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Saratoga voters pass school bond measures
By Rebecca Ray
Within the next year, Saratoga residents should expect to hear the pounding of hammers and the roaring of trucks, and should expect to smell the aroma of fresh paint.
Voters passed two bond measures on March 5 to fund construction and renovation projects at local elementary schools--the $19.9 million Measure L for the Saratoga Union School District and the $74.9 million Measure H for the Campbell Union School District.
Out of the 37 precincts in the SUSD, 63.4 percent (2,922 voters) of the electorate passed Measure L, to fund postponed projects at Redwood Middle School. The projects include the modernization of four wings, the renovation of bathrooms and locker rooms, the repair of plumbing and electrical wires, the upgrading of technology and the expansion of the student services building.
If California voters had not passed Proposition 39 in November of 2000, the measure would not have passed. Under Proposition 39, a school district can ask that 55 percent of voters, rather than a two-thirds majority of voters, approve a bond for replacement, repair or construction of facilities. However, if the bond passes, the district must issue annual performance and financial audits of bond proceeds. The district also cannot use the proceeds for salaries and operating expenses.
In 1997, voters passed the $40 million Measure D to finance SUSD construction and renovation projects. In addition to using Measure L money to finance projects at Redwood, the district plans to use it to repay an $8 million loan that is financing Measure D projects at Argonaut and Foothill Elementary Schools.
SUSD officials predict that residents will pay no more than $39 per $100,000 of assessed valuation on their homes each year from the two bonds combined. The district can require voters to pay a $39 tax rate until 2024, three years before Measure L ends in 2027. After 2024--which is also the last year that voters will pay for Measure D--the district can only require voters to pay up to a $30 tax rate each year.
SUSD Superintendent Mary Gardner said she was delighted by the victory. She added that she expected maybe 60 percent of the voters to pass Measure L and was surprised by the 63.4 percent approval.
In the Campbell Union School District, which includes Marshall Lane Elementary School in Saratoga, 7,739 of the voters (nearly 67 percent) in the district's 71 precincts voted for approval. The measure can be used to complete the repair, renovation, modernization and construction of elementary and middle schools; upgrade aged electrical systems, technology, bathrooms and plumbing; improve parking and traffic around schools; and improve accessibility for people with disabilities, according to the ballot language.
The district estimates that voters will pay no more than $29 per $100,000 of assessed valuation each year, says Marla Olszewski, district communications specialist.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
