Mail-in votes, voting-center counts show support may not be high enough for Burbank Unified’s Measure I
Measure I, a parcel tax proposed by the Burbank Unified School District, may be headed for defeat as 100% of mail-in ballots and voting-center results were counted as of Wednesday evening.
Unexpectedly long lines wrapped around several polling places past the usual 8 p.m. closing time Tuesday night, delaying the count, election officials said.
As of Wednesday evening, 10,728 voters, or 62.04%, supported the measure, while 6,564 residents, or 38.03%, voted against it.
The measure requires a two-thirds, or 66.67%, supermajority vote to pass and be implemented starting on July 1.
Should it pass, the proposed parcel tax is expected to generate $9.1 million for the Burbank Unified School District annually for 12 years by collecting a 10-cents-per-square-foot annual fee from local property owners.
Proponents of the measure argued Burbank public schools are at risk of teacher layoffs without the parcel tax, while opponents argued that taxpayers — especially those who are low-income renters — should not be responsible for the financial woes of the school district.
Amy Kamm, vice president of the Burbank Council PTA and spokeswoman for the Yes on Measure I campaign, said on Tuesday night, “Right now, we are cautiously hopeful. We are keeping an eye on everything and refreshing the county registrar’s page as much as possible.”
Kamm said, at the time, there was a lot of traffic and people waiting in line to vote at the IMX Auto Group, a Burbank polling center on Victory Boulevard.
Most of the revenue from the proposed tax would go toward increasing salaries to retain and attract teachers to the district as well as keep and expand arts, science, career and college courses.
Smaller portions of the funds would be allocated to maintain low class sizes, school-based mental-health counseling, on-campus safety, custodial support and elementary physical-education teachers.
During the past two months, Burbank Unified Supt. Matt Hill and school board members presented their plans in the event the new proposed measure doesn’t pass in order to balance a structural deficit of $3.2 million in the next school year.
Officials expect to cut programs such as stage-tech animation and nearly 30 teaching jobs in core subjects as well as arts by the end of the 2019-20 school year.
Should the parcel tax pass, an independent oversight committee, made up of community members, would be created to make sure money is spent as planned.
In 2018, a similar proposed parcel tax, called Measure QS, failed to pass by 938 votes, and the school district made about $3.5 million in budget cuts for the next school year while saving some positions with the help of fundraising organizations such as the Burbank Educational Foundation and Burbank Arts for All.
The California Fair Political Practices Commission is currently reviewing complaints alleging that mailers, emails and YouTube pre-roll ads opposing Measure I failed to include ad-disclosure information.
