Contra Costa school district ordered to fix "deceptive" ballot language
A spider spinning its web. Image by Juris Freidenfelds.
Local watchdogs noticed that an upcoming parcel tax measure for the Acalanes UHSD used language making it seem like an increase from $112 to $130—instead of $301 to $431 (plus annual inflation increases). Last week, the Superior Court agreed that it's misleading and mandated several revisions. More info, below, from a CoCo Taxpayers Association press release.
The Honorable Edward G. Weil of Contra Costa County Superior Court ordered Acalanes Union High School District (AUHSD) and the Contra Costa County Registrar of Voters to alter the ballot question, ballot measure title, and impartial analysis of Measure T, a new parcel tax being placed before voters in a May 6th special election. Judge Weil issued the order in response to a complaint filed by attorney Jason Bezis whose lead plaintiff was Marc Joffe, President of the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association (CoCoTax).
“As written, the ballot materials were highly deceptive,” said Joffe. “The impartial analysis gave the false impression that Measure T would raise district parcel taxes from $112 to $130, when, in fact, they will increase from a current total of $301 to $431, followed by annual inflation increases. The ballot question tried to confuse voters by calling these inflationary increases ‘adjustments’.” …
Aside from ordering the insertion of the word inflation into the ballot question and removing deceptive information about the current level of parcel taxes, Judge Weil’s ruling will also require AUHSD to change the name of the measure from the “Sustaining Educational Excellence Act” to the “Sustaining Educational Funding Act.” Joffe said: “That is an improvement because the new title at least gives some idea of what the measure will do. Ideally, the District would call this measure what it is: a parcel tax increase.”
Judge Weil denied several of the plaintiffs’ requests, including a move to strike the descriptor “independent” from the oversight board that would report on spending of parcel tax revenue. Because the school board-appointed committee is not required to include a taxpayer advocate and because the district superintendent will serve as an ex officio member, plaintiffs did not see it as truly independent.
A more technical change the judge ordered required a significant change to the ballot question. State law requires ballot summaries to follow the template: “Shall the measure (stating the nature thereof) be adopted?” AUHSD’s language neither began with the phrase “Shall the measure” nor did it end with “be adopted”.
“The purpose of a ballot question is to quickly inform busy voters of what a ballot measure would do if adopted,” Joffe said. “Instead, AUHSD, other Contra Costa agencies, and their counterparts across California treat the ballot question as free advertising for new taxes and bonds. In fact, like many other agencies, AUHSD paid consultants and pollsters to fashion the most marketable ballot question, with little regard for actually informing voters.”
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