A windfall for schools? A windfall for schools? (February 18, 2005)

Up to $400,000 in taxes from city's Shoreline property may be available

By Julie O'Shea

Mountain View-Whisman Superintendent Eleanor Yick told school trustees last week that the city may be poised to give the district up to $400,000 in property tax revenue from the Shoreline community district. The money, if it comes in time, could potentially save the district from having to close a school in June.

However, City Manager Kevin Duggan said this information is too uncertain, noting it could be months before such a deal is finalized by the city council.

"It is still very much at the brainstorming level at this point," Duggan said. "It's very premature at this point to assume anything."

Finding a way to funnel money from the Shoreline district, the area of Mountain View north of Highway 101, into schools has been an ongoing conversation between educators and city leaders for the past 15 years. The district, set up in the '70s, was formed specifically to support the development, redevelopment and environmental concerns facing Shoreline Park and the North Bayshore area.

While the money is restricted to the development of this area, it can be used by the schools and city if the cause would prove beneficial to the Shoreline district. School officials, struggling through year after year of state budget cuts, have often questioned whether there was a way they could get their hands on some of the Shoreline funds, which total about $19.7 million this year.

A few months ago, the city began brainstorming the issue again, Duggan said. In order to share these restricted funds with the education community, city staffers have to come up with a nexus between Shoreline Park and Mountain View's public schools. For instance, Duggan said, one could speculate that having good schools could lower the vacancy rate at Shoreline and the North Bayshore because people would want to move to a city with a solid education system.

"It's a complicated conversation, (and) nothing has been proposed in any formal way at all," Duggan said, adding that it might be June before this issue makes it to city council chambers.

Yick, on the other hand, seemed hopeful last Thursday that there could be a written commitment between the city and the school district as early as next month.

"We are still at the informal stage ... and we have to see as we go along," Yick said. "It's nice to have some good news sometimes. I just don't want us to forget that it started 15 years ago."

Yick's announcement came during last week's heated school board meeting, where trustees were mulling over recommendations to close Slater Elementary and reconfigure Castro Elementary.

Last Thursday marked the third meeting on the subject, and board members debated into the early hours of Friday morning without reaching a decision. A final vote was scheduled for Wednesday (after the Voice's press deadline).

Duggan cautioned that this renewed interest in Shoreline funds has nothing to do with the financial rut Mountain View-Whisman is currently going through. If the city council eventually approves sharing the funds, money would go to both the local elementary and high school districts, Duggan said.

But these extra funds may come a little too late to save Slater from shutting down at the end of June. Parents from the Gladys Avenue school, presented trustees with a plan to save the campus, the only one east of Highway 85 in Mountain View.

Slater parents examined the district's $1.6 million parcel tax and said there was potentially $375,000 of unaccounted funds that could go toward keeping the school open for just one more year.

Finance chief Rebecca Wright admitted there are some extra parcel tax revenues. However, if the school board elects to use the money to keep Slater open, there will be fewer funds in the district's emergency account, which is required by state law. Wright asked last week if this was a risk trustees were willing to take.

District officials have said they have to close a school because of a decline in enrollment. And Wright also said she wouldn't be able to balance next year's budget without closing a school. Renting out the land could fetch the cash-strapped district an estimated $350,000.

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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