Breaking Down Measure Q in Monterey County

SALINAS, Calif. (KION-TV): Early voting has started in California but there is one measure that stands out to voters.

Measure Q is a bill that will decide how child care services will be impacted in the years to come.

This act will add a tax worth 49 dollars on each parcel of real property in Monterey County, besides those with exemptions for 10 years.

Now those who advocate for the measure say that this extra tax will be used to help childcare facilities like hiring extra employees, upgrading and creating new ones.

Those that oppose this measure point out that the taxes collected would be overseen by the county which begs the question of how the funds will be distributed.

The taxes that are collected will be put into a special fund called “The Monterey County Caring for Children Fund”. 

The funds in this would be exclusively used for the use of child care businesses only.

The First 5 Monterey County and the creation of a Citizens Oversight Committee would ensure these funds are being used for this specific use only.

Some things to note from those that oppose this bill as well.

The bill doesn’t specifically state how many families will benefit from this and if it’ll make childcare better and cheaper.

Also the measure doesn’t state if there will be an annual household income cutoff that may not allow some families to be approved for childcare.