Written Comments — Santa Monica City Council, July 14, 2026

1 David Yakobson
From: Karen Melick <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, July 11, 2026 3:39 PM
To: councilmtgitems; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Natalya Zernitskaya; Barry Snell; Ellis Raskin; Dan Hall; Lana Negrete; Oliver Chi; Oscar Santiago Subject: Council meeting agenda item 11.A Parcel Tax Resolution

EXTERNAL
Hello,
Housing Affordability and the Parcel Tax
Polls show that affordability is Californians #1 issue. This council has spent significant time addressing housing affordability in Santa Monica. Yet the parcel tax the City instigated last fall significantly affects housing affordability for both homeowners and renters as school taxes can be passed through on rental agreements before 2018. It also affects market rates for non-rent control rentals. A parcel tax is a regressive tax that puts a disproportional burden on lower income residents and small businesses.

Property Taxes and School Payments are Already Very High There is already a parcel tax for SMMUSD that was $530 last year. Add the SMMUSD bond payments, and a $1M condo paid the school district $1711 in 2025 in these taxes. With this new parcel tax and the future bond issuance, this would go up to about $2700 per year, an increase of $1438, 140% increase from 2024. This has a significant effect on recent firsttime homebuyers in Santa Monica who like me, stretched themselves financially to purchase their first home and makes it harder for new buyers to qualify for loans.

The high costs of owning property in Santa Monica is contributing to families with school age children not being able to afford to live here resulting in a 23% decrease in enrollment in SMMUSD the last 10 years.

Due to the high property taxes in Santa Monica, the school district is a basic aid/excess tax district. It received $20M of additional funding over the standard state entitlement from Santa Monica’s property taxes in 2025-26 and is estimating $35M in 2026-27. Santa Monica residents are already contributing more to the school district than most if not all other school districts.

City Should not be Transferring its Commitment to the School District onto Residents It’s wrong to transfer the City’s commitment for funding the School District onto the property owners who are already contributing 82% of the school districts revenues through property taxes and sales tax. The City’s contribution through the $12M JUA is only 0.5%, not even one percent.

The $18M for YY/GS that goes to the schools from the City does not come from the general fund, the City follows the voters’ direction and passes through the sales taxes paid by residents and visitors. The City leveraged this school funding to collect half of the sales tax increases for the City’s coffers.

City Surplus Last Two Years with Improving Recovery so Why Can’t the City Continue to Pay? The City had a surplus the past two years ($2.5M and $9M respectively) while paying the school district $12M from the general fund. All reports are showing continued fiscal recovery through the realignment plan so why does the City need to stop paying the $12M school district to not have a deficit? Item 11-A
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2 I don’t understand why this year’s budget says that if the parcel tax doesn’t pass, the City will have a deficit this year instead of being balanced. The Joint Use Agreement doesn’t expire until June 30, 2027 so the City is obliged to make payments in the 2026-27 fiscal year. If the parcel tax passes, payments to the school district and relief for the City would not start until the 2027-28 fiscal/tax year.

Stand up for the Residents of Santa Monica and for Housing Affordability I ask that at least one of you stand up for the residents of Santa Monica and for housing affordability here and write an argument against the parcel tax. The City needs to continue their support of the schools and not pass its commitment onto the residents.

Thank you.

Karen Melick
Sunset Park
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1 David Yakobson
From: Ted Winterer <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, July 13, 2026 5:33 PM
To: Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Barry Snell; Lana Negrete; Natalya Zernitskaya; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin
Cc: councilmtgitems; Oliver Chi
Subject: Agenda item 11-A 7/14/26 Council meeting

EXTERNAL
Mayor Torosis and Honorable Councilmembers,
We at Santa Monicans for Reliable School Funding (SMRSF) have worked hard for many months to draft a citizens initiative and to gather the required valid voter signatures to qualify for the November election. I hope it will be an easy decision for you to adopt the resolution to place the measure on the ballot.

Our reasons for undertaking this significant effort are these:

1. The Master Facilities Use Agreement (MFUA) under which the City of Santa Monica has been sending $12M annually from its General Fund is up for renewal in the spring of 2027. Those funds are essential if SMMUSD is to retain its teachers and programs.

