Voters approve local tax increases to help fund childcare in two places: NPR

Childcare was on the agenda in several cities and provinces across the country.

In Austin, Texas, where voters are weighing whether to raise property taxes, advocates noted that a year of child care costs more than a year of tuition at the University of Texas at Austin.

In Sonoma County, California, where a new sales tax was on the ballot, a year of childcare can cost more than a year at the University of California, Berkeley. And the demand is still high. A report found that the pandemic had so decimated the province’s childcare workforce that it was left with just over half of the childcare slots it once had.

Voters in both places approved the ballot measures, while a similar measure failed in St. Paul, Minnesota.

As government and business leaders grapple with what to do about the scarcity and unaffordability of child care, local jurisdictions have explored their own solutions. New Orleans, San Antonio, Escambia County, Florida, and Whatcom County, Washington, are among the places where voters passed similar ballot measures in recent elections.

The hope is that these initiatives will have a “trickle-down effect” at the local level, says Olivia Allen, co-founder of the Children’s Funding Project, which helps communities and states pursue specific public funding for children.

“Measures passed in your neighboring community could … create more demand in other parts of the state,” Allen said, pointing out Colorado voters approve a nicotine tax to fund universal pre-K, following actions by several Colorado communities.

Meanwhile, in a statement early Wednesday, the advocacy group Child Care Aware of Americaurged the new Trump administration and Congress to work on broader solutions.

“The American people – both before and during the election cycle – have strongly called for affordable, accessible, and high-quality child care solutions,” wrote Susan Gale Perry, the organization’s CEO.

Here’s an overview of how local measures have gone this year:

Approved: Voters in Austin, Texas opt for a property tax

Travis County, Texas, which includes most of Austin, has voters approved an increase in property tax of 2.5 cents for every $100 of property value to help increase access to child care, after-school care and summer programs for thousands of families.

The average homeowner in Travis County is expected to pay an additional $126 each year, generating $75 million annually. The money would create 1,900 additional child care spaces for infants and toddlers from low-income families, and 3,900 after-school and summer programming spaces for school-aged children.

Cathy McHorse, an early childhood counselor who organized the coalition behind the initiative, says it will be transformative for the community.

“It includes not only greater access to affordable child care for families without child care, but also longer hours for families working non-traditional hourly shifts,” she says.

The Travis County Commission, which voted unanimously to put the measure to a vote, emphasized the important role child care plays in driving economic growth and positive outcomes for children, including higher graduation rates and lower incarceration rates.

Approved: In Sonoma County it is a sales tax

Voters in Sonoma County, California, approved a quarter cent sales tax on every dollar spent, to generate $30 million reserved annually for children.

Under the measure, 60% will go toward increasing access to childcare and preschool for low-income families and also increasing wages for childcare workers. The remaining 40% will be spent on improving access to healthcare and mental health care for children.

“We are asking people to care for our children in their most formative years, when they themselves are living in poverty,” said Cynthia King, CEO of Sonoma Community Action Network. “That’s not healthy for anyone.”

The measure received support from business groups, a pediatrician and the local NAACP, among others. There was no formal resistance.

Rejected: St. Paul, Minnesota Says “No”

Meanwhile, voters in St. Paul, Minnesota are voting healthily rejected a plan to gradually increase property taxes to help pay for child care for about half of St. Paul’s children.

The city’s mayor, Melvin Carter, was strongly against it from the start. He warned that the ballot referendum would not raise enough money to achieve what it promised to do.

Carter went so far as to inform the City Council that he would not implement the plan even if voters approved it. He pointed to language on the ballot that authorizes — but does not require — the city of St. Paul to implement the plan.

Councilwoman Rebecca Noecker, who pushed the proposal, acknowledged on Facebook that the program would not fully meet the city’s needs.

“But the fact that we can’t help everyone has never stopped us from helping those we can.” she wrote. “Every year we do nothing, more children fall behind and families struggle.”