Schools

Updated: AUSD Beats Lawsuit Challenging Measure A

Judge says the structure of Measure A, the school parcel tax approved last March, is legal.

The has won a legal challenge to Measure A, according to a statement from the district today.

, which with more than two-thirds of the vote, was , which argued that the structure of the tax was not uniform and therefore illegal.

Judge Frank Roesch of the Alameda County Superior Court ruled for AUSD, according to the statement. Roesch rejected all of the plaintiffs’ claims and dismissed the petition in the case, Nelco, Inc. et al v. Alameda Unified School District.

Find out what's happening in Alamedawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The district has been sued about parcel tax structure and won before. In 2010, a judge decided in the school district's favor when the structure of Measure H, the previous parcel tax, was challenged in court.

Reached for comment after the ruling, Ed Hirshberg of Alamedans for Fair Taxation (AFT), expressed dissapointment with the decision and implied that the group would pursue an appeal.

Find out what's happening in Alamedawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"While we find it a disappointing setback, what really confounds us at AFT the most is the 95-percent-plus discount that is offered to the wealthiest and largest landowners in Alameda for this parcel tax,” Hirshberg said.

The tax's cap, , means that the per-parcel cost of the tax maxes out at $7,999.

After , AUSD Superintendent Kirsten Vital described the planned rate and structure as a balancing act, designed to meet some of the needs of the city's schools while accommodating small business owners and others who had opposed previous parcel taxes.

"I see this parcel tax as a whole lot of compromise," Vital said in November 2010.

In a statement released today, Vital applauded the court's decision and thanked the community.

“On behalf of all of our students and all the citizens from all across Alameda who worked so hard to pass Measure A, I am thrilled with Judge Roesch’s decision,”  Vital wrote. “We are grateful for how strongly Alameda came together last year in very difficult times."


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