2. The City has declared fiscal distress and will be challenged to continue this funding to our TK-12 schools. In fact, at your June budget approval hearing, when asked by Councilmember Hall about the consequences of our measure not being approved by the voters, Finance Director Santiago "confirmed that if the measure fails, the city would face difficult decisions." (https://www.smdp.com/santamonica-council-adopts-908-8m-budget-sets-stage-for-world-cupolympics/ ). I certainly wouldn't want to be on a Council with Item 11-A
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Item 11-A
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2 limited resources having to choose between schools, public safety, library hours and other community priorities.

3. While you are to be applauded for making headway on restoring the City to fiscal health, there are still significant storm clouds on the horizon: a) The specter of additional payments to victims of sexual abuse by Eric Uller; b) Cash reserves that now appear to be roughly $90M, down from pre-Covid highs of several hundred millions; c) A debt to the Housing Trust Fund of $47M; d) Several hundred million dollars of capital improvement projects that remain unfunded.

4. In the meantime SMMUSD has relied on the MFUA funding to maintain the excellence of our public schools, a key component of the property taxes that are the only City revenues to show growth in recent years. Without those MFUA funds, we estimate the district would have to eliminate 73 teacher positions, roughly 5-6 per school site, or make cuts of the same magnitude elsewhere. Our funding measure would generate $11M annually to be transferred directly from City coffers to SMMUSD, largely offsetting the loss of the MFUA dollars and maintaining district revenues close to their current level -- this would not be new funding to our schools, just a replacement of existing income.

Another factor to consider is the prospect of the statewide Jarvis measure being approved by voters this fall, in which case cities and school districts will be severely challenged to generate new revenues in an era where inflationary pressures are increasing costs at a greater rate than the growth in receipts.

Finally, I should note that early objections to our measure came from the misconception that it would eliminate the need for SMMUSD to allow the public access to sports fields, playgrounds and Item 11-A
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3 other district facilities. However, the SMMUSD Board voted earlier this year to continue public access regardless of the voter reaction to our measure in November and the staff report from that item noted that the state Civic Center Act has required such entry for many years prior to the negotiation of the first iteration of the MFUA. All that remains to allay these concerns is for the Council to indicate that should our measure pass it will negotiate a new arrangement with SMMUSD to govern opening and permitting of school facilities.

In conclusion, I urge you to adopt the resolution; to agendize a Council vote on endorsing the ballot measure; and to assuage public concerns that access to school facilities will be lost.

Regards,
Ted Winterer
Chair, Santa Monicans for Reliable School Funding
--
Ted Winterer
Realtor @Compass, 2115 Main Street Santa Monica
"Most Loved Real Estate Agent 2025," Santa Monica Daily Press DRE #02047989
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4 David Yakobson
From: Payal S M <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2026 7:00 AM
To: Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Barry Snell; Lana Negrete; Natalya Zernitskaya; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin
Cc: councilmtgitems; Oliver Chi
Subject: Public Comment for July 14 2026 Council meeting Agenda item 11-A

EXTERNAL
To: Santa Monica City Council
Date: July 14, 2026
Re: Agenda Item 11.A
Dear Mayor and Councilmembers,
I am writing to respectfully ask the Council to adopt the resolution placing the Initiative Measure for SMMUSD funding on the November 3, 2026 General Municipal Ballot.

I am a Santa Monica parent and engaged community member who has had the privilege of serving on the SMMUSD Financial Oversight Committee (FOC), a Board-appointed body charged with reviewing matters that significantly impact district finances. In that role, I have a close view of SMMUSD's financial position and budget. This school funding measure is urgent and necessary because the financial risk to our schools is real.
 SMMUSD is uniquely exposed to the City's fiscal health. Unlike most California school districts, SMMUSD is a Basic Aid, or "community-funded," district so it receives little to no general apportionment from the state and depends primarily on local revenues. According to SMMUSD's 2026-27 Adopted Budget, there are three revenue streams linked to the City of Santa Monica flowing directly into the district's unrestricted general fund. These include the MFUA or Joint Use/Master Facilities Use Agreement, Measure Y & GSH, and Measure GS, totaling ~$39.8M or ~25% of SMMUSD's unrestricted general fund revenue. This revenue concentration is rare among California districts, and it means SMMUSD is disproportionately exposed to the City’s financial position.
 SMMUSD is already operating with a structural deficit. The district's own 2026-27 Adopted Budget, presented to the Board on June 23, 2026, shows structural deficit spending across the next three years. Even while maintaining the state-required 3% reserve, recurring expenditures continue to exceed recurring revenues.
 We know that the MFUA is expiring, and without a replacement revenue source, the school district will face a documented ~$11-12M annual gap, equivalent to the salaries of up to 73 teachers. That is not an abstract number to me; it impacts class sizes, program continuity, and staffing stability for my child and every child in this district.

