David R. Doerr,
principal contributor Vol. XV, No. 9 It was a strike-it-rich jackpot on
March 5 Election Day for 64 K-12 and community college districts as voters
rallied behind nearly $6 billion in bonds for classroom construction and other
campus improvements. It was without a doubt a record one-day haul for school
districts at ballot boxes in California. Millions of dollars will be added to
property tax bills as a direct result of the school bond frenzy, aided mightily
by the law that makes it far easier to pass a local school bond. In fact, 39 of
the 64 would not have passed muster under the two-thirds vote requirement
existing before Proposition 39 of November 2000. Eighty-four percent of the 76 bond
measures were approved. Even with the advantage of a 55
percent approval threshold, the outcomes were somewhat surprising because of
extremely low voter turnouts statewide. A normal primary election turnout
probably would have lifted a few of the 12 unsuccessful measures. They totaled
$753.6 million. The failed measures included four of
the five that required two-thirds voter approval because they exceeded the limit
of allowable property tax increases authorized by Proposition 39 for the 55
percent vote requirement. This requirement appears to discriminate against
smaller and poorer districts. Three bond measures received less than
50 percent support of voters, including Monterey Peninsula Unified’s $158
million proposal that drew opposition from the Monterey County Herald.
It is rare for a newspaper to editorialize against a local school bond.
The Herald reported (March 7)
that the man who stopped the school bond was Rick Heuer, who spoke for the
Committee Against the Out of Control School Bond! Mr. Heuer, co-founder of
Hospitality Marketing Associates, proved the bond measure was bloated with
unnecessary work, such as tree pruning as part of a King Middle School
modernization project. He has pledged to help the school board prepare a
no-frills bond proposal that would succeed at the polls, but the Herald
said some pro-bond activists see him as a hired gun for the Monterey hospitality
industry. Meanwhile, Governor Gray Davis has
proposed that statewide voters in November consider a K-12 and higher-education
construction bond measure amounting to $10 billion as part of a six-year, $30
billion statewide school bond agenda. Those districts that made good-faith
efforts to pass their own bonds but were stymied at the polls are likely to be
rescued by the state. As in the past, the statewide bond will include money for
districts considered hardship cases. Also on ballots were five parcel taxes
to raise money for schools. Three appeared to succeed, including the $550 parcel
tax in the Kentwood District of Marin County. Pending the counting of absentee
ballots, it apparently squeezed by with 66.98 percent of the vote (needing 66.67
percent). A $385 tax was defeated in Orinda (Contra Costa County), getting 63.6
percent of the vote. Cabrillo Unified School District in San Mateo wanted $75
per parcel, but not enough voters (61.7 percent) concurred. Two Santa Cruz
parcel taxes – $70 for elementary schools and $28 for high schools – were
approved with 71.8 percent and 68 percent votes, respectively. Bill Hauck, president of the
California Business Roundtable and an architect of Proposition 39, told the
Sacramento Bee (March 7) that “the impact of Prop. 39 is already being felt
– it’s become a stimulant to school construction that we desperately need.” During 2001, school districts sought
approval of 51 bond measures in seven regularly scheduled or special elections,
according to the Sacramento Bee. EdSource reports that 40 bond
measures totaling $2.38 billion were successful, including 23 of 24 measures
that required only 55 percent approval because of Proposition 39. Bond measures
on special elections still required two-thirds approval. Prior to Proposition
39, the success rate was somewhat better than 50 percent statewide. From 1986
through November 2001, there were 883 bond measures proposed under the
two-thirds vote requirement and 493 succeeded, according to EdSource. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers
Association, which opposed Proposition 39, predicted the increase in bond
elections and, said its president, Jon Coupal, it is a “very disturbing trend.”
Mr. Coupal told The Bee there will be a “backlash” when the public
connects property tax increases with “bad” bond decisions by their school
districts. He said some districts, confident that they can pass 55 percent
bonds, sought financing for such things as an equestrian center and a food and
wine-tasting center. A rundown of the March 5 K-14 bond
measures follows: (Editor’s note: All bond
measures listed below are “Proposition 39 bonds” requiring only a 55% vote to
pass, except for those indicated in blue or by
an asterisk which required a two-thirds vote. At least one measure listed below
as failed – Linden Unified in San Joaquin County – may not be decided until
absentee ballots are counted.)
