The Brief

Some San Gabriel Valley voters are back at the polls again this summer.

The San Marino Unified School District is asking voters to renew an annual $415 parcel tax to raise an estimated $1.6 million a year to fund programs for students, educator salaries, current class sizes, libraries and other services.

The L.A. County Registrar-Recorder mailed ballots to registered voters earlier this month and prospective voters have until May 19 to register. Election Day is June 3 and at least two-thirds of voters need to approve Measure R for it to pass.

“Ultimately, the goal of this district is to provide and continue to provide that stable, high performing, wonderful experience that our students get the benefit from,” said Stephen Choi, the district’s chief business official. “Measure R provides that fiscal stability for our district.”

The measure assesses annual tax on every “parcel” — in layman’s terms, property in the district. There are some owners who do not have to pay (more on those exemptions below).

Official title on the ballot: San Marino School District Special Parcel Tax Election- Measure R.

You are being asked: Can the San Marino Unified School District collect $415 annually from property-owners in the district by way of a parcel tax to fund programs for students, educator salaries, current class sizes, libraries and other services?

Understanding Measure R

The San Marino Unified School District serves more than 2,900 students at four schools — K.L. Carver Elementary School, W.L. Valentine Elementary School, H.E. Huntington Middle School and San Marino High School.

California distributes funding to schools based on students’ average daily attendance and provides additional funding to support low-income students, foster youth and English language learners.

Nearly 19% of San Marino Unified students identify with at least one of those three categories.

“State funding simply doesn't provide everything that's needed for a great education in San Marino,” Choi said.

Parcel taxes are one of two avenues for school districts to raise public money outside of the state’s funding formula. Most parcel taxes consist of a flat fee for each eligible property; another option sets a rate based on property size. Historically, parcel taxes are more likely than not to pass once placed on the ballot — this was true in November — and have been concentrated in wealthier school districts.

San Marino Unified voters first passed the predecessor to Measure R in 1991 and renewed the tax six times. The current iteration will expire June 30 without voter approval.

The district reports that Measure R supports 11 teaching and counseling positions. Choi said the money from the measure helps the district maintain elementary school classes of 20 to 25 students and middle and high school classes around 28 to 30 students.

California law allows elementary school class sizes of up to 32 students.

Didn’t San Marino just pass a school funding measure? 

Yes, but Measure M is different.

The $200 million bond is reserved for renovation and repair projects and unlike parcel taxes, cannot be used for employee salaries.

A bond is basically a loan that is paid back — with interest — through local property taxes.

The district estimated the bond would cost property owners that live within the school district's boundaries an average of $60 per $100,000 of assessed value each year.

How it would work

If at least two-thirds of voters approve Measure R, San Marino Unified will gain $415 from every property owner in the district.

There are several groups of property owners that can apply to an exemption including those:

• Aged 65 years or older
• Receiving Supplemental Security Income for a disability
• Receiving Social Security Disability Insurance benefits whose yearly income does not exceed 250% of the 2012 federal poverty guidelines. For example, that’s $57,625 for a family of four. 

The exemption is not automatic; property owners must submit an application in person, via email or mail to the district.

Property owners who are already exempt from paying the parcel tax will also be exempted from the renewal.

The district estimates Measure R will raise about $1.6 million a year and plans to spend the money on:

• Existing educational programs, including science and math
• Teacher and counselor retention and recruitment 
• Maintaining class sizes
• Libraries
• Technology

Who is in charge of all this money?

L.A. County collects the money and deposits it into a specific account that the district can use on “specified purposes” listed in the ballot measure:

• To support the maintenance of existing educational programs at current levels
• To retain and attract the best qualified teachers and counselors
• To maintain reduced class size
• To support academic programs in science and math
• To maintain district-wide school library services
• To prevent the elimination of teachers specializing in the area of math and science
• To maintain adequate technology systems for all students by retaining technology service technicians. 

State law requires districts to prepare an annual report on how parcel tax dollars are spent. You can view San Marino Unified’s reports online.

