League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	San Diego County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
	Proposition S School Repair and Safety Measure San Diego Unified School District 55% Approval Required Pass: 261672 / 68.71% Yes votes ...... 119136 / 31.29% No votes See Also: Index of all Propositions

Arguments For Proposition S

Arguments Against Proposition S

PROP. S MAKES URGENTLY NEEDED REPAIRS TO OUR NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS. Most San Diego schools are 40+ years old. Prop. S repairs leaky roofs, frayed electrical wiring, leaky pipes and plumbing. Prop. S fixes school bathrooms, dangerous heating and electrical systems, broken steps, and cracked sidewalks. Prop. S replaces deteriorating portable classrooms. PROP. S IMPROVES SAFETY FOR 130,000 SCHOOL CHILDREN AND 8,000 CLASSROOM TEACHERS. Prop. S removes hazardous asbestos and mold, upgrades fire alarms/safety doors, fixes unsafe school drop-off and pick-up zones, makes schools disabled-accessible, improves air quality, energy efficiency and installs security systems to protect our children. PROP. S PREPARES OUR CHILDREN FOR 21st CENTURY JOBS. Prop. S. renovates and upgrades classrooms for Career/Vocational Programs that teach "real world" job skills. Prop. S wires every classroom and school for WiFI and the Internet, with technology upgrades for every school in every neighborhood. PROP. S MAINTAINS THE CURRENT TAX RATE WITH NO INCREASE. Prop. S replaces an expiring bond with a new one, so our tax rate will not be increased. IT'S THE LAW! ACCOUNTABILITY IS BUILT INTO PROP. S: STRICT TAXPAYER SAFEGUARDS. AN INDEPENDENT CITIZENS' OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE. NO FUNDS FOR CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION. Bond money can only be spent on classrooms, buildings and schools. ANNUAL, INDEPENDENT AUDITS. A DETAILED PUBLIC EXPENDITURE PLAN SPELLS OUT EXACTLY WHAT PROP. S WILL ACCOMPLISH. PROP. S + THE PLATINUM STANDARD FOR OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY. Find every Prop. S repair and renovation project at your neighborhood school on-line: http://www.edforchildren.com/improvements. PROP. S. WILL MAKE SAN DIEGO ELIGIBLE FOR STATE MATCHING FUNDS. We need to make these repairs now. It will only get more expensive if we wait. San Diego City Schools earned two "Golden Watchdog" Awards from the San Diego Taxpayers Association for excellent fiscal management of their last bond. YES ON PROPOSITION S Repair and Revitalize Our Neighborhood Schools JOHN L. KING SDUSD Teacher of the Year LINDA TAGGART Principal of the Year JOHN C. O'NEILL, Chairman San Diego County Taxpayers Association RAYMOND SANCHEZ PTA President BILL NEMEC, President S.D. Police Officers Association Rebuttal to Arguments For The San Diego Unified School District is seeking to impose an additional property tax on the city's already overtaxed homeowners. In doing so the School District ignores developer subsidies such as those given to luxury high-rise condos in downtown San Diego. Homeowners are now being asked to backfill a funding deficit. The District's argument speaks of leaky roofs, frayed wiring, leaky pipes and plumbing, dangerous heating and electrical systems, broken steps, cracked sidewalks, asbestos, mold, broken toilets and classrooms without air-conditioning. Far from justifying a tax hike, this suggests massive neglect of school property over the last decade, while property tax revenue soared by 255%. The truth is that the District horribly mismanaged the 1998 Prop MM money. School enrollment has been steadily dropping. It will continue to drop until about 2