Beutner’s changes to ballot language spark debate over parcel tax for L.A. schools

To tax or not to tax? This description is crucial because it affects how much revenue the school system collects and how much money each property owner must pay for “improved building square footage.” If this revision amounts to a change in the district’s taxing authority, the measure could face a legal challenge, based on the district’s own earlier legal analysis. The original language, as approved by the Board of Education, defines what can be taxed as “habitable main square footage as measured by the Los Angeles County Assessor and as maintained in the Assessor’s electronic reports.” But it is the revised definition submitted by Beutner that appears on the ballot: “the square footage of all buildings or structures erected on or affixed to the land.” In a Friday interview, county Assessor Jeffrey Prang said the district requested a change because of apparent uncertainties with the original language, which referred to “habitable” space. In the context of how we maintain assessment records currently, we would ask the question: Does habitable mean for the use of habitation or a place of business?” Had the measure become law with the original language, Prang said, his office would have asked the district about its intent but also would have obtained an opinion from the county’s legal staff. “As you look at the ballot language… when you look at the square footage we’re looking at improved property on the parcel,” Salcido said in video footage reviewed by The Times.