PARK, page 17
VIEWPOINT 18 | GOINGS ON 28 | MARKETPLACE 29 | REAL ESTATE 30