The most recent report is from the 2023-24 school year and lists nine elementary, science and math teachers, and a library worker, counselor and systems analyst.

What people who support the parcel tax say

San Marino Unified voters have voted to renew Measure R six times since it was first passed in 1991.

“The lion's share [of residents] have really felt that they're getting tremendous value for their dollar, whether they're property owners or renting here within the district,” said Christen Gair, chair of the committee campaigning to pass the measure.

Gair’s son is an eighth-grader at Huntington Middle School. She said he’s thrived, in part, because of the district’s rigorous math and science classes and the opportunity to participate in extracurricular programs like music, where he learned to play the tuba.

“With all the uncertainty at the state level, this source of funding just provides great continuity in terms of maintaining the academics that our community has really come to expect,” Gair said.

The governor’s most recent budget proposal includes a $12 billion deficit and delays some money for schools.

Several individuals and groups submitted an argument in favor of Measure R to the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder, including school volunteers, retired educators and the president of the San Marino Council of PTAs.

Read more:

• Arguments and endorsements from the Committee for San Marino Schools - Yes on R
• San Marino Unified School District’s website about the Measure R renewal

What critics of parcel taxes say

No individual or group submitted an argument opposing Measure R to the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is a frequent opponent of measures that increase property taxes. The nonprofit is dedicated to upholding Proposition 13, the 1978 constitutional amendment that limited changes to California property taxes.

The association has not taken a position on Measure R, but vice president of communications Susan Shelley said voters may want to consider the total cost of the district’s parcel taxes when making their decision.

“The district is not legally permitted to use public funds to campaign for a tax increase,” Shelley said in an email. “Residents should be watchful to make sure any mailings or other advertising are informational in nature and not selectively highlighting or omitting facts in a way that amounts to campaigning.”

The association takes reports of publicly funded campaigning by email or at (916) 444-9950.

Potential financial impact

Measure R will cost property owners $415 per parcel annually starting in July 2025 for six years.

Measure R renews an existing tax, so most property owners will not see a significant change in their property tax bill. However, there is a provision in the measure that allows increases of up to 3% annually to account for inflation.

The district estimates Measure R will raise about $1.6 million a year, though the amount will vary based on the number of property owners paying the tax and the adjustments for inflation.

Property owners will also see two other existing funding measures on their bill.

Measure E: A second parcel tax first approved by voters in 2009.

• Cost: $968 a year, with exemptions for people over 65, some low-income and disabled property owners.  
• Money raised: $4 million a year.
• Purpose: Fund about 30 positions, various academic and extracurricular programs.
• Expiration: June 2027.

Measure M: A bond approved by voters in 2024.

• Cost: An average of $60 per $100,000 of assessed property value.   
• Money raised: Up to $200 million over the life of the bond. 
• Purpose: Fund facility repairs, modernization and restoration. 
• Expiration: The district estimates the tax could be collected through 2058. 

How to vote

• Residents who live within the boundaries of the San Marino Unified School District have until May 19 to register to vote. This includes San Marino and parts of East Pasadena and East San Gabriel — check your status online. 
• The L.A. County Registrar of Voters started mailing out ballots to existing registered voters on May 5. 
• Voters can mail back their ballots or drop them off at the vote center at the Huntington Middle School gymnasium starting May 24 through election day. 
  
  • 1700 Huntington Dr., San Marino, 91108
• Election day is June 3. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. The recorder must receive mail-in ballots no later than June 6, three days after election day. 

Get more information: 

• Call (800) 815-2666 to learn how to register to vote, request a replacement ballot and learn more about vote centers. 
• Fill out a sample ballot online to speed up your trip to the polls.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman promised at a Tuesday night town hall that MacArthur Park will see “amazing progress” in public safety before the 2028 Olympic Games.

Several community members told LAist they have seen crime return to the Los Angeles park after months of joint drug enforcement operations by the Los Angeles Police Department and federal agencies. Those efforts led to dozens of arrests for alleged drug sales in the area.

