South Pasadena parcel tax hinges on walk-in votes
The fate of a parcel tax that would raise $1.7 million a year for South Pasadena schools remained uncertain Wednesday.
More than 67% of the nearly 6,000 voters who cast mail-in ballots supported the $288-per-parcel annual levy, but county election officials have yet to count 228 ballots that were hand-delivered to the polls on Tuesday. The small number of walk-in votes is enough to swing the election because state law requires that parcel taxes be approved by two-thirds of voters. The ballots will be counted Friday.
As schools deal with billions of dollars in state funding cuts, districts are increasingly turning to local parcel taxes to shore up their finances. In coming weeks, voters in the Palos Verdes, Rowland Heights and La Cañada Flintridge districts will cast ballots on parcel taxes.
--Seema Mehta
