A statewide survey conducted on March 7 by the Public Policy Institute of California showed that 52 percent of California residents said they would vote yes on Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax initiative, while 40 percent said they would vote no and 8 percent said undecided.
The proposed tax initiative is just one of the reforms on Brown’s 2012-13 budget plan to be included on the November ballot. If passed, the tax initiative would temporarily increase the personal income tax on California residents earning more than $250,000 annually and increase the state sales tax.
The report on the PPIC website said the survey measured responses from 2,001 adult residents throughout the state. According to the report, previous PPIC surveys showed the amount of voters who said they would support Brown’s tax initiative was at 60 percent in December 2011 and 68 percent in January 2012.
On Feb. 28, the Daily 49er reported that if voters do not approve the two proposed tax increases this November, Brown’s 2012-13 budget plan would implement a $200 million budget cut to the Cal State University system.
Mary Stephens, vice president of administration and finance at Cal State Long Beach, announced that CSULB will have a shortage of $27 million if the November tax increases do not pass and the corresponding 22 percent tuition increase is also not passed.
In her CSULB Budget Outlook 2012-13 last week, Stephens said that covering these costs “would take an additional tuition fee increase of $1,313, or a 22 percent increase, to offset our shortfall of $27 million.”
However, Stephens said this is just a calculation given the current numbers and that a fee increase to that amount would be unlikely for the 2012-13 fiscal year.
“Because of how difficult it was with the last fee increase, we don’t think they will increase fees again,” she said, referring to the Nov. 16 CSU Board of Trustees meeting.
Stephens stressed that the calculated fee increases are too high for students to agree on and would not be the end-all solution to fix the budget anyway.
“I would not bet on raising fees,” Stephens said. “This message was meant to show faculty and staff there is no white knight. There is no easy answer. We’re going to have cuts.”
Stephens said they will do all they can to protect the university’s classes in the event of budget cuts. However, she said potential cuts would affect “what goes on outside of classes,” such as the number of class sections and advising availability; how well the university maintains its facilities; and online technology for registration system changes.
Stephens also said cuts could potentially lead to admitting fewer students and affect how many people are enrolled in a course.
“It is all out of the same pot of money,” Stephens said.
She said that, if Brown’s tax increases are approved, then there would be no reason for the trustees to raise fees again for this year under this scenario.