COUNTY
DISTRICT
AMOUNT
PASS/FAILEDPERCENT VOTE
ALAMEDA
CASTRO VALLEY UNIFIED
$16,800,000
PASS 69.1%
ALAMEDA
FREMONT UNIFIED
$157,200,000
PASS 63.4
ALAMEDA
FREMONT-NEWARK COMMUNITY COLLEGE
$150,000,000
PASS 56.0
BUTTE
BUTTE-GLENN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
$84,900,000
PASS 66.4
COLUSA/YOLO
PIERCE JOINT UNIFIED
$6,000,000
PASS 57.2
CONTRA COSTA
BYRON UNION ELEMENTARY
$10,000,000
FAIL 51.7
CONTRA COSTA
CONTRA COSTA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
$120,000,000
PASS 64.6
CONTRA COSTA
JOHN SWETT UNIFIED
$10,000,000
PASS 66.7
CONTRA COSTA MT.
DIABLO UNIFIED
$250,000,000
PASS 65.4
CONTRA COSTA
WEST CONTRA COSTA UNIFIED
$300,000,000
PASS 71.6
FRESNO
KINGS CANYON JOINT UNIFIED
$18,000,000
PASS 66.6
HUMBOLDT
EUREKA CITY UNIFIED
$32,515,000
PASS 62.1
HUMBOLDT
EUREKA CITY UNIFIED
$10,585,000
PASS 64.1
KERN
MOJAVE
UNIFIED *
$16,000,000
PASS 68.5
KERN
GREENFIELD UNION
$5,000,000
PASS 65.6 LOS
ANGELES
ANTELOPE VALLEY UNION HIGH
$103,600,000
PASS 57.3 LOS
ANGELES
AZUSA UNIFIED
$73,700,000
PASS 74.8 LOS
ANGELES
BEVERLY HILLS UNIFIED
$90,000,000
PASS 77.9 LOS
ANGELES
GLENDALE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
$98,000,000
PASS 57.9 LOS
ANGELES
LONG BEACH COMMUNITY COLLEGE
$176,000,000
PASS 64.9 LOS
ANGELES
PASADENA AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
$150,000,000
PASS 69.7 LOS
ANGELES
POMONA UNIFIED
$68,000,000
PASS 62.6 LOS
ANGELES SAN
GABRIEL UNIFIED
$47,150,000
PASS 69.24 LOS
ANGELES
SANTA MONICA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
$160,000,000
PASS 69.0
MONTEREY
MONTEREY PENINSULA UNIFIED
$158,000,000
FAIL 43.4
MONTEREY
SALINAS UNION HIGH
$52,000,000
PASS 59.9
NEVADA
NEVADA JOINT UNION HIGH
$15,000,000
PASS 61.3
ORANGE
ANAHEIM ELEMENTARY
$111,000,000
PASS 63.2
ORANGE
ANAHEIM UNION HIGH
$132,000,000
PASS 62.1
ORANGE
FULLERTON ELEMENTARY
$49,700,000
PASS 61.3
ORANGE
FULLERTON JOINT UNION HIGH
$67,940,000
PASS 59.8
ORANGE
HUNTINGTON BEACH CITY ELEMENTARY
$30,000,000
PASS 60.3
ORANGE
NORTH ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
$239,000,000
PASS 57.4
ORANGE
PLACENTIA-YORBA LINDA UNIFIED
$102,000,000
PASS 65.7
PLACER
PENRYN
ELEMENTARY *
$3,000,000
FAIL 41.6
PLACER
ROCKLIN
UNIFIED *
$52,000,000
FAIL
66.3
PLACER
ROSEVILLE JOINT UNION HIGH
$79,500,000
FAIL 51.2
RIVERSIDE
HEMET UNIFIED
$60,000,000
PASS 62.8
SACRAMENTO
FOLSOM-CORDOVA UNIFIED
