Beverly Hills : Tax Vote Recount Sought

Supporters of a school tax measure in Beverly Hills are requesting a recount after final results show that the proposed tax fell five votes short of passage.

Bernard Nebenzahl, a leader of the campaign for the parcel tax, said he planned to officially ask county election officials today for a recount of the ballots cast on the measure in the June 5 election.

Results, certified on Tuesday by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, showed that the parcel tax which would have benefited the Beverly Hills Unified School District captured 6,817 votes, or 66.61%. Votes against the proposed tax numbered 3,416, or 33.38%.

The tax needed two-thirds of the votes, or 6,822, to pass. The assessment on each residential and commercial parcel of land in the city would have raised $4.5 million a year for the schools.

The recount must start no more than seven days after a request is filed. County elections officials declined to say how long a recount would take, but Nebenzahl said he hoped it would be completed within two or three days.

“We said we would leave no legal remedy unturned, and we’re in step one,” Nebenzahl said Wednesday. “We’re hopeful because of the closeness of the count that we’ll find the necessary votes to turn it around.”

The school board, meanwhile, on Tuesday approved a tentative budget of $28.37 million for the 1990-91 school year, working on the assumption that the tax failed. The budget is smaller than this year’s budget of $28.73 million.

“It’s a very tentative budget--more tentative than usual” because of the recount, said district spokeswoman Hali Wickner. Under state law, school districts must approve a tentative budget by July 1 but have until Sept. 15 to adopt a final budget.