No New Taxes - I am the only candidate opposed to another bond
I want to briefly address the issue of a new bond that was raised last night as a question at the Chamber of Commerce debate.
I am the only candidate opposed to another facilities bond.
Our district cannot keep relying on a new bond to fix our ailing facilities when the last bond initiative did not come close to passing in our district. Instead, we need to look into realistic alternative sources of funding that will allow us to address some of the significant issues facing our school campuses today.
Our district is touting a “surplus” - but we do not have a budget for capital improvements. Why do we not have a capital improvements budget? I have yet to find an answer.
The only plan the district currently has to improve facilities is to pass another bond. Observation and experience shows that the demographics in our community do not support the passage of a new bond. Only 1/10 of voters have children in the school district. There is an extremely low likelihood of a new bond passing in this climate.
But the district has no backup plan. There is no contingency for funding facilities improvements absent a new bond. That is reckless and irresponsible.
Other districts, like Lafayette in Northern California, have accepted the reality of the unpopularity of new taxes and explored alternative funding mechanisms like corporate sponsorships and facilities endowments. They are moving forward with a facilities endowment, and working with their existing education foundation (like our PEF) to raise funds in a separate account for facilities improvements.
As Californians we are already overtaxed, and a significant portion of our property taxes are reallocated for lower-income districts outside of PVPUSD due to state law and policy. We need to fight to keep more of our taxes local, and work together to find creative alternative funding solutions. We cannot continue to rely on the passage of a bond to improve our facilities. And we have to stop calling it a “surplus” when we don’t have the money to fix our buildings.
