Two-Thirds Rule Outdated

In Orange County, where tax increases have always had trouble getting voter support, a majority of residents--57% according to a recent Times survey--say they are ready to vote for higher taxes if the money goes to help schools.

That result should please harried school officials struggling to meet booming enrollments with a shortage of classrooms and budgets too thin to cover their growing needs. But educators must contain their excitement because the sobering fact is that it still takes the approval of two-thirds of the voters, not a simple majority, to pass local tax increases.

That is why, despite majority support for needed school-tax increases, local measures often fail. This happened last May when 52.2% of the voters in the Capistrano Unified School District approved a special tax-assessment district.

The two-thirds requirement, in effect, gives tax increase opponents two votes and an unequal influence not afforded the voting minority in other elections. It is an archaic approach that was put in the state Constitution 110 years ago. It was needed then, when the state’s financial condition was as unstable as its earthquake faults. Cities were defaulting on bonds and there was a general fear that people who didn’t own property would tax those who did into bankruptcy.

Times have changed. It is time to change the state Constitution, too, and replace the two-thirds requirement in local elections with the same simple majority that is needed in statewide bond issues. How much longer must schools do without the financial help most residents seem ready to provide?