California voters chose to keep funding education and healthcare by passing Proposition 55, which extends a 2012 income tax on high income earners until 2030.

Single-filers earning more $263,000 and joint-filers earning more than $526,000 will continue to pay tax rates increased by 1-3 percent by Proposition 30. Tax rate increases only apply to the portion of income earned within that tax bracket.

Total state revenues from the tax are estimated to be $4-9 billion annually from 2019-2030.

About 89 percent of funds will go into California’s K-12 schools and the other 11 percent will go to community colleges. Schools are not permitted to use the money for administrative costs.

SWC could receive $12.6 million in Proposition 30 funds for the 2016-17 academic year, according to estimates by Tim Flood, Vice President of Business and Financial Affairs.a

“The one thing we know is that we’re not going to lose that $12 million in funds,” he said. “The biggest fear was that once Prop. 30 expired the state would take those funds away and then we would be struggling.”

Trustee Humberto Peraza said he was proud of voters for approving the extension.

“(Prop. 30) helped (SWC) so much,” he said. “Now renewing it is going to continue to emphasize education.”

When Prop. 30 passed in 2012, SWC had just gone through budget and class cuts due to the Great Recession. Prop. 30 helped the college recover from the cuts.

Chula Vista City Councilman-elect Steve Padilla said was happy that voters studied up on the ballot measures passed Prop. 55.

“It’s a little bit of a relief for me,” he said. “There’s always a chance you lose voters because they get confused (by a long ballot).”

Roberto Alcantar, newly elected to succeed Peraza, agreed that Prop. 55 is important.

“We need (Prop. 55),” he said. “It’s essential. We can’t go back to the cuts we’ve had in the past. We need to make sure that we keep our schools funded.”