Funding K-12 Education. Commercial Property Taxes. Initiative Statute and Constitutional Amendment.

Provides additional funding for kindergarten through grade 12. Funds provided by 0.50% increase in commercial real property tax. Excludes commercial residential rental property. Creates Fund in State Treasury. Fund use restricted to: reducing class size; purchasing textbooks, instructional items; providing teacher salaries, benefits, training. Prohibits use of Fund monies to pay administrative costs. Requires Legislature to set penalties for school district administrators\u27 misuse of Fund monies. Requires annual audit by school districts. Provides small business personal property tax exemption. Reimburses state and local governments to offset revenue decrease. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Additional property tax revenues of around $5 billion annually, beginning in 2006-07. These revenues would be used for specified K-12 education purposes (over $4 billion) and to backfill state revenue losses and provide targeted property tax relief ($800 million)