In ten counties, school district residents and staff bear the burden of a very high cost of living --  through high housing prices and high property taxes. Property taxes that fund schools are the natural equalizer to neutralize these impacts and "right-size" revenue to so that districts can offer salaries that reflect the cost of living in any given area.  In four Bay Area counties, there is more tax collected for education than is required by LCFF. As a result, those extra tax dollars are not making it into the school coffers, which could mitigate the high cost of living by allowing a local living wage to staff.  Instead, these property tax dollars are being deemed "excess Educational Funding" and going into City and County coffers instead.