The sigh of relief was hard to miss when Proposition 30 was passed in last November’s election.

Fifty four percent of voters approved a sales and income tax increase initiative, proposed by Governor Jerry Brown.

This approval allows the government to raise taxation on households with an annual income greater than $250,000.

“I believe it to be necessary, but a hard pill for people to swallow,” said Michaela Reaves, history professor at CLU.

While many people see positive aspects of the tax, others recognize that raising taxes might not fix the original problem.

“It’s like a Band-Aid; it’s there to stop the bleeding but the wound is still there. We need to find a way to solve it. It’s not solvent spending. It presents the challenge of the next 10 years to make funding more cost efficient,” said sophomore Alex Duffant.

It is predicted that $6 billion in additional revenues will be raised annually for the first two of the five years the tax is in effect.

This is to help the state with the deficit we currently face.

With propositions in the past reading too narrow, this one has taken a new, general, broad path.

However, with specifics now out the window, many are curious where our money is truly going.

“They persuade me by the campaign’s misinforming voters to believe that it’s directed towards schooling. I didn’t want my yes vote to support a maybe,” said junior Jacqueline Garza.

One can only hope that with this new annual income, the state will direct it towards education in the right manner.

However, according to city data from 2009, the average household income of Thousand Oaks residents is $100,933, so only a few will be affected locally by the rise in taxes.

“I think it’s okay to ask for a shoulder. It won’t adversely affect higher income households,” said Duffant.

Ultimately, benefiting the majority is the only reasonable response when so few in the population have that high of an income.

“When it comes down to the people being taxed, they will never see a direct, one to one correlation. However, everyone will benefit with solvent help,” said Reaves.

Prop. 30 ensures a stronger middle class by stopping rising tuition and stopping future budget cuts to services that aid  working, middle class families and small businesses.

By ending budget cuts   to schools, services to the middle class and small businesses, it provides an opportunity for growth. This will create new jobs and help rid California of its debt.

By improving education, we are only helping the future leaders of our country and strengthening the economy.

The overall knowledge invested in schools will eventually benefit the general public.

Holly Dunn
Staff Writer
Published Feb. 6, 2013