Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Walters: Los Angeles School Tax Flunks Out
dan_walters
By Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary
Published 6 years ago on
June 10, 2019

Share

The political leaders of Los Angeles, led by Mayor Eric Garcetti, were convinced they could persuade local voters to approve a very hefty tax increase for the city’s schools, especially since the burden would fall largely on large property owners.


Dan Walters
CALmatters

After all, they reasoned, a strike by Los Angeles Unified School District teachers had generated lots of sympathetic attention to the district’s serious financial woes, and California voters generally approve taxes perceived — or marketed — as falling on the affluent.
Also, the district’s two unions would spend heavily to persuade voters that the new taxes were needed to improve the system’s educational outcomes.
Oops.
Measure EE, a 16-cents-per-square-foot “parcel tax” on buildings that would have raised $500 million a year, not only didn’t get the two-thirds voter approval it needed last week but fell well short of even a simple majority.
The election in the nation’s second-largest school district was being watched closely by political groups outside the district for two reasons.
First: Despite very large increases in state and local school support — up 60% since 2010 — and virtually stagnant enrollment, L.A. Unified and most other school districts are facing big financial gaps.

L.A. Unified’s Election Was a Test Case of Sorts

The major reason for this seeming anomaly is that their costs for pensions and health care have outstripped those revenue gains, so there’s relatively less available for classroom expenses, such as teacher salaries — which also explains the rash of teacher strikes.
L.A. Unified’s election was a test case of sorts for whether school officials could persuade voters to raise taxes to cover their ever-increasing shortfalls, without explicitly telling voters about pensions and health care.
Although an early version of the measure, approved by the school board, had mentioned pension costs, district officials quietly changed it, removing the direct reference in an obvious effort to trick voters into thinking the money would be spent on more popular expenses.
Second: Measure EE was seen as an early indicator of whether a statewide tax increase of some kind for education might fly in 2020.
A measure to remove Proposition 13’s property-tax limits from commercial property, such as office buildings, warehouses and hotels, has already qualified for the 2020 ballot. It would raise perhaps $10 billion a year, 40% of which would go to schools. Some education groups are talking about an even more ambitious tax measure that would raise larger amounts of money just for schools.

Officials Shouldn’t Try to Fool Voters With Clever Buzzwords

The “split roll” measure that’s already qualified for the ballot has not fared well in polling of voters, and the resounding defeat of Measure EE bodes ill for it and any other 2020 tax proposal, especially since the state treasury is running up big surpluses these days.

As the defeat of Measure EE became apparent last Tuesday night, its backers promised to try again. However, it will be a tough sell, and Measure EE’s rejection may give pause to officials in other communities where school tax measures are being weighed.
As the defeat of Measure EE became apparent last Tuesday night, its backers promised to try again. However, it will be a tough sell, and Measure EE’s rejection may give pause to officials in other communities where school tax measures are being weighed.
They include Sacramento, where Mayor Darrell Steinberg has suggested a tax increase might rescue the Sacramento Unified School District from being placed in state receivership for its chronic inability to balance its budget.
In the future, if new school taxes are proposed in Sacramento, Los Angeles or anywhere else, officials shouldn’t try to fool voters with clever buzzwords. They should be honest about their finances, own up to their miscues, own up to pension and health care expenses, and stop blaming charter schools for their travails.
CALmatters is a public-interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: CEMEX’s New Mining Plan for the San Joaquin River

DON'T MISS

Trump Fires NSC Officials a Day After Far-Right Activist Raises Concerns to Him

DON'T MISS

China Halts Approvals for New US Investment Projects

DON'T MISS

Measles Spreads to Central Texas; 5 States Have Active Outbreaks

DON'T MISS

Trump Tariff Fears Erase $2 Trillion From US Stocks

DON'T MISS

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

DON'T MISS

Senate Confirms Mehmet Oz to Take Lead of Medicare and Medicaid Agency

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Pence Will Receive the Profile in Courage Award From the JFK Library for His Actions on Jan. 6

DON'T MISS

Politics Turns Ugly for a Conservative Running for Fresno State Student Body President

UP NEXT

Why Project Labor Agreements Are Good for Our Schools and Students: Opinion

UP NEXT

State Center Trustees Vote for Special Interest Giveaway Over Students: Opinion

UP NEXT

I Will Force Votes on Blocking Arms Sales to Israel: Sen. Bernie Sanders

UP NEXT

What Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs Could Mean for Americans: Fareed Zakaria

UP NEXT

Why the Nation Would Be Wise to Support a Third Term Amendment for Donald Trump

UP NEXT

If California Bails Out LA’s $1 Billion Budget Deficit, Beware the Slippery Slope

UP NEXT

Trump Has Had Enough. He Is Not Alone.

UP NEXT

The Real Crisis in California Schools Is Low Achievement, Not Cultural Conflicts

UP NEXT

Trump and Musk Are Suffering From Soros Derangement Syndrome

UP NEXT

CA Politicians Have an Irritating Habit of Ignoring the Downsides

Measles Spreads to Central Texas; 5 States Have Active Outbreaks

2 hours ago

Trump Tariff Fears Erase $2 Trillion From US Stocks

2 hours ago

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

2 hours ago

Senate Confirms Mehmet Oz to Take Lead of Medicare and Medicaid Agency

4 hours ago

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

5 hours ago

Pence Will Receive the Profile in Courage Award From the JFK Library for His Actions on Jan. 6

6 hours ago

Politics Turns Ugly for a Conservative Running for Fresno State Student Body President

6 hours ago

Pentagon’s Watchdog to Review Hegseth’s Use of Signal App to Convey Plans for Houthi Strike

6 hours ago

President Trump’s Tariffs Could Be the Political Tipping Point

7 hours ago

Order That Kept Water in the Kern River Reversed by 5th District Court of Appeal

7 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: CEMEX’s New Mining Plan for the San Joaquin River

GV Wire’s Edward Smith talks with KMPH Fox 26 “Great Day” anchor Christina Rodriguez about the possibility of CEMEX digging a 600-foot hole ...

57 minutes ago

57 minutes ago

Wired Wednesday: CEMEX’s New Mining Plan for the San Joaquin River

President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)
1 hour ago

Trump Fires NSC Officials a Day After Far-Right Activist Raises Concerns to Him

2 hours ago

China Halts Approvals for New US Investment Projects

2 hours ago

Measles Spreads to Central Texas; 5 States Have Active Outbreaks

2 hours ago

Trump Tariff Fears Erase $2 Trillion From US Stocks

2 hours ago

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, seated right, gives a thumbs-up alongside his wife Lisa Oz, seated left, with friends and family after he testified at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP/Ben Curtis)
4 hours ago

Senate Confirms Mehmet Oz to Take Lead of Medicare and Medicaid Agency

5 hours ago

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend