Sunday, November 9, 2014

Letter to the Tattler: Shirley Enomoto

Received from Shirley Enomoto:

Open Letter to Emeryville Senior Property Owners:

Some of you may know I have been battling Emery Unified School District and its consultants, NBS in Temecula CA since 2009 overt the non-existence of protocol for the senior tax exemption guaranteed when voters passed Measure A, the previous school parcel tax.  Measure K, voted on last Tuesday in Emeryville, is a 20 year extension of this property parcel tax.


A couple of weeks ago I received my property tax statement for 2014-2015 and the tax has mysteriously re-appeared.  I called the tax assessor's office and they confirmed that the "Emery school tax" was for Measure A.  I then called NBS and they also confirmed it was for Measure A.

The representative with whom I spoke politely advised me that this exemption must be renewed every year.  I not so politely told her I had been waging this battle since 2009 and made my battle public with the Emeryville Tattler and Emery School District officials, not to mention the many letters and e-mails  I wrote back and forth.    She said she would have to turn my inquiry over to "administration" and would have a response for me soon.

I urge all seniors to carefully examine their tax statements and if an exemption has been filed, to demand that your tax statement be corrected.  The tax reads "Emeryville School Tax" in the box entitled fixed charges in the upper right hand corner.   


The tax in the left hand box entitled tax rate breakdown reading "School Unified" is for Measure J, the building of the Center of Community Life.  With all these bond measures and school taxes, they should be separated and identified such as Measure A, Measure J,  and Measure K, now that it has passed.

I do not know what consulting fees NBS is receiving but they surely do not deserve one cent of it.

Shirley Enomoto
Emeryville Senior


Shirley Enomoto has lived in Emeryville for 18+ years and has been a "trouble maker"she says, to City Hall for as many years.  A member of Residents United for a Livable Emeryville (RULE) and a long time volunteer for the schools, Ms Enomoto has also long rallied for fair treatment for senior citizens.  She discovered some time ago the School District wasn't properly telling senior citizen property owners they could file for an exemption to pay their Measure A tax, a provision by law but widely unknown by Emeryville seniors.  

4 comments:

  1. Thank you, Shirley. Your attitude is a breathe of fresh air!

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  2. Thanks for this, Shirley. I too got charged for the tax even though I applied for the exemption. Since you've been around longer than I have, you probably have better luck than me getting your calls to the county answered. If I can't get through by phone, I'll pay them a visit.

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  3. please contact me will. length of residency has nothing to do with this. nbs, the consulting firm hired by the school district, is clearly trying to scrounge up more revenue and if their consulting fees are based on this, then I will do everything I can to remove them.

    I was out of town for one week and nbs was supposed to get back to me to find out why the tax reappeared on my tax statement. i didn't think they would. give me your tax bill number and i will straighten this out for you.

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  4. to seniors who have applied for the exemption and found it back on their tax bill: please contact lisa taymuree at the school district offices (510) 601-4906.) I am very sorry to have to burden her with this task which clearly should be handled by the very company they are paying. I even offered my services voluntarily at the school district office to keep track of the paperwork to make sure seniors are not billed. I will follow up with superintendent john rubio.

    you haven't heard the last of this from me.

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