Malibu Announces Financial Details For School District Split: 38% Of Malibu School Tax Money Will Continue To Flow To Santa Monica, But New Malibu District Will Make It On $40 Million First Year

70234 NO LONGER IF MR

“This has been going on for a long, long time. It’s no longer “if” … but it’s “when.” 

Marianne Riggins … on the Malibu city council last night … announcing a new financial deal to break Malibu out of the Santa Monica school district.

No new taxes … and instead of sending all of our property taxes to Santa Monica and getting some of it back … Malibu will keep its share, subsidize Santa Monica, and get local control.

At a stiff price.

The first year of a Malibu School District … it will have an annual budget of 40 million dollars. Another 16 million dollars will be sent to Santa Monica … to make sure their school kids do not take a hit.

That’s 38% of the local property taxes … which will have to be sent to Santa Monica … the price to pay for local independence.

Tight … but do-able … says all five city council member s at a special workshop Wednesday night.

Malibu mayor Steve Uhring:

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“What we’ve done is make sure that we keep the Santa Monica School District whole …  and we also keep the Malibu School District whole. 

“And I think that’s the thing you got to take away from this thing .. that we have .. as much as all the numbers look like whatever the numbers look like … the program its to make sure that both parties continue at doing the education process that they have to do … and at the same time give the Malibu School District a chance to get built up.”

The deal … in five sentences:

Malibu gets a school district … after final negotiations on a timeline and transfer of control. 

Santa Monica kids get protected from the departure of Malibu’s lucrative tax base … a transfer of 16 million dollars or so the first year … 

Malibu gets to keep 40 million dollars or so of its own money to set up and run Malibu’s school district in year one.

The transfers to Santa Monica continue perhaps for 18 years … until Santa Monica schools inherit a huge tax windfall from a commercial redevelopment tax that is in a shelter until 2042.

Malibu leaders cringed last night at the thought of paying child support to Santa Monica for 18 more years.

Council member Paul Grisanti:

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“The dollars .. the property tax dollars that you talked about… are money that is going for education right now, it’s not money that comes to the City Of Malibu at all. 

“And currently, it goes to Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District and they have control over how much comes to us.”

It’s a compromise … says Marianne Riggins … a compromise that the Santa Monica school board has already reportedly signed off on.

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“I do want to think the current school board – they have been at the table – they have been working with us. 

“Thesis about local control. 

“And it’s going to be tight at first, you know we’re going to be watching our pennies. 

“But if you look back to when we formed a city, but if you look back to when we formed a city, no one thought we could form a city either. But here we are and we have a great city.”

But the “great school district” train, however, could easily derail. 

Malibu voters will have to approve the split.  And maybe Santa Monica voters also. City lawyer Christine Wood: 

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“The Education Code that provides for separation will require a vote by an electorate. 

“It is our position that, that electorate should be just Malibu residents, and the residents of the unincorporated area that will be solved by served by the Malibu Unified School District.

“That has been the practice by the state board (of education), to have the affected area be the smaller area, and that’s what would be what we hope would happen.

“That is still to be determined.”

But if Santa Monica voters get to vote on this, what is there incentive is there for them to give Malibu independence?

They have a financial interest in getting rid of Malibu.  It will cost Santa Monica more and more each year to educate children in Malibu. The schools out here … particularly the high school … are a lot smaller than in Santa Monica. 

Classes are smaller … the staff to student ratio is much higher.  It costs 600 dollars per student per year more to educate a kid in Malibu only than in the current joint school district.

The school board … made up of 6 Santa Monicans and one Malibu resident .. they have to vote on this.  And they still have to negotiate an operational agreement and joint powers agreement to transfer control. 

Santa Monica is guaranteed enough Malibu tax money to achieve their current budget plus 4%.  The estimate is that … in the first year of the agreement … Malibu would send $16.4 million to Santa Monica. 

Malibu would have about $40 million ion local property taxes to pay for its own district.  And that’s just enough to maintain the present programs in both cities … says the city’s new school consultant … Mike Matthews:

70230 NOT GONNA HAPPEN

“One of the big ideas out there is that …  the minute that we do this … it’s gonna be a great thing for Malibu kids… and we could add all sorts of programs. 

“That’s not what it is. 

“In the long run, probably so.  We believe that will happen.

“But in the intermediate run, there’s a fixed budget. We’re dividing it. 

“Both sides will have the same high level of services that we are giving them right now.”

But – Santa Monica does get that guaranteed 4% budget growth … with Malibu backfilling any shortfall. Malibu doesn’t get that promise.

SM had been asking for a permanent tax subsidy from Malibu.  This deal – 4% growth per year – was to keep SM from “looking over the fence” at anticipated tax revenue from Malibu.

All five city council members praised the deal.  Here’s Bruce Silverstein:

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“It looks good right now.

“It’s not ideal, but it’s better than the status quo .

“The questions that have been asked about how these splits are going to be… it sound so extremes … That’s the split that is currently occurring …  de facto.

“All the money goes to Santa Monica-Malibu.

“So if you think about it … all the money goes to the Santa Monica school board.”

One of those voices you heard in this report was that of Mike Matthews. … who has been hired by the city as a school consultant … almost a new school superintendent.

Matthews was the first principal at the brand new Malibu High School three decades ago. 

Matthews is a Malibu West resident.

He retired as the school superintendent in Manhattan Beach several years ago.

Yet to be heard … anyone from the Santa Monica school board.

And of course … voters in Santa Monica will have opinions on this too.