This is proving to be a tough year to pass a parcel tax – unless you live in the Bay Area, where voters in even low-income districts are coming to accept a parcel tax as a necessary price in a low-funded state.

This week, voters in Los Angeles Unified and two other districts rejected parcel taxes by substantial margins, while in Silicon Valley, one community college district and four elementary and unified districts approved parcel taxes ranging from $34 to $160, according to School Services of California, which tracked the results. In addition, San Francisco Unified passed a $32 parcel tax for school building maintenance and earthquake safety measures, and Oak Grove, a small San Jose district, for the fifth time extended a $68 parcel tax permitted under the Gann Limit, a vestige of the Prop 13 era.

A parcel tax requires a two-thirds majority of voters for passage. There was hope this year that voters might get a chance to lower the threshold to 55 percent, the same as needed to pass school construction bonds. But the organizers of a possible initiative, Californians for Improved School Funding, failed to collect the 659,000 signatures by the late May deadline to put the proposition on this November’s ballot. (One organizer told me the organization collected a paltry 16,000 signatures.)  And Sen. Joe Simitian’s SCA 6, which also would put the 55 percent limit to a popular vote, continues to languish in the Senate for lack of any Republican support.

Even the 55 percent majority wouldn’t have bailed out Los Angeles Unified (53 percent in favor), Buena Park School District in Orange County (51 percent) and Cutler-Orosi Joint School District in Tulare County (47 percent). What really hurt the campaign for the $100 parcel tax of Measure E in Los Angeles was the turnout: a measly 16 percent. Even parents didn’t go to the polls.

Last month, a proposed $120 parcel tax in  Pasadena Unified mustered only 52 percent. A handful of Southern California districts have approved parcel taxes.

In Northern California, San Mateo Community College District appears to have made history as the first community college to pass a parcel tax – $34 for four years – though just barely, with 67.1 percent as of Thursday. The other four parcel taxes passed with at least 70 percent.

A sole, if imperfect, source of taxation

Parcel taxes are the one way that districts can raise taxes on their own, and the state can’t take it away. Voters can set the length of time and specify how the money will be used. At the same time, parcel taxes have been justly criticized for being regressive and furthering the wealth gap between rich and poor districts. Because of Proposition 13, the parcel tax must be a uniform amount, regardless of the value of the home or property, although some districts are experimenting with basing the tax on square footage. And wealthier districts are charging more: The average parcel tax is about $100; last month, Palo Alto raised its $496 parcel tax to $589, and Menlo Park upped its $565 annual tax to $743.

But in Alum Rock Union Elementary in East San Jose, where 83 percent of the children are eligible for free or reduced lunches, 74 percent voters approved a $160 parcel tax – a further indication that, at least in some parts of the state, voters will spend more for education if they’re confident the money will be spent wisely.

Go here for bonds and parcel taxes on the June 8 ballot, courtesy of School Services of California.