The Pacific Grove Unified School District has some infrastructure projects to tick off its to-do list, but before they can greenlight the projects, they need a blessing from voters.
When school facilities need fixing, school districts turn to bond measures. In PGUSD’s case, that would be Measure D, a $30 million bond on the March 3 ballot. The bond would go toward everything from replacing rusted playground equipment and aging pipes to meeting ADA requirements, repainting and re-roofing buildings. PGUSD Superintendent Ralph Porras notes that some schools are more than 80 years old.
If approved, Measure D would raise $30 million at a rate of 3 cents per $100 of assessed property value (not the current market rate). It would replace an existing bond until 2039.
If California’s Prop. 13 bond passes, PGUSD will also be seeking matching funds from the state. “That’s the beauty of this bond,” Porras says. “This extension comes at an ideal time in that if the state bond initiative also passes, we will be eligible for matching funds that are not usually accessible for our school district.” That’s because PGUSD is funded primarily through property taxes rather than by the state, but for big infrastructure projects like these, property taxes aren’t adequate.
The Monterey County Elections Department sent out notifications to inform P.G. voters of an error in election handbooks; although the factual information was correct, the “yes” and “no” appeared the same. (A yes vote supports PGUSD issuing the bond.)
The measure needs 55 percent of the vote to pass. If it doesn’t pass on March 3, it is not guaranteed that all proposed projects will be completed.
(1) comment
I'm all for the Schools having what they need however I;m wondering what happened to the other source money such as the Ca Lottery, The State already pays 58%, Federal Gov. 9%, Fireworks sales ?, 32% from local sources, Parcel tax, ? according to ed source https://www.edsource.org California Schools have the highest number of overcrowded classrooms than anywhere in the nation. Now the taxpayers are asked to pay for that too. So my biggest problem with that is What do the taxpayers get in return? We don't have enough protection from crime, we don't have any quality of life anymore, Our lands are becoming trashed and polluted, our children suffer from the over crowded classrooms, Our homeless numbers are rising, our Dogs are being murdered, our streets are un repaired , We are exposed overexposed to criminal danger, contaminated with unknown germs and bacteria, and annoyed with constant unnecessary noise, and disrespected for expecting anything deserving. We give to charities , we share our space and time, we surrender a portion of our own public services so other can have some. We live in the Salad Bowl of America, yet to get good vegetables we pay a premium price.There is no place to park, Appointments Doctor, Auto Service, personal grooming, DMV, are booked up. The stores are under stocked so we mail order and hope we make it to the door before the Porch Bandits. So lets open the door and let more guests in . Before long the taxpayers wont be able to flip the bill because we will be out of money and resources. Then what?
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