By Kate Day
 Measure C on the June 6 ballot would raise local taxes for a $490.8 billion bond to fund maintenance and renovations to the community colleges. |
The Foothill-De Anza Community College District board has put Measure C, a $490.8 million bond, before voters on June 6. If Measure C is approved, district voters are expected to see an average $117 increase in their annual property tax bills.
Opponents of the bond measure argue that such a vast amount of taxpayers’ money is unwarranted, while proponents claim the bond is needed to fund vital construction work and technological modernization.
The district proposes to allocate 41 percent of the bond money for renovation and maintenance, 37 percent for construction projects, including a new science building at Foothill College, 20 percent for equipment and 1 percent for debt reduction.
“It’s a big number because it’s a long-term plan,” said Foothill Trustee Laura Casas-Frier. “A half a billion sounds monumental, but the Palo Alto Unified School District renovation was almost half a billion and so is the El Camino Hospital renovation.”
The district worked with Morgan Stanley to calculate the measure’s financial projections, based on a 4 percent annual assessed-value growth rate districtwide. The district predicts an annual cost of $24 per $100,000 of assessed value for area homeowners. Residents who purchased their homes recently, incurring a higher assessed value, can expect to pay more.
“The colleges are tremendously valuable for the community, not just for transferring students but because of our vocational training courses as well,” said Betsy Bechtel, president of the district board. “The campuses were built 40 to 50 years ago. They need updating and there are safety issues. Imagine trying to teach in a classroom with only one electrical outlet.”
The college received $248 million in bond money six years ago when voters approved Measure E by 72 percent, slightly more than the two-thirds required.
The current proposal would only need 55 percent approval under Proposition 39, passed in 2001, which lowered the approval threshold for certain bond measures and enabled the funding of equipment as well as construction by these bonds.
Mountain View resident Gary Wesley said Measure C fails to comply with Proposition 39 because it does not detail where the money will go. “This is a blank check with regard to projects to be funded,” he said. “There will be a lawsuit, even if I have to do it myself.”
Wesley said it was unreasonable of the board to request more bond money so soon after Measure E. “I challenge them to tell us what they did with the last lot of money,” he said. “They want to sell bonds later, but if interest rates rise, then the property assessments will be inaccurate. The total cost could soar.”
However, Mike Brandy, district vice chancellor of business services, said, “The text of Measure C refers to the district’s renovation master plan, which lists almost every classroom, gives projected construction plans, estimates costs. It’s about an inch thick and very, very detailed.
Brandy said that without the bond money, “We will have to scramble to do things. It’s not a pretty picture.”
California community colleges rank 46th out of the 50 states in funding. If the Foothill-De Anza district received funding in line with the average state, the budget would increase in the
region of $50 million, Brandy said.
He added that it was difficult to fund equipment and renovation out of the general fund because 86 percent of that money goes to salaries. If that figure were cut, the college would have fewer staff and programs, thereby attracting fewer students, which in turn would reduce the general fund the next year, as it is calculated on a per-student basis, he said.
