Talk:2020 California Proposition 15

Expenditure of tax proceeds

All local governments, including school districts, that receive funds from the property tax increases imposed by Proposition 15 must publicly disclose for each fiscal year the amount of property tax revenues received thereunder for that fiscal year and how those property tax revenues were spent.

The text of Proposition 15 contains no legal restrictions on how property tax increase revenues received by a local government may be spent. As a result, spending decisions on Proposition 15 tax proceeds would be made by local politicians as part of the annual budget process. Such spending decisions could include anything from increased spending on police to increased salaries and pension benefits for public employees.

Public employee unions have recognized that spending decisions on Proposition 15 tax proceeds would be made by local politicians. For example, the United Teachers Los Angeles president stated that: "The School Board is our boss. It is difficult to think of workers anywhere else who elect their bosses. We do. We must take advantage of it." In seeking to do so, the United Teachers Los Angeles union has stated that passage of Proposition 15 is "key to winning the aggressive, comprehensive demands we will bring forward in 2022 full contract bargaining."

Administration expenses

The text of Proposition 15 contains no provision prohibiting the expenditure of property tax increase proceeds on administration expenses. Administration expenses in the K-12 public school system in California are already high. According to California Department of Education financial data, California school districts and county offices of education spent more than $9.5 Billion on school and general administration expenses during the 2018-19 fiscal year. The $9.5 Billion amount spent on administration expenses during the 2018-19 fiscal year is more than twice the estimated $4 Billion amount of new tax revenues that school districts and county offices of education would receive per year from the Proposition 15 property tax increases.


 * this is a non issue for both supporters and opponents. why is this such a focus on the page?72.134.187.78 (talk) 20:20, 16 October 2020 (UTC)

Intro wording
User:Fuelpumbaa has repeatedly instated a version of the intro that is not NPOV, leading with "The 2020 California Proposition 15 provides $6.5 billion to $11.5 billion in new funding for ..." instead of e.g. "... is a citizen-initiated California ballot proposition that would adjust commercial property tax rates to fund education and other public services in California."

It's a tried-and-true technique in advertising and political campaigning to first extol the customer benefits of something before mentioning what it actually is and does. But Wikipedia is a fact-oriented, neutral encyclopedia, not an advertising medium for political campaigns.

Regards, HaeB (talk) 07:08, 31 October 2020 (UTC)