Voters to decide on a local ballot measure to repair schools
EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. – Much of the election talk this season in South Lake Tahoe has surrounded Measure N, the controversial vacancy tax measure, but there is another measure on the ballot that some are hoping everyone can agree on. That measure is Measure U, the Lake Tahoe Unified School District Classroom Repair Measure.
“I think everybody agrees that this is really important,” Jude Wood says, Executive Director of Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe and parent of an LTUSD student. “Our kids are our future. We want them to have the best possible outcomes they can.”
If passed, Measure U would authorize the Lake Tahoe Unified School District to issue and sell bonds up to $127 million, providing funding for school facilities projects.
The three roofs collapsing two winters ago is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to much needed repairs across the aging district. A majority of classrooms, science labs and school facilities were built over 50 years ago and the most recent significant upgrades occurred nearly 20 years ago.
Wood recalls utilizing a trash can during rainstorms to catch a leak at Al Tahoe. “It’s just a fact that things built in the fifties and sixties are not going to stand the test of time in the 2020’s.”
Other challenges are outdated electrical and plumbing systems as well as aging HVAC, leaving rooms either too hot or too cold. Crumbling asphalt, damaged siding, and inefficient lighting and windows are also on the lengthy project list.
That’s despite maintenance teams’ unwavering efforts. “It’s not because they weren’t maintained. It’s because they’re old,” LTUSD Superintendent, Todd Cutler explains, “It’s because we live in a mountain town in the snow.”
He says all these factors have rendered the facilities in need of more attention than their current budget can match.
The measure’s project list also incorporates modernizing outdated classrooms as Wood explains much has changed in education in those years with a majority of students learning best through hands-on experimentation. “I think we all recognize now that the good old, sit in your desk, be quiet, learn by rote, does not work anymore and yet we don’t have facilities to support new styles of learning and different ways of learning as well.”
She says better learning environments can lead to better educational outcomes. “Despite great kids and despite amazing teachers, we’re not achieving the academic success we could if we actually had really good learning environments.”
The measure would result in a tax levied upon taxable property in the district in order to pay the bonds back by around 2062. The best estimate of the average annual tax rate property owners could expect is $32.70 per $100,000 of assessed value. The best estimate for the highest rate is $35.00 for every $100,000 of assessed value.
Superintendent Todd Cutler explains the $127 million dollar figure comes from the $35 per $100,000 value figure. “Understand we could go up as high as $60 per $100,000.” However, he explains, the board wanted to stay in the lower figure all while finding something that came close to the school district’s approximately $130 million Facilities Master Plan.
According to the measure’s tax rate statement, voters should note those rates are based on the assessed value of taxable property on El Dorado County’s official tax rolls, not on the property’s market value.
The bond includes strict fiscal accountability protections with an independent citizens’ oversight committee, mandatory annual audits, and public disclosures, which would ensure all funds are used for voter-approved projects only. The funds would be controlled locally and not taken away by the state. The district would not be able to use funds on administrators’ salaries or pensions.
If this measure passes, it would add to two other LTUSD bonds the community is currently paying off, which is a bond from 1999 and 2008. Bonds are typically on 30 year repayment plans. He highlights the district refinanced those bonds in 2020 with no time extension to capitalize on lower interest rates in order to save taxpayer dollars. While those pay off dates are approaching within the next 15 years, Cutler says, “You can’t wait until they’re all paid off to keep school in good repair.”
He explains the 2008 bond was used to build new schools, not necessarily repair old ones like this bond.
In speaking with the school’s financial advisor, Cutler says it’s typical for schools to pursue bonds every 12-16 years to keep them in good repair.
According to the measure’s text, the state currently does not provide dedicated funding for school facility improvements and upgrades, so it must be funded locally. However, this coming election, the state of California has a ballot measure for a $10 billion dollar bond to assist with renovating and modernizing school facilities.
Cutler says if LTUSD wants to see any of that assistance from the state, it’s important LTUSD pass their own bond since those state bonds are only accessible when a school district has their own matching funds.
If passed, schools could start seeing some improvements take place as soon as next summer, with major projects starting the spring or summer thereafter. Highest priority projects are outlined within the master plan.
“What we really, really want” Jude says, “is for them to go to school and get that boost in self-esteem and to know that they are worthy, that their community cares about them and that they are important.”
In order for the measure to pass, 55% of registered voters must vote yes.
The full text of the measure is available on the El Dorado County’s Voter Information Pamphlet.
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