Morgan Hill school officials did not receive encouraging news from a second parcel tax poll conducted this month, as the results revealed a $75 parcel tax would not pass voter approval on the June ballot.
Gene Bregman, of the polling firm Gene Bregman and Associates, broke the unfavorable findings to Morgan Hill Unified School District leaders at the Feb. 6 school board meeting. The survey of 400 likely voters showed that 61 percent would vote “yes” on a $75 parcel tax in the June election. This favorability rate does not meet the two-thirds threshold need for a parcel tax to pass
“You’re quite some distance away from the $75 at this point. Certainly, I can not recommend it at this point,” said Bregman, whose firm conducted the five-minute, three-question survey to 403 likely voters with 63 percent contacted on their cell phone. “That was the focused poll that you all asked me to do.”
Therefore, the district has opted to not place the $75 tax on the June ballot and will instead wait until at least the November election, which is expected to have a larger voter turnout.
“We would recommend the board not pursue the parcel tax in June but at a later date, possibly November,” said Jim Carrillo, the district’s director of technology. Carrillo was also a member of the district’s community outreach committee tasked with gathering feedback from stakeholders about the district while also informing them of their financial situation.
“We will continue to do work in the community,” he added.
The February poll produced the same results as the broader June 2017 poll when it came to the $75 parcel tax amount. That came as a surprise to district staff who believed they generated stronger support over the time between polls through outreach efforts, including the establishment of a Right Sizing the Budget Committee and mailer.
“We were hoping (the results) would be better, but it was remarkable how consistent it is,” Bregman said. “It’s unusual that it came back exactly the same.”
Bregman further elaborated that only 26 percent of those polled had kids in the public schools and 84 percent were permanent absentee voters.
The three questions asked to residents and the results were: 1) Give an overall job rating of the district (36 percent excellent/good, 36 percent no opinion, 19 percent fair, 9 percent poor); 2) how much need does the district have for more money? (28 percent great need, 30 percent some need, 10 percent no real need, 8 percent little need, 23 percent no opinion); and 3) how would you vote on a $75 parcel tax (61 percent yes, 28 percent no, 12 percent no opinion).
“The most important thing is that people who have kids in public schools have a more positive opinion of the district than the general public,” Bregman said.
No details as to what the parcel tax dollars would be used for were provided to participants in the poll.