I urge the Council to vote to formally endorse this measure so that voters understand preserving quality public education and school funding is a shared priority for both the City and the School District. This measure creates a dedicated, protected revenue source to replace the expiring MFUA, so that SMMUSD can continue to deliver quality pre-K-12 education that has made our schools among the finest in California.

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5 Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Payal S. Maniar
Santa Monica Resident and Parent
Member, SMMUSD Financial Oversight Committee
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6 David Yakobson
From: Claudia Bautista-Nicholas <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2026 9:37 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: Public Comment, 11-A --- Adopt Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure

EXTERNAL
July 14, 2026
TO: Mayor Caroline Torosis, councilmembers Dan Hall, Lana Negrete, Ellis Raskin, Barry Snell, Jesse Zwick and Natalya Zernitzkaya
FROM: Claudia Bautista-Nicholas, SMMCTA President
RE: Public Comment, 11-A, Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure Honorable Mayor Torosis and Councilmembers,
I am writing today on behalf of the Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association to urge you to adopt the Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure and place it on the General Municipal Ballot for the November 3, 2026 election.

As a teacher in the district for 24 years, I have seen the impact of a well rounded education on all of my students and my own children who are alumni of the class of 2018 and 2022. I have seen my students acquire the skills necessary to be successful at our best public and private universities in the state and throughout the nation. My own children have also graduated with distinction from UCLA, UC Berkeley and NYU. I give credit to the amazing educators who taught them for their entire academic career in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.

We have these amazing programs – Music education from 4th-12th grade, TK-12 Spanish Immersion, Project Lead the Way, Project based learning, CTE Academies, etc – precisely due to the investment the community has made in our schools. The funding the district receives from our community allows all of our students of all ethnicities, economic backgrounds, and abilities to achieve. It is for that reason that when our association learned that the Master Facilities Use Agreement would sunset in June of 2027 and take away close to $12 million dollars from SMMUSD’s general budget, we immediately looked for a way to solve that financial crisis.

Since approximately 81% of the district’s budget is spent on salaries and benefits, the loss of $12 million would undoubtedly materialize into losing five to six teachers per school for academic year 27-28. The thought of that loss is unsettling as it could possibly destroy the programs that we love most in our district and signify a loss of up to 72 jobs. SMMCTA endorsed the Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure in February of 2026 and worked hard to get signatures from the citizens of Santa Monica to get this measure on the ballot. It is for this reason that I compel you to please adopt the measure and place it on the November ballot. Please do it for the wellbeing of our students, our community and our schools.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

With gratitude,
Claudia Bautista-Nicholas
Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association, President --
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7 Claudia Bautista-Nicholas
SMMCTA President
(She / Ella)
Cell (310) 243-6390
[email protected]
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Tikkun Olam --Heal the World
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8 David Yakobson
From: Shawn Saunders <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2026 10:48 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure

EXTERNAL
July 14, 2026
To: Mayor Caroline Torosis, councilmembers Dan Hall, Lana Negrete, Ellis Raskin, Barry Snell, Jesse Zwick and Natalya Zernitzkaya
RE: Public Comment, 11-A, Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure Dear Mayor Torosis and Councilmembers,
I am writing to urge you to please adopt the Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure and place it on the General Municipal Ballot for the November 3, 2026 election.

I am a teacher and parent at Santa Monica High School.

I learned that the Master Facilities Use Agreement is scheduled to expire in June 2027—resulting in an estimated loss of nearly $12 million from the district's general fund. The SMMCTA began working to find a solution. According to their estimates, approximately 81% of the district's budget is dedicated to salaries and benefits. This loss could, potentially, require the elimination of five to six teaching positions at every school.

This would layoff as many as 72 educators in Santa Monica and Malibu. I think these cuts would be catastrophic to the quality of education in our schools.

SMMCTA endorsed the Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure in February 2026 and worked alongside community members to gather the signatures needed to qualify the measure for the ballot.

Please adopt the Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure and place it before Santa Monica voters this November. We need this community investment for our students and to preserve the outstanding educational programs that define our schools as well as protecting the educators who make those programs possible.

Thank you for your consideration in supporting placement of this important measure on the November ballot.

Sincerely,
Shawn Saunders
Santa Monica High School
Teacher, Parent, SMMCTA Member
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9 David Yakobson
From: Grant Clark <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2026 10:49 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: please support the Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure Attachments: letter of support.pdf

EXTERNAL
Good Morning,
Please see the attached letter asking for your support of the Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure.

