After the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, California cities with low or no property tax rates were left unable to raise their rates. In Santa Clara County, the cities of from Los Altos Hills, Cupertino, Saratoga and Monte Sereno were affected. A tax equity allocation (TEA) formula was enacted by the Legislature to redirect some tax funds from the County to those cities. However, a 1989 agreement between those cities and the County limited TEA payments to 55%. Supervisors Jim Beall and Liz Kniss brought a proposal to the Board of Supervisors to fully fund those payments to the cities in exchange for the cities annexing urban pockets and taking over other services provided by the County.