Culver City : Property Tax Considered

The Culver City Unified School District and its teachers may be asking city voters to approve a temporary property tax to buy medical coverage for retired teachers and other district employees, according to officials from the district and the teachers’ union.

If the concept is approved by the teachers, representatives from the district and the Culver City Teachers Assn. will form a task force to study a possible parcel tax, which voters could approve with a two-thirds majority. The task force would study the proposal and make recommendations to the Board of Education, according to Assistant Supt. Ralph R. Villani.

In 1984, Santa Monica voters passed a five-year, $58-per-year parcel tax to avoid cutting programs and services in Santa Monica-Malibu schools.

Villani said it would cost the financially strapped Culver City district at least $300,000 a year to provide current and future retirees with lifetime health coverage.

The parcel-tax idea is part of a tentative agreement reached between the district and the association Wednesday. The agreement also includes a 5% pay increase this year and a new medical plan that would require teachers who choose their own doctors to pay part of their insurance coverage for the first time, according to Jacques Bernier, the association’s chief negotiator.