One of the bigger money questions on California's Nov. 3 ballot doesn't change anyone's tax bill today. Proposition 3 asks voters whether the extra income tax paid by the state's highest earners should become permanent instead of ending after 2030.

Where the tax came from

Voters first approved the higher rates in 2012 with Proposition 30, as a temporary fix for school budgets after the recession. In 2016 they extended them with Proposition 55. According to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office, the top 2% of California taxpayers pay these rates, and those taxpayers already pay about half of all state income taxes.

Who would pay

The Secretary of State's voter guide says the measure covers individuals earning over $371,000 a year, a threshold that rises with inflation. A Claremont McKenna College backgrounder puts the line for married couples at about $743,000. People below those levels wouldn't be affected, and the measure doesn't change the existing rates or brackets.

How much money

The LAO estimates the measure keeps $5 billion to $15 billion a year flowing to the state, with the amount swinging with the stock market, since high earners' income rises and falls with it. Roughly 40% would go to schools and community colleges, and the rest to other state programs, with part set aside in reserves. The Claremont McKenna analysis says the education share would be split 89% to K-12 districts and charter schools and 11% to community colleges, and that none of it could go to administrator salaries.

The fight

Supporters, including the California Teachers Association and the California State PTA, argue that letting the rates lapse would hand a big tax cut to the wealthiest residents and lead to layoffs and program cuts, KALW reported. Opponents, including the California Taxpayers Association and the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce, say Californians already face the country's highest income taxes and that making the rates permanent could push wealthy residents, and their jobs and revenue, to lower-tax states.

What your vote means

A yes vote keeps the higher rates in place permanently. A no vote lets them expire in 2031, as currently scheduled.