$270 Levy Opposed : School Tax Runs Into First Foes

A committee of Beverly Hills residents has announced its opposition to Proposition K, the property tax initiative on the March 3 ballot that would raise $2.5 million a year for the financially strapped Beverly Hills Unified School District.

The formation of the Committee to Save Beverly Hills From Itself was announced Tuesday by spokesman Sherman A. Kulick, a former chairman of the Beverly Hills Municipal League.

He said 100 city residents have come out against the initiative because they believe that “higher taxes are not the solution and never have been the solution to deficit spending by a governmental agency. The district needs to re-examine its budget, make cuts and live within its means.”

First Announced Opponent

The committee is the first group to announce its opposition to Proposition K. The Beverly Hills City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to support the tax. The measure also is supported by the Beverly Hills Board of Education, the League of Women Voters, Concern for Tenants Rights and the PTA.

The tax, which requires a two-thirds vote for approval, would levy a flat fee of $270 on each parcel of property in the city. School officials have asked for the measure to reduce an annual $3.5-million shortfall in the $26-million budget.

Rose Norton, spokeswoman for the Yes on K Committee, said, “I think it’s a joke. I have absolutely no problem with a serious difference of opinion on the issues. But in this case the name of the committee is a joke and so is the committee.”

Mayor Once Opposed Tax

Before the committee was formed, the most vocal opposition to the measure came from Mayor Charlotte Spadaro and City Councilman Robert Tanenbaum. But they agreed to support it after the council pledged to increase its funding to the district to $4 million a year from $2.2 million.

Kulick said there is pressure in the community to support the proposition. “The members of our committee refuse to have their names released because they feel that coming out against the measure is like coming out against motherhood, America and apple pie,” he said.

City Councilwoman Donna Ellman, who supports Proposition K, said she does not think that Kulick has a large following, but she added, “It wouldn’t surprise me if he went out and got 100 people to oppose the tax.”

Kulick said he also opposes the city’s joint-powers agreement with the school district that authorizes the city to pay the schools by renting school properties. “The payments are supposed to be for reasonable services, not as a means of circumventing laws restricting the city funding of the schools,” he said.

Kulick, 56, an attorney and business consultant, served as chairman of the Beverly Hills Municipal League in 1976. He made an unsuccessful bid in 1976 to win a seat on the school board and since has gained the reputation of a political gadfly, opposing proposed increased in city fees or taxes.