School district free to spend funds School district free to spend funds (November 12, 2004)

Judge rules against effort to freeze parcel tax revenue

By Jon Wiener

:A Santa Clara County judge rejected a request on Tuesday to freeze the Mountain View-Whisman School District's parcel tax revenue until a case challenging its legality is resolved.

Aaron Katz, a Saratoga resident who owns property in Mountain View, asked Judge Kevin McKenney to freeze the funds in a separate account after he sent a letter to district officials asking them to do it themselves. Katz is challenging the constitutionality of the parcel tax, claiming that he should have been allowed to vote in the election. The judge's ruling came after an effort by Katz to keep the district from spending the parcel tax money while the outcome of the case remains in doubt.

McKenney surprised observers in September when he ordered the case to proceed to trial. But he said Tuesday he would not freeze the funds because he did not expect Katz to win.

"I have grave reservations in whether you will prevail or not," McKenney said to Katz. Katz later tried to restate his case but the judge cut him off. Katz declined to comment about the case to the Voice.

John Yeh and Sue Ann Evans, lawyers for the school district, said they were confident that they would eventually win.

"We have a super-majority vote saying, 'We want you to spend this money,'" said Evans.

The parcel tax, Measure J, passed in 2003 with 69 percent of voters supporting it. The cost of the tax is $75 for most homeowners and will raise $1.6 million each year for the next five years for the district to use to upgrade libraries and reduce class sizes among other things. Katz, who has a part ownership in 10 Mountain View properties, was assessed a total Measure J bill of $400.

School district officials, several of them in attendance at the brief hearing, were relieved at the outcome.

"It would have (had) grave consequences for the district's financial status," said Superintendent Eleanor Yick. The school district is already preparing to close one of its nine campuses in order to balance its budget, even with the Measure J funds, according to school officials.

Rebecca Wright, the district's finance chief, said that school districts usually spend money in anticipation of parcel tax money being received. This year, the parcel tax funds will pay for a $95,000 contract with the Community School of Music and Arts and the hiring of 19 classified employees.

Wright added that the case has so far cost the district close to $60,000 and expects the total cost to see it through trial to be around $100,000.

A trial date could be scheduled at a Dec. 14 hearing.

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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