$53,000,000
PASS 72.7
SACRAMENTO
FOLSOM-CORDOVA UNIFIED
$49,000,000
PASS 68.7
SACRAMENTO
GRANT JOINT UNION HIGH
$74,000,000
PASS 57.0
SACRAMENTO LOS
RIOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE
$265,000,000
PASS 60.5 SAN
BENITO
AROMAS/SAN JUAN UNIFIED
$11,200,000
PASS 65.1 SAN
BERNARDINO
CHAFFEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
$230,000,000
PASS 57.9 SAN
BERNARDINO
CHINO VALLEY UNIFIED
$150,000,000
PASS 61.5 SAN
DIEGO
ESCONDIDO UNION ELEMENTARY
$46,300,000
PASS 58.1 SAN
DIEGO
FALLBROOK UNION ELEMENTARY
$32,000,000
FAIL 53.6 SAN
DIEGO LA
MESA-SPRING VALLEY
$44,000,000
PASS 69.5 SAN
DIEGO
RAMONA CITY UNIFIED
$25,000,000
FAIL 49.6 SAN
DIEGO
VISTA UNIFIED
$139,800,000
PASS 66.9 SAN
JOAQUIN
LINDEN UNIFIED
$11,500,000
FAIL 54.2 SAN
JOAQUIN
LODI UNIFIED
$109,300,000
PASS 57.1 SAN
JOAQUIN
RIPON UNIFIED
$10,000,000
PASS 58.4 SAN
LUIS OBISPO
COAST UNIFIED
$12,700,000
PASS 71.6 SAN
MATEO
REDWOOD CITY ELEMENTARY
$22,000,000
PASS 64.4
SANTA CLARA
CAMPBELL UNION ELEMENTARY
$74,900,000
PASS 66.9
SANTA CLARA
EAST SIDE UNION HIGH
$298,000,000
PASS 69.8
SANTA CLARA
GILROY UNIFIED
$69,000,000
FAIL 53.2
SANTA CLARA
LOMA PRIETA JOINT UNION ELEMENTARY
$4,965,000
PASS 68.4
SANTA CLARA
MORELAND ELEMENTARY
$35,000,000
PASS 72.3
SANTA CLARA SAN
JOSE UNIFIED
$429,000,000
PASS 69.6
SANTA CLARA
SARATOGA UNION ELEMENTARY
$19,900,000
PASS 63.4
SANTA CLARA
WEST VALLEY-MISSION COMMUNITY COLLEGE
$268,653,300
FAIL 50.8
SANTA CRUZ
SCOTTS
VALLEY UNIFIED *
$44,200,000
FAIL 64.2
SANTA CRUZ
SOQUEL ELEMENTARY
$15,000,000
PASS 71.3
SHASTA
GATEWAY UNIFIED
$22,000,000
PASS 61.6
SHASTA
SHASTA-TEHAMA-TRINITY JOINT COMMUNITY
$34,000,000
PASS 58.8
SOLANO
FAIRFIELD-SUISUN UNIFIED
$100,000,000
PASS 59.7
SONOMA
SANTA ROSA ELEMENTARY
$19,000,000
PASS 70.0
SONOMA
SANTA ROSA HIGH
$77,000,000
PASS 65.8
SONOMA
SONOMA COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
$251,700,000
PASS 67.2
STANISLAUS
PARADISE
ELEMENTARY*
$660,000
FAIL
61.9
TEHAMA
CORNING UNION ELEMENTARY
$2,700,000
PASS 57.3
TULARE
LINDSAY UNIFIED
$7,200,000
PASS 68.7
VENTURA
MOORPARK UNIFIED
$33,000,000
PASS 69.5
VENTURA
VENTURA COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
$356,000,000
PASS 65.7
GRAND TOTAL
$6.75 BILLION
PASSED $5.9 BILLION
FAILED
$753.6 MILLION
Ronald W. Roach, editor
March 8, 2002VOTERS GIVE SCHOOLS
RECORD $6 BILLION IN LOCAL BONDS