Tourism is the answer to all of our budget woes!
Even if the economy tanks, tourists will still be here—oh wait, probably not.
But still, they should be paying for our needs! At least according to voters in the Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Barbara County, who voted to increase bed taxes in Solvang, Buellton, and the county by 2 percent.
That puts the wee little Central Coast on par with Los Angeles and Oakland! Wow: 14 percent. I wonder what that’s going to look like in four or eight more years? Will it hit 20 percent some day? Probably. Tourists can shoulder it! Right?
Right. Santa Ynez was eager to charge visitors, but not eager to improve local educational facilities if it meant paying a little more in property taxes. Interesting!
The College School District—the little elementary school district that could—asked voters to approve an $18 million bond, the smallest bond on the ballot. It was the least the district could ask for, according to College Superintendent Maurene Donner.
The school district is still using World War II era portables, it said. Those are buildings with a 20- to 30-year shelf life, not an 80-year one. The measure fell short by 3 percent out of 3,754 votes.
If 113 of you voted in favor of the transient occupancy tax on your ballot but no on the district’s ballot measure, shame on you!
“Our public schools are a treasure of the valley. It takes an entire community to make them whole,” Donner said. “[Our] community will need to take a hard look at the importance of how education fuels a thriving Santa Ynez Valley.”
Seems like people think it’s tourism that fuels a thriving valley.
In Santa Maria, voters seem to think the elementary and junior high schools are worth more than the high schools.
About 62 percent of Santa Maria-Bonita School District voters opted to let the school district take out $77 million in bonds to upgrade its schools. Santa Maria Joint Union High School District voters decided against a $194 million bond measure that would have built a new high school. It fell short by 3 percent.
Was it the dollar amount? Or is it faith in the district itself?
The high school district has faced a lot of drama in the recent past, with teachers upset with the district administrators and one principal in danger of losing her job forever thanks to what could amount to a beef between her and the superintendent.
Maybe it’s time for the high school district to get its house in order.
Just like Guadalupe’s doing. You know what they say: It’s never too late!
That’s Guadalupe’s motto. Most recently, city staff asked the City Council to approve an agreement with Caltrans over making some sidewalks ADA compliant the day before it needed to happen!
“We want to get this done as soon as possible,” City Attorney Philip Sinco told the City Council on Nov. 26.
To get compensation from Caltrans, the city needed to get the approval to the state agency by Nov. 27.
“If we were to approve tonight, then we’ll overnight it, so we won’t miss the payments,” City Administrator Todd Bodem said.
It’s never too late, unless it’s too late.
The Canary is always late. Send comments to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 5-15, 2024.
Santa Maria should consolidate its three school districts. Most cities of its size, with Orcutt included, have only one district. Currently, taxpayers shell out $850,00 per year for three separate school superintendent salaries (with other benefits, this number soars over $1 million), and that doesn’t include the several million to maintain three different district offices and facilities as well as duplicate personnel. This is an antiquated setup that arose back in the day when Santa Maria was smaller and Orcutt and SM were actually far apart—today it’s essentially one urban area. Time for change.