An LAPD captain attending the town hall confirmed to LAist that the department is aware of renewed safety problems.

Hochman acknowledged those concerns and said the recent operations made progress and created an opportunity for lasting change.

“If we keep this focus and the energy on this area, MacArthur Park, Skid Row and everything in between,” Hochman said, “then we will see amazing progress before the Olympics, and that is actually a promise.”

Hochman previously promised, during a drug enforcement operation on June 4, to have a picnic at the park on Labor Day. Hochman told attendees he kept that promise when he held an event at the park on Sept. 5 with other local and federal law enforcement officials.

As district attorney, Hochman works with law enforcement agencies to prosecute criminal cases in L.A. County. He said that it will take more work from policymakers and community members to remove the open-air drug market that has been entrenched there for decades.

The area is represented by L.A. City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, County Supervisor Hilda Solis, state Assemblymember Mark González and state Sen. María Elena Durazo. Staff members from some of those offices, and the mayor’s office, sat in on the town hall organized by the local nonprofit California Rising.

“Feel free to put the fire under the feet of our politicians,” Hochman told about two dozen residents who attended. “All too often it is easy to spend some effort on something and then get distracted and spend some effort somewhere else.”

'Temporary' relief

Some residents and business owners agreed with Hochman that the large-scale drug enforcement operations from March through June made the area feel safer, at least for a while.

“It was temporary, but we got to see, actually, families at the bus stops with their kids — before it wasn't like that,” Elaine Alaniz told LAist Tuesday. “I think it does help us, but on the other hand I still think that we need more help. It's not just a one, two, three-day thing.”

Alaniz lives nearby and is the president of the Westlake North Neighborhood Council, which begins a block northeast of MacArthur Park.

She said she has seen some crime move away from the park and into the surrounding neighborhoods.

Capt. Ben Fernandes, who leads LAPD’s Rampart Division, said the earlier operations were successful, but there have been some setbacks.

“We made a lot of headway in the beginning,” he said. “There are some issues that we've had some repopulation, especially with addicts.”

Fernandes said that the department will continue to arrest people suspected of selling drugs near the park, while connecting people who are addicted with services to help them get sober and off the streets.

A call for community involvement

Hochman and Fernandes each emphasized that making MacArthur Park a safe and welcoming place can’t be done by law enforcement alone.

“My advice: take the park back — it's your park,” Hochman said at the town hall, calling for community organizations to plan regular outings there. “That starts to send a message that the community really cares about this park.”

He asked that performers like Justin Bieber, who played an impromptu set in the park last month, have more events there as well.

Fernandes said people can get involved to change perceptions about MacArthur Park so it's no longer thought of as a place to go to score drugs.

“What we need to do is — we as a community — come together and show [people using drugs] that it's not their place to go,” he said. “That you're going to be there with your children, with your parishioners, with your friends, with your family.”

Inglewood city officials are launching an audit of their financial relationship with SoFi Stadium and claiming the stadium could owe years of ticket taxes, one month after a judge voided the 2015 contract that brought the stadium to Inglewood. 

The Inglewood City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to commission the audit. Mayor James Butts said the move is a necessary next step after the court ruling, which threw the terms of the financial relationship between the city and Hollywood Park stadium development into question. 

Millions of dollars are at stake for both the city and the stadium businesses. City officials say that the ruling means a cap that limited the amount of admissions tax that Inglewood could collect no longer applies. They also plan to investigate the authenticity of $376 million worth of infrastructure bills Hollywood Park claims the city owes. The findings of the audit could also factor into discussions of how the city will address its current $30.8 million deficit.

The City Council motion — put forward by Butts and co-sponsored by Councilmember Dionne Faulk — requires the city attorney to retain an accounting firm to conduct the audit and report back to the public on its findings within 30 days. It set aside $325,000 from the city’s General Fund to pay for the audit. You can read the city’s full explanation of the audit here.

Butts, who was at the city’s helm a decade ago when developer Stan Kroenke brought his Hollywood Park pitch to Inglewood, said city officials built what they thought was a partnership with their stadium counterparts.

