Wilmar school parcel tax fails at ballot

Voters in the Wilmar Union School District Tuesday turned down a $65 parcel tax measure that would have raised $70,000 for programs at Wilson School.

Measure F on Tuesday’s ballot was the third straight year Wilmar officials have tried to pass a parcel tax. The measure reached 64.3 percent support, but failed to get the required two-thirds vote. The narrow margin represented 19 votes. Last year the measure failed by 17 votes.

In 2015, voters in the mostly rural school district west of Petaluma rejected a parcel tax with 61.9 percent voting for the measure. Before that, voters had been generous to the 260-student Wilson School, the only campus in the district.

The original parcel tax voters adopted in 2004 was $45 per year. By a 76 percent margin, voters in 2008 extended the tax by eight years and added $5. In 2012, voters approved $4 million in bonds, which the district used to upgrade security, rehabilitate a sewer line, build a new entryway and improve facilities at the 57-year-old school.

The parcel tax would have added to the school’s $2.6 million annual budget, and would have been used to preserve programs like music and counseling. It was to help restore hours for the school library and bolster technology in the classroom while keeping class sizes small - 22 for the lower grades and 29 for the upper grades of the kindergarten through 6th grade school.

The measure faced no public opposition

The Wilmar School District this year cut $50,000 from its budget, carried over another $50,000 from last year, and increased enrollment. The Parent Teacher Association has funded the music program for this school year.

(Contact Matt Brown at matt.brown@arguscourier.com.)