Best Regards,
Grant Clark
kindergarten teacher at Franklin School and Vice President of Santa Monica Malibu Classroom Teachers Associations
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Item 11-A
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To: Mayor Caroline Torosis, councilmembers Dan Hall, Lana Negrete, Ellis Raskin, Barry Snell, Jesse Zwick and Natalya Zernitzkaya
RE: Public Comment, 11-A, Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure Honorable Mayor Torosis and Councilmembers,
I am writing to urge you to adopt the Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure and place it on the General Municipal Ballot for the November 3, 2026 election.

As a teacher in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, I have witnessed firsthand the life-changing impact that a high-quality public education has on our students. Every year, I see students develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to succeed at outstanding public and private colleges and universities throughout California and across the nation. Their success is the result of years of dedication from exceptional educators and the steadfast support of our community.

Santa Monica's investment in public education has made it possible to offer outstanding programs that enrich students' lives, including music education in grades 4–12, TK–12 Spanish Immersion, Project Lead the Way, project-based learning, Career Technical Education (CTE) academies, and many other innovative opportunities. These programs ensure that students of every background, ethnicity, ability, and economic circumstance have access to an excellent education.

When the Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association learned that the Master Facilities Use Agreement is scheduled to expire in June 2027—resulting in an estimated loss of nearly $12 million from the district's general fund—we immediately began working to find a solution. Because approximately 81% of the district's budget is dedicated to salaries and benefits, a loss of this magnitude could require the elimination of an estimated five to six teaching positions at every school, affecting as many as 72 educators districtwide. Such cuts would have a devastating impact on the programs and services that make our schools exceptional.

Recognizing the importance of protecting our students' educational opportunities, SMMCTA endorsed the Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure in February 2026 and worked alongside community members to gather the signatures needed to qualify the measure for the ballot.

I respectfully ask you to adopt the Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure and place it before Santa Monica voters this November. Doing so will give our community the opportunity to invest in the future of our students, preserve the outstanding educational programs that define our schools, and protect the dedicated educators who make those programs possible.

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Thank you for your time, your leadership, and your commitment to Santa Monica's public schools. I appreciate your consideration and urge you to support placing this important measure on the November ballot.

Sincerely,
Grant Clark, kindergarten teacher at Franklin School and VIce-President of Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association
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Item 11-A
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10 David Yakobson
From: Michelle Boskin <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2026 11:37 AM
To: councilmtgitems
Subject: Public Comment, 11-A, Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure

EXTERNAL
July 14, 2026
To: Mayor Caroline Torosis, councilmembers Dan Hall, Lana Negrete, Ellis Raskin, Barry Snell, Jesse Zwick and Natalya Zernitzkaya
RE: Public Comment, 11-A, Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure Honorable Mayor Torosis and Councilmembers,
I am writing today on behalf of all of the Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers and myself to urge you to adopt the Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure and place it on the General Municipal Ballot for the November 3, 2026 election.

As a teacher in the district for 11 years, I have seen the impact of a well rounded education on all of my students, as I am a Special Education Teacher, I have seen my students acquire the skills necessary to be successful at our best public and private universities in the state and throughout the nation.

We have these amazing programs – Music education from 4th-12th grade, TK-12 Spanish Immersion, Project Lead the Way, Project based learning, CTE Academies, etc – precisely due to the investment the community has made in our schools. The funding the district receives from our community allows for all of our students of all ethnicities, economic backgrounds, and abilities to achieve. It is for that reason that when our association learned that the Master Facilities Use Agreement would sunset in June of 2027 and take away close to $12 million dollars from SMMUSD’s general budget, we immediately looked for a way to solve that financial crisis.

Since approximately 81% of the district’s budget is spent on salaries and benefits, the loss of $12 million dollars would undoubtedly materialize into losing five to six teachers per school for academic year 27-28. The thought of that loss is unsettling as it could possibly destroy the programs that we love most in our district and signify a loss of up to 72 jobs. SMMCTA endorsed the Excellent Public Schools Tax Measure in February of 2026 and worked hard to get signatures from the citizens of Santa Monica to get this measure on the ballot.

