The Santa Barbara Unified School District’s Board of Education voted Tuesday night to endorse state Proposition 38, which would increase personal income tax rates on a sliding scale for anyone earning more than $7,316 annually.
Those increases would last for 12 years, with 30 percent of the revenues going to state debt for four years and then all of it going toward K-12 education and early childhood programs, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
Some board members were hesitant to support it, since the board already has endorsed Proposition 30 and has local parcel tax Measures A and B on the Nov. 6 ballot.
Board member Annette Cordero said she voted not to support Proposition 38 because it didn’t specifically fund community colleges. She also noted that endorsing both could confuse people and split the vote among education-supporting voters.
Other board members said they would rather support both, since it’s critical for at least one to pass for future state K-12 funding.
It’s still unclear what would happen if both measures pass, since both propose income tax increases, and the details most likely would be decided by the California Supreme Court, according to SBUSD Superintendent Dave Cash.
If either passes, the district would go back to the bargaining table with the labor groups.
Meg Jette, assistant superintendent of business services, noted that the revenues from Proposition 38 would flow directly to the district and provide many more years of increased revenues.
Proposition 30 wouldn’t provide any extra school funding this year, but if it doesn’t pass, there would be a $5.4 billion “trigger cut” to K-14 education and $500 million cut to public universities this year.
It would increase personal income tax for seven years to those earning more than $250,000 and increase sales and use tax for four years by a quarter-cent. From those revenues, 89 percent would go to K-12 schools and the rest to community colleges, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
— Noozhawk staff writer Giana Magnoli can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.








