West Contra Costa USD officials implore public to renew parcel tax in November

RICHMOND — Voters in November will be asked to renew a parcel tax that’s raised about $10 million annually for the West Contra Costa Unified School District, a funding mechanism officials say is vital for preventing major budget cuts.

A “straight renewal” of a parcel tax that’s been in place since first approved in 2004 will be on the Nov. 3 ballot. The measure has charged residential and commercial property owners 7.2 cents per square foot of building space for more than two decades, bringing in about $10 million annually.

Trustees voted unanimously during a July 15 meeting to ask voters to again approve the measure without any changes — renewals were previously approved in 2008, 2012 and 2016. The existing parcel tax is slated to expire June 30, 2027, but that date would be pushed back nine years if renewed.

“I’m begging for the community’s support again,” Trustee Leslie Reckler said during the meeting. She recently announced she will not be seeking reelection this November.

A November 2025 survey by Godbe Research of 709 likely voters found that 66.4% of respondents would support the renewal. The measure will need a two-thirds majority to pass.

Alternatives were polled as part of the survey, including increasing the per-square-foot assessment to 8.7 cents and doing away with the sunset clause. Support for those changes dropped below the passage threshold after arguments against the measures were tested.

“It’s important to be cautious and not shoot for the moon,” said Godbe Research President and Co-Founder Bryan Godbe.

Local voters have proven to be apprehensive about backing tax measures, according to June 2 election results.

Bond and parcel tax measures for the Contra Costa Community College District, Oakley Union Elementary School District, Walnut Creek School District, county-wide medical system and an El Cerrito library project were voted down. Measures in the Moraga and Lafayette school districts were approved.

If the West Contra Costa Unified measure fails in November, it’ll create an $8 million hole in the district’s budget, said district Executive Business Services Director Jeff Carter. The remaining roughly $2 million raised typically goes to support charter schools.

Adjusting to the district’s “new reality” without the tax revenue would require additional budget cuts and changes to contract language for some positions that only exist in the district as long as the parcel tax is in place, Carter said. Those roles are largely in library, counseling and athletics programs, he said.

“I cannot emphasize enough the need for us to renew it,” Trustee Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy said on social media.

Tens of millions of dollars have already been cut from the district’s budget in recent years, as officials have worked to close a massive structural deficit that put it at risk of a county or state takeover.

Trustees had committed to reducing the budget by $127.1 million by fiscal year 2027-28 in a new fiscal solvency plan adopted in February, a promise partly met by cutting more than 300 staff positions, merging two schools and borrowing from other funds. A previous fiscal solvency plan called for $32.7 million in reductions to be made between the 2024-25 and 2026-27 school years.

Financial instability has long plagued the district. Then known as the Richmond School District, it was the first in the state to declare bankruptcy in 1991 and require a $28.5 million state loan that was repaid in 2012.

A historic level of education spending was approved in the latest state budget, at $128 billion, but Reckler said much of those funds go toward specific programs like standing up community schools that provide wrap-around services to students, providing school lunches and training and career pathways for new and existing educators.

Also budgeted are support programs for new arrivals to the country and additional dollars for special education – two groups of students local advocates have said have been particularly impacted by district budget cuts.

“Even though you’re hearing in the press there’s record funding in education, that is true, but it’s supporting the ecosystem around education,” Reckler said. “These are all restricted funding streams that are not giving us what we need to run our daily operations and … the cost is outpassing what we’re getting from the state. And that’s the bottom line.”