On Tuesday, voters in Los Angeles Unified School District defeated Measure EE, which would have enacted an annual parcel tax for 12 years at the rate of $0.16 per square foot of building improvements to fund educational improvements, instruction, and programs.
District officials estimated that the parcel tax would have raised $500 million per year. A two-thirds (66.67%) supermajority vote was required for the approval of Measure EE. According to election night results, 54% of voters were against the measure and 46% were in favor.
A parcel tax is a kind of property tax based on units of property rather than assessed value. So far in 2019, local California voters have approved ten parcel tax measures and have defeated three. Since 1983, there have been 708 local parcel tax measures on ballots in California; 425 (60%) were approved, and 283 (40%) were defeated.