SPUSD Opposes County Clean Water Measure

Board members from the South Pasadena Unified School District will vote Tuesday on a resolution opposing a countywide clean water tax that would cost the district almost $50,000 per year. 

With the district financially strapped by the state's $18 million cuts dating to 2008, Superintendent Joel Shapiro pointed out in a district memo that paring more money from the budget for the Los Angeles County Clean Water, Clean Beaches Measure would result in additional cuts to student services. 

The clean water measure would charge Los Angeles County parcel holders a fee to keep pollution out of storm water and runoff, clean up pollution that flows into waterways, and use storm water and runoff to recharge groundwater supplies. The cost to school districts in Los Angeles County is a total of $14 million per year, according to the memo.

SPUSD property consists of 27 parcels, so the potential annual cost to the District would be $48,340, the memo states, noting calculations from the Los Angeles County Flood Control District (LACFCD). 

Los Angeles Unified School District and Long Beach Unified School District superintendents have sent a joint letter to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to express their opposition. 

The board of supervisors is scheduled to vote to declare this tax as a ballot measure on January 15. Shapiro wrote that he'd like to see the board of supervisors postpone action on the item and seek alternative funding solutions. A majority of property owners would have to protest the clean water fee in order to block the measure entirely.

To see the full agenda for SPUSD's Tuesday night meeting, please click here. 

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