Parcel Tax Approved for Ballot

The El Segundo Unified School District board voted unanimously Tuesday to put a parcel tax proposal on the November ballot to help the financially troubled district maintain current programs. The tax, which requires a two-thirds majority for approval, would levy $120 a year on residential and commercial property for three years. It would raise $550,000.

Conceding that the measure will be “very hard to pass,” Supt. Bill Manahan stressed that the money will be used to “maintain the educational program” and not for salary increases or new programs. He termed it a stopgap measure “while the state works out its (financial) problems in terms of providing adequate funding for schools.”

As it approved the tax measure, the board adopted a tentative 1991-92 budget of $9 million. To balance the budget, the board cut $600,000 to absorb anticipated losses in money from the state, which is grappling with a budget deficit. Eleven teachers have been laid off, and other personnel and program cuts have been made.

Manahan, however, said the district plans to rehire six or seven of the teachers with $400,000 the City Council has promised the district for the next school year. The money is expected after a formal agreement is approved by both agencies in July.

As proposed, the three-year parcel tax could not be renewed without another two-thirds referendum. The board would set the tax rate, but it could not exceed $120.