Letter: Pension costs are driving up taxes

The La Cañada Flintridge Educational Foundation raised $2.25 million dollars this year. Proposition 30 gave another $1.5 million. This is a total of $3.75 million and it is still not enough for the LCUSD. Why?

The pension costs of our public-sector employees is on the verge of bankrupting our state. It has already happened in the city of Stockton. Proposition 30 which passed in November 2012 taxed the high-income earners and raised sales tax. This money was to go to our schools, but instead billions went to fund the California teacher’s pension.

We La Cañada Flintridge residents are asked to vote on another parcel tax which excludes the parents of our out-of-district students. The premise is that if LCUSD does not receive the money the quality of education will be affected and our property value will decline. This did not happen in Pasadena when the parcel tax failed to pass.

The La Cañada Parcel Tax accountability for this year shows the money is mostly being used to fund unionized teacher salaries. There needs to be transparency for us La Cañada voters. Please perform an Internet search for “The Real Cost of Public Schools” by Adam Schaeffer. There you will find why voting “no” on renewing a higher parcel tax makes sense. The implementation of Common Core State Standards in LCUSD is going to be another added cost for tax payers. Please reference CUACC.org. Additional taxation is not the solution.

Dr. Denise Soto
La Cañada Flintridge