It is for this reason that I compel you to please adopt the measure and place it on the November ballot. Please do it for the wellbeing of our students, our community and our schools.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

With gratitude,
Michelle Boskin
Special Education Teacher
santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association, Elementary Executive Board Item 11-A
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1 David Yakobson
From: Anastasia Foster <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, July 13, 2026 11:11 PM
To: councilmtgitems; Oliver Chi
Subject: School Funding Measure support

EXTERNAL
Mayor Torosis and Councilmembers and staff,
The committee has worked very hard and successfully submitted signatures for a school funding measure to support our kids, our teachers and staff and our city. Thank you in advance for putting it on the ballot.

I echo the words of our Chairperson, Ted Winterer:

2. The City has declared fiscal distress and will be challenged to continue this funding to our TK-12 schools. In fact, at your June budget approval hearing, when asked by Councilmember Hall about the consequences of our measure not being approved by the voters, Finance Director Santiago "confirmed that if the measure fails, the city would face difficult decisions." (https://www.smdp.com/santamonica-council-adopts-908-8m-budget-sets-stage-for-world-cupolympics/ ). I certainly wouldn't want to be on a Council with limited resources having to choose between schools, public safety, library hours and other community priorities.

Item 11-A
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2 3. While you are to be applauded for making headway on restoring the City to fiscal health, there are still significant storm clouds on the horizon: a) The specter of additional payments to victims of sexual abuse by Eric Uller; b) Cash reserves that now appear to be roughly $90M, down from pre-Covid highs of several hundred millions; c) A debt to the Housing Trust Fund of $47M; d) Several hundred million dollars of capital improvement projects that remain unfunded.

Finally, I should note that early objections to our measure came from the misconception that it would eliminate the need for SMMUSD to allow the public access to sports fields, playgrounds and other district facilities. However, the SMMUSD Board voted earlier this year to continue public access regardless of the voter reaction to our measure in November and the staff report from that item noted Item 11-A
July 14, 2026
Item 11-A
July 14, 2026
3 that the state Civic Center Act has required such entry for many years prior to the negotiation of the first iteration of the MFUA. All that remains to allay these concerns is for the Council to indicate that should our measure pass it will negotiate a new arrangement with SMMUSD to govern opening and permitting of school facilities.

In conclusion, I urge you to adopt the resolution; to agendize a Council vote on endorsing the ballot measure; and to assuage public concerns that access to school facilities will be lost.

Thank you!
--
Anastasia Foster
Item 11-A
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4 David Yakobson
From: barbanell <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2026 4:07 PM
To: Council Mailbox; councilmtgitems; Lana Negrete; Caroline Torosis; Jesse Zwick; Dan Hall; Ellis Raskin; Barry Snell; Natalya Zernitskaya; Oliver Chi; Heidi von Tongeln; Shawn Landres; Nina Fresco; Jim Ries; Josh Hamilton; Leslie Lambert; Peer Chacko; Jacob Wasserman
Subject: 7-14-26–AGENDA ITEM 11A: Do Not Adopt a Resolution placing the measure on the Nov. 3 general municipal ballot:It’s Taxation Without Representation

EXTERNAL
To: City Council Members
From: Jerry Bass & Stephanie Barbanell
Re: 7-14-26–AGENDA ITEM 11A: Do Not Adopt a Resolution placing A New Parcel Tax Measure on the Nov. 3 general municipal ballot:It Amounts to Taxation Without Representation Council Members:

I am a retired public school teacher and my husband and I care very much about the education of all children.

However, another Parcel Tax, by definition, a flat rate tax on local property charged per unit of land rather than according to property value, is patently unequal at its core.

That means that a small home in Santa Monica will pay the same Tax as a mansion or a business park.

That means that an owner of a mansion or business park, who will likely have an income considerably greater than the owner of small home, will pay the same amount of this new proposed tax, $495. annually.

Is that fair?
Furthermore, in Santa Monica uniquely, a Property Tax is literally Taxation Without Representation, as renters far outnumber property owners. Property tax has little or no effect on the renters of our city, even though the children of those renters will disproportionally be the greater beneficiaries of a tax that they do not pay.

Is that fair?
An annual parcel tax will unfairly impact the homeowners of Of Santa Monica, regardless of the size and value of their property. In essence, it amounts to an ongoing penalty & punishment… In a city with a majority of renters — this latest measure Is certainly going to pass… the council knows who their constituency is and it’s a constituency that won’t feel the pain—with another parcel tax, Mom and Pop property owners will…
We repeat : taxation without representation has never been fair… Item 11-A
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Item 11-A
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Santa Monica City CouncilJuly 14, 2026

Santa Monica City Council
July 14, 2026