$75 Million Bond for San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District
We non-partisan citizens believe the cost of approving Bond Measure S — costing $150 Million to fund $75 Million in bonds over the next 35 years — is too high, imposing an excessive financial burden on all District households including lower and fixed income homeowners and may impact rents of tenants longer term.
SLVUSD could have reduced the cost of this bond measure to make it more acceptable to the voters, but instead chose a very high dollar amount for the bond measure without extensive public engagement. Why?
MEASURE S text contains a very wide open-ended Project List. Costs for facility improvements, repairs and renovations are not itemized; not prioritized; nor guaranteed to be completed; are not limited to the projects on the list; and can be changed at any time. How can local voters make an informed decision?
Bond Measure S was submitted for online public review about a week before the argument and rebuttal submission deadline. This was an unduly short period of time allowed for ordinary residents like us to respond to the ballot measure. We local non-partisan citizens are alarmed by a surprisingly high amount of $75 Million of this current bond added and compared to existing SLVUSD Bonds (2000 Measure S for $18.5 Million or 2008 Measure O for $18.9 Million) and its lengthy 35-year commitment.
SLVUSD should focus on its current challenges of declining annual student enrollment (since 2013) and concentrate on operating within their $27 million annual budget to repair, renovate and maintain its buildings. Taking on $150 million – 35 year new bond debt obligation, when the two existing SLVUSD bonds have not been paid, makes no sense.
Non-Partisan Citizens Against Measure S
