Proposition 88 Is pretty straightforward: a $50.00 parcel tax that goes towards schools.

(+) The children. They’re our future, you know.

(+) It’s $50.00. That’s literally less than a dollar per week per parcel of land. That’s not a very big burden to put on the backs of Californians.

(-) Again, we’re looking at a tax shackled to a spending formula. This tax does nothing for the general fund. Every dollar committed by law to special programs like this gives our legislators more excuse to not do their jobs properly.

(+) Unlike Prop 1D, which is effectively paying $20,300,000,000.00 to get $10,416,000,000.00 today, Prop 88 is pay-as-you-go. Everybody can tell what the tax is going to cost, now, as opposed to wondering what we’re going to have to do tomorrow to balance our budgets.

(+) It gets around Prop 13. This means that people that have had their property taxes more-or-less locked in since the early 1980’s have to pay the same amount as people that bought their houses more recently. Like me.

(-) This is the first time California would have a state-wide property tax like this. Local districts have introduced parcel taxes for years. I should know, I pay enough of them. Actually, that’s exactly the point: I’m already paying several parcel taxes for schools.

Of the state-wide propositions on the ballot next week, this is the one I’m most inclined to give a “yes” to. As a self-interested taxpayer, I’m generally in favor of voting down new taxes, but as a parent and a pragmatist, I recognize that good schools are an excellent investment in the future prosperity of the state. I’d be more comfortable with this if there were some assurance that the state would knuckle-down on some of the rules that force schools to spend money inefficiently (especially in regards to where they can buy books), but I guess that’s too much to ask for.