For schools and government agencies to run properly with high-achieving students and employees, they need sufficient funding. This is one of the goals of Proposition 15, which is on the ballot for California’s 2020 election.

In order to receive this funding, commercial and industrial buildings that are currently valued at $3 million or more will have increased property taxes. To help our city, voting yes on Prop. 15 would improve the economy and education of Sacramento.

Supporters who have publicly endorsed the proposition include Tony Thurmond, the California Superintendent of Public Instruction, Sasha Cuttler, a public health nurse for the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and Carol Moon Goldberg, the president of the League of Women Voters.

To some, the increased taxes is a fair trade-off, but some opposers believe that the impact will be high if the proposition passes. Many small business owners, taxpayers associations, and the California State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People oppose the proposition.

For example, opposers of the proposition believe that this will increase everyday necessities like gas and groceries and hurt small businesses that are trying to survive. They also believe that homeowners and renters will be taxed as well, but they are exempt, according to a rebuttal on the California Official Voter Guide, which is published by the Secretary of State.

I understand that life is already expensive, but one of the goals of the proposition is to stop wealthy corporations from not paying taxes. The coronavirus pandemic has hurt many businesses, but there has been help that greedy owners have taken to purchase items for themselves but not pay their workers fairly.

These corporations that make billions of dollars a year use any tax loophole they can find and use to pay the least amount of taxes to increase the profit of the company and give bonuses to CEOs. This in turn hurts hard-working employees who may live paycheck to paycheck.

This extra money could be spent towards rebuilding school buildings, access to computers and Wi-Fi for every student and more resources for government agencies to execute their jobs to the best of the city’s abilities.

For example, corporations like McDonald’s make millions a year while Starr King K-8 School, the school my mom works at, has not been updated for many years, however other public schools in the San Juan Unified School District have gotten multiple renovations over the past five years.

On the government side of the proposition, arguments for it say that Prop. 15 will help in the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 

“Prop. 15 gives local communities desperately needed resources so essential services and frontline workers can respond to current challenges and prepare for future crises,” Vote Yes on Prop. 15 said on an argument on the Official California Voter Guide

Obtaining sufficient supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) was a major problem at the beginning of the pandemic in the United States and will still persist if funding is cut or ended.

When a coronavirus vaccine becomes available, government agencies will be able to properly vaccinate and test their employees, which will hopefully spread to the rest of the general population.

Although Prop. 15 increases taxes on businesses, the impact it will have on school and government resources will be worth the trade-off, especially in these trying times.

To succeed, students need all of the resources and help they can get to achieve what they want. A nice new building can start building the foundation for a successful school life and eventually careers.

The more of a good education a person receives leads to a happy and prosperous life. The children of tomorrow are our future to solve world problems, such as climate change, and we need them to help shape our world for decades to come.