Show up at a polling place in Santa Barbara County on Nov. 8, and you’ll be slapped with myriad choices to make: Should recreational marijuana be legal? What about large-capacity ammunition magazines? No more death penalty, or a quicker path to one?
You’ll also decide on issues that haven’t popped up in your Facebook feed lately but could impact you and your neighbors—school bond measures, for instance. At each general election, school districts can seek approval from local voters to issue bonds to fund campus improvements.
This year’s ballot will include bond measures from six school districts in Santa Barbara County: Orcutt Union, Santa Maria Joint Union, Santa Ynez Valley, Lompoc Unified, Guadalupe Union, and Santa Barbara Unified.
Michael Latner, associate professor of political science at Cal Poly, told the Sun that education-related initiatives tend not to draw as much attention from news outlets as popular social issues do, which makes it difficult for voters to make informed choices.
Jessica Scarffe, associate professor of political science at Allan Hancock College, agreed. She said voters are likely to learn the most about “hot-button” issues such as gun control, marijuana legalization, and the death penalty.
“They’re already controversial topics, but the media will talk far more about them than about some esoteric requirements like school bonds,” Scarffe said.
As a result, people tend not to contemplate the school bond measures or their consequences and instead vote based on their financial situations (since more public school funding usually means more taxes), Latner said.
Don’t want to be one of those voters? You’re in luck: The Sun has compiled summaries of each district bond measure and the estimated tax-rate levies that would accompany them. Unless otherwise stated, the measures would require 55 percent voter approval to pass.
Lompoc Unified School District (LUSD)
This measure would authorize LUSD to issue and sell bonds of up to $65 million to finance school facilities projects. They would improve electrical and ventilation systems as well as roofs, playgrounds, play structures, and athletic facilities. The funding would also help to replace portable classrooms and construct new learning facilities. It would contribute to updating school grounds, improving student access to modern technology, and beefing up campus security.
The measure would require approval from at least two-thirds of voters. The highest levied tax rate is estimated to be 6 cents per $100 of the assessed valuation, with the total debt service that would be required to be repaid if all bonds are issued and sold estimated at about $162 million.
Orcutt Union School District (OUSD)
Measure G2016 would allow OUSD to issue $60 million in bonds with annual audits and no funds spent on administrators’ salaries. The funding would update and repair deteriorated roofs, plumbing, and electrical systems in elementary and secondary schools in Orcutt and Los Alamos. It would also improve security and disabled access and help renovate and construct new facilities, including classrooms.
The best estimate of the highest tax rate which would be levied to fund these bonds is 3 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, and the total debt service is estimated at $140 million.
Santa Maria Joint Union High School District (SMJUHSD)
This measure, known as H2016, would allow SMJUHSD to issue and sell bonds of up to $114 million to fund school facilities projects. The projects are similar to those proposed by LUSD, and include the construction and expansion of vocational classrooms, including an agricultural farm.
The funds would also help retrofit classrooms with energy efficient air conditioning and heating systems, which would resolve an issue SMJUHSD has run into several times in recent years: extreme heat. On Sept. 27, for example, the district implemented a minimum day because non-air conditioned classrooms at Ernest Righetti and Santa Maria high schools couldn’t accommodate the 101-degree weather outside.
Former District Superintendent Jeff Hearn told the Sun that without proper air conditioning or ventilation, it’s “virtually impossible to have anything effective going on in the classroom” during extremely hot days. A new air conditioning system would address that, he said.
The highest levied tax rate required is estimated at 3 cents per $100, and the total debt service at $193 million.
Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD)
SBUSD has two bond proposals for your voting pleasure. Bond measure J2016 would permit the district to issue and sell up to $58 million in bonds to repair elementary schools and support students.
The money would help upgrade deteriorating classrooms, libraries, restrooms, plumbing, roofs, and portable classrooms. It would contribute to the removal of asbestos and lead paint, and help update classroom technology and science labs and construct classrooms and campus facilities.
The best estimate of the highest levied tax, which would be required, is 13.15 cents per
$100 of the assessed valuation, with the total debt service estimated at about $108 million.
Measure I2016 would allow SBUSD to issue $135 million in bonds to provide the same services to its middle and high schools. The highest tax rate estimate is 1.149 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, with the total debt service at $253 million.
Santa Ynez Valley Union High School District (SYVUHSD)
SYVUHSD’s measure K2016 would provide funds for the renovation, modernization, and repair of Santa Ynez Valley Union High School, including facility improvements similar to those specified in the other districts’ bonds. It would authorize the sale of up to $14.7 million in bonds by the district to complete those facility improvement projects.
The highest levied tax rate is estimated at 1.525 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, and the total debt service at $18 million.
Guadalupe Union School District (GUSD)
Last but not least are GUSD’s measures. Measures N2016 and M2016 vie for authorization to issue $5.65 million and $5.8 million in bonds, respectively. The bond projects are again similar to the facility and technology improvements the other districts seek.
The estimated levied tax rate for N2016 is 29.7 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, with the total debt service being $12 million. For M2016, it’s 30 cents per $100 of assessed valuation, and total debt service is estimated at $12.5 million.
Get the full text of each bond and the tax statements online at www.sbcvote.com/elections/upcomingelections.aspx.
Staff Writer Brenna Swanston can be reached at bswanston@santamariasun.com.
Corrections: In the original version, the Sun inaccurately reported that Santa Maria Joint Union High School’s bond measure H2016 is for $179 million. It is for $114 million. The article also omitted Guadalupe Union School District’s bond measure M2016, which would authorize $5.8 million in bonds to modernize and renovate the district’s two campuses.
This article appears in Oct 6-13, 2016.
