Officials at the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce on Friday expressed reservations about a proposed parcel tax to fund education, but they declined to take an official stance on the issue.
Chamber officials said the organization would remain neutral on Measure T, which would establish a five-year parcel tax of $92 per parcel annually to fund education in the Long Beach Unified School District.
Two-thirds of voters in the Nov. 3 election would have to approve the measure for the tax to become a reality.
Supporters say the measure is needed to restore some of the state funding cuts that the LBUSD has experienced. Seniors would be exempt from the tax.
The Chamber has "a long-standing position of supporting LBUSD and its endeavors," read a joint statement by Lori Lofstrom, Chamber chairman; Joanne Davis, chairman of the group's Government Affairs Council; and Randy Gordon, Chamber President and CEO.
The Chamber officials said that they were concerned about the fairness of the tax, noting that seniors would be exempt and the tax would apply only to property owners, not to renters.
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Thus, the tax base appears to be narrow compared to those who would directly benefit, which in particular may include many who rent their homes," officials said in a statement.
Chamber officials also noted that voters recently approved a construction bond measure for the LBUSD -- Measure K -- that resulted in an increase to property tax bills.
"The Chamber is concerned that there never seems to be an end to requests for taxes to fund education," officials said. "Instead, the LBUSD should seek to reduce costs rather than increase revenue."
On the other hand, the district has had to cut $100 million in the last five years to cope with state budget cuts, the Chamber officials stated.
"However, in the end, the Board of Directors of the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce did not come the conclusion that the benefits of passing Measure T outweighs (sic) the costs, and vice versa," according to the statement.
Kevin Butler has been covering education for more than five years at the Press-Telegram. Previously he was a reporter at the Los Angeles Independent weeklies and in the Washington, D.C., bureau of Investor's Business Daily. A native of Houston, Butler graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor's in economics and government. 
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