Deasy Decides to Pull $298 School Parcel Tax Off Ballot

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy will ask the Board of Education today to pull a proposed $298 parcel tax off the November ballot, arguing that he doesn't want the issue to compete with Gov. Jerry Brown's budget-balancing tax proposals.

The Board of Education in March approved plans to put the proposal on the ballot in November. But Deasy told the board last week that he did not want the measure on the same ballot as Brown's planned tax measures, which he said are critical to bolstering state funding for education.

"We run a risk of having too many measures before the public," Deasy said of the November election, asserting that adding an LAUSD parcel tax would likely detract from Brown's proposals.

Brown will ask voters in November to approve a bump in the state's 7.25 percent sales tax rate to 7.5 percent, and to increase the income tax rate on people earning more than $250,000 a year.

The governor said in May that if the proposals fail, the state will have to make another $6 billion in cuts effective Jan. 1 -- much of them affecting education.

Deasy said the district can consider the parcel tax issue again after the November vote.

The parcel tax, which would be assessed on every taxable property within the district's boundaries, was expected to generate about $255 million a year, according to the LAUSD.

The district has been working to eliminate a $390 million budget deficit for the coming school year.

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