Supervisors Hesitate on Sales Tax Increase for New Schools

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors balked Tuesday at endorsing legislation to increase the state sales tax, the key element of a proposal to raise money for new schools in the Santa Clarita Valley, unless the legislation is amended.

The board said it could not support legislation sponsored by state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Santa Clarita) unless several changes were made in the bill, which is intended to raise millions of dollars for school construction.

Davis’ bill--which would require approval by voters throughout the state--would boost the sales tax by a quarter-cent per dollar and allow property taxes to be raised by a majority of votes instead of requiring approval by two-thirds.

The legislation was the cornerstone of an agreement between builders and Santa Clarita school officials who were asked by Supervisor Mike Antonovich to explore ways to solve overcrowding in local schools.

Last week, the supervisors refused to endorse a sales tax increase and instead decided to wait a week to see how Davis would amend his bill.

On Tuesday, the board followed the advice of county Chief Administrative Officer Richard B. Dixon, who said the legislation was flawed.

In a report to the board, the CAO’s office said the bill was unfair because everyone would be required to pay more sales taxes, even though the revenue would go only to school districts with booming enrollments.

Also, a school district could not tap into the sales tax revenue unless it approved an increase in its property tax rate. The report said that would be a difficult feat for the Los Angeles Unified School District and other large districts.

Dixon recommended that the bill not be endorsed unless Davis could satisfactorily amend it to meet these concerns. Dixon also wanted the bill changed to make it easier to increase property taxes to build and rehabilitate jails and other public buildings.

The CAO also warned that having a competing sales tax proposal on the November ballot could hurt chances for a sales tax increase the county is contemplating for jail construction.

Supervisor Ed Edelman voiced the same concern.

“The question is, are we overloading the sales tax as a means to raise revenue for needed and necessary programs?” he asked.

Antonovich at first urged his colleagues to endorse Davis’ bill, but ultimately sided with the rest of the board.

Charles Fennessey, Davis’ legal consultant, said the legislation probably could be changed to address most of the board’s concerns. But Fennessey said he wasn’t sure how the senator could ease the board’s concerns about a possible competition of sales tax proposals on the November ballot.

The board’s endorsement would give a boost to the legislation, which is facing an uncertain future in Sacramento, Fennessey said.

Meanwhile, Clyde Smythe, superintendent of the William S. Hart Union High School District, said he was not surprised that the board has been reluctant to help the schools.

“I understand their concerns, but they as yet have not addressed, nor has anyone, the question of how do we house the kids,” Smythe said. “Everybody talks around it.”