Encyclopedia Biermania

It is amazing how one person with a scare tactic can influance so many people. Vice Mayor Spinille (City of Burlingame)came out at the last minute against a parcel tax to help keep our school district solvent. He called it a "Blank Check" because the tax had no sunset date and could be increased each year by the CPI (Consumer Price Index). This tax is designed to pay saleries, of course it has to increase, otherwise in a couple of years the COLA's (Cost Of Living Adjustments) would exceed the tax. The city of Burlingamse has an open ended tax in the Hotel tax and no one supervises or complains about that tax.

The real problem is of course Prop 13 because only 21 cents of every dollar I pay in property tax goes to the school district.

The election was March 6th and Spinille's scare tactics worked, the measure failed. The school district will now have to cut $300,000 from next years budget and another $700,000 the year after.

I guess education and our kids well being means nothing so some people.

The tax by the way was only an increase of $261 a year per parcel such that the total school parcel tax would be $365. Most districts in this area have taxes even higher then that.

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