Measure D Renewal Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District August 4, 2015 Charles Heath, Partner

Measure D Cotati-Rohnert Park Quality Teacher and Academic Instruction Preservation Measure $89 parcel tax for five years Generates approximately $1.2 million per year in locally controlled funding that the State cannot take away Exemptions available for seniors age 65+ and low income residents with disabilities Fiscal accountability required: independent citizens’ oversight committee and annual audits Approved by 66.9% of voters on June 5, 2012 Funding expires at end of fiscal year

Renewing Measure D A parcel tax renewal measure requires 66.7% support from those voting on the measure All terms of the measure may be adjusted at the time of voter renewal: use of funds, tax rate, duration, exemptions, accountability provisions To avoid a disruption in funding, most school districts do not wait until the last election date prior to expiration to seek a renewal An optimal election date, tax rate and other measure features should be selected based on up-to-date opinion research data

Voter Opinion Survey Telephone and internet survey of 443 likely November 2015 voters Conducted March 8 through April 3, 2015 Margin of Error ± 4.52% Voter ratings of the job CRPUSD is doing to provide quality education and manage taxpayer dollars have consistently increased since 2012 Voter support for a $48 increase in the tax rate is 60% and insufficient to justify pursing an increased tax rate at this time Voter support for an extension of the current tax rate is 66% Voters continue to support using funds to maintain core academic instruction, libraries, art and music instruction, reduced class sizes, programs that prepare students for college, and attracting and retaining qualified teachers

Recommendations Place a measure on the November 3, 2015 to renew Measure D for eight years Extend the parcel tax at the current rate such that passage of this measure will not increase taxes Continue including exemptions for seniors and low income people with disabilities Continue mandatory fiscal accountability protections Keep uses of funding consistent with Measure D A strong independent advocacy campaign is needed to communicate key persuasive messages related to local control and fiscal accountability Executing these strategies in the Measure D and Measure B campaigns produced election results that outperformed polling by 3-4%