But that partnership has crumbled. Since last summer, the city and stadiums have been slugging it out in a complex series of court cases over the stadium’s contract and Inglewood’s network of video billboards. The conflict has spilled over into the Nov. 3 election via ballot measures that would change the city’s commercial advertising and ticket tax rules. 

The audit approved by the City Council on Tuesday will dig into the entire financial relationship between the stadium and city since 2015, unpacking what is owed and what was received from taxes on everything from tickets to parking. City officials plan to continue auditing the taxes on a quarterly basis into the future.

Still, it’s not guaranteed the city would be able to force the stadium development to pay any debt the audit does claim. Hollywood Park could still appeal the court ruling that voided its contract with Inglewood, while Butts said the city wants to negotiate a new contract to replace it. 

A Hollywood Park spokesperson said the stadium development has lived up to its financial obligations, including paying all of its taxes.

“This is yet another thinly veiled attempt to distract from scrutiny surrounding the City’s own fiscal mismanagement and the questionable actions of its Mayor,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement.

Some locals at Tuesday’s meeting said during public comments they were baffled why the city hadn’t set up an audit process earlier.

“We have needed an audit from day one. We can’t sit here and claim we didn’t know or have an inkling what we were doing with Hollywood Park,” Diane Sambrano said. 

Exterior of Sofi Stadium in Inglewood

(

Gary Coronado

/

The LA Local

)

Speaking during the meeting, Butts said the audit was triggered because of the void left by the development agreement and because major events including the 2027 Super Bowl and 2028 Olympics are about to hit Inglewood.

The mayor first claimed the development agreement was illegal in a letter written directly to Stan Kroenke last year, saying the city’s lawyers made the determination while researching billboard litigation.

Millions in tax revenue at stake

After the judge ruled in agreement with the city, Butts told The LA Local that city officials were still researching the specific implications of the court’s ruling. In Tuesday’s council motion, city staff highlighted what they say is one major change they’ve discovered: There’s no longer a limit on how much admissions tax the city can collect.  

Inglewood collects a 10% tax on tickets sold at SoFi Stadium, but the 2015 initiative that brought the stadium to the city put a cap on that revenue, starting at $15 million a year and increasing annually with inflation. 

The admissions tax cap also happens to be the subject of the current ballot Measure AT. WOW Media, the billboard operator allied with the city in its dispute with the stadium, is funding a campaign in favor of the initiative.

Admissions tax has been a sizable revenue stream for the city — bringing in an average $20 million a year since SoFi Stadium opened — but city officials have said it could be significantly bigger. A city analysis of Measure AT estimated that getting rid of the cap could bring in as much as an extra $50 million in future years. The city did not estimate how much admissions tax revenue it has missed out on while the development agreement was in effect.

The Inglewood audit seeks to clarify basic questions about how taxes are assessed on ticket sales and whether those taxes are actually forwarded to the city. Officials say it will provide transparency about ticket sales, pricing and fees, which have been heavily scrutinized in recent years across the state. 

Gray gets support on proposal for future billboard revenue audit

Councilmember Gloria Gray attempted to amend the audit motion Tuesday, asking the city manager to also audit the revenue the city gets from billboard fees.

“I believe the same standard of financial transparency should apply to every city agreement,” Gray said.

Though her motion didn’t receive a second, Councilmember Eloy Morales said he’d support putting a billboard revenue audit on the council’s agenda in the future. 

“I think we all support all those audits,” Morales said. 

Gray’s move was a rarity for a council that seldom debates motions during public meetings and almost always votes unanimously. The councilmember is currently running for mayor against Butts.

Inglewood pulls in as much as $8 million a year from billboards, according to budget records. Much of that comes from a series of deals the city cut with WOW Media, allowing the billboard company to construct and operate the billboards on public medians and sidewalks. In return, WOW gives the city a cut of ad revenue along with other concessions.

The post Inglewood is investigating if SoFi Stadium owes years’ worth of ticket taxes appeared first on LA Local.