1 David Yakobson
From: Karen Melick <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2026 7:51 AM
To: councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Ellis Raskin; Dan Hall; Jesse Zwick; Oliver Chi
Subject: Item 11b, no on parcel tax
EXTERNAL
Hello,
Please do not move forward on any kind of parcel tax to transfer the burden of paying SMMUSD $12 million a year from the City funds to the residents of Santa Monica.
As a Parks a Recreation commissioner, it’s disappointing that this was never brought up at a RPC meeting before this is presented to City Council. Therefore I am speaking on my own behalf on this topic. This Joint Use Agreement annual payment is in exchange for use of the elementary school playgrounds which is not of a value anywhere near $12 million.
The proposal of an additional $540 per year per parcel impacts housing affordability in Santa Monica. Property owners already pay about 17% more than our base tax with about 10% going to SMMUSD and another 7% going to SMC.
The City made this commitment and it’s wrong to burden the residents with this now. The proposed language is also deceiving and it is not describing accurately what this proposed tax is about. The money for this is to go to SMMUSD, not Santa Monica services like firefighters.
Also, as this is unlikely to get the 67% votes in favor, please stop wasting time and money in pursuing this any longer.
I wish I was able to speak at the meeting but I am half the way around the world.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Karen Melick
Item 11-B
January 27, 2026
Item 11-B
January 27, 2026