Merc editorial board a clear "No" on Measure R

Image by Steve Ham

San Jose Unified's whopping demand for a $1.15 billion bond next Tuesday gets a big thumbs down from the SJ Mercury editorial board, as the paper cites the excessive size of the bond and serious questions about SJUSD's financial (mis)management. The Merc also criticizes deceptive ballot language regarding bond requests up and down this year's ballot. 

R – San Jose Unified School District ($1.15 billion)

Recommendation: No. The school board placed this exceptionally large bond measure on the ballot in a meeting held on 24 hours’ notice. The measure lacks spending prioritization. The $283 million for housing is excessive, calling into question whether a school district should enter the development business. Finally, the district, which was the subject of a scathing grand jury report, needs to get its house in order, including improving online meeting access, before being entrusted with another $1.15 billion. …

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Property tax increase {for Measure R}: $59 per $100,000 of assessed value annually. Combined with two prior voter-approved bond measures, the total tax bill for school bonds would peak in 2029 at $120 per $100,000 of assessed value. For a house with a district average assessed value of $723,870, that would total $869 annually. The tax would end in 2055. District property owners also currently pay a $72 annual parcel tax to supplement district operations.

What it {Measure R} buys: A district facilities assessment identified over $1.4 billion in needed repairs and improvements across every school site. The district also plans to spend bond money on faculty and staff housing, for which a separate report estimated costs of up to $283 million. With nearly $2 billion in needs, nearly double the bond amount, what’s missing is prioritization of spending. …

{On ballot language}

The first thing voters should know about local bond measures on their ballots is that they are also property tax increases.

Each measure authorizes a local city or school district to borrow funds by issuing bonds — and the measure contains a new property tax to pay off those loans. That tax usually lasts for at least 30 years.

Unfortunately, most of the elected officials sponsoring these measures don’t want you to know that. That’s why the ballot wording emphasizes the good stuff the money will buy and hides the tax component.

While state law requires the agencies to specify the amount of the property tax increase, it doesn’t require them to call it what it is. Each election season, we marvel at the tortured syntax most cities and school districts employ to try to avoid using the word tax. (One school district was a refreshing exception this year.)

For all voters facing local bond measures, we encourage you not to stop with the wording on the ballot. And don’t just read the first part of the information in the official voter guide from the elections office.

Read the whole thing here.

Related:

• “Far from being wise”: San Jose Unified board candidates disagree on Measure R

• Expert critiques SJUSD's endless taxpayer panhandling via Measure R

• Expert: Throwing more money at mismanaged school districts (like Measure R for SJUSD) won't solve anything—they'll just hire more administrators

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