South Bay : Tax Proposed to Pay for Crossing Guards

Would you pony up $8.90 a year to help schoolchildren cross the street?

That’s the question voters in Hermosa Beach will have to decide this November if the City Council succeeds in placing a parcel tax measure on the ballot this month.

If the city doesn’t find a way to pay for the 12 guards and three alternates, schoolchildren could have to start crossing streets by themselves next year. The city had been using another parcel tax to pay for the guards, but that was found to be invalid.

Arguing against crossing guards might sound like arguing against mom and apple pie, but the proposed tax has its critics.

School board member Mary Lou Weiss said the city has just tripled maintenance district fees. “I have suggested using drug forfeiture money or sales taxes,” she added, “but so far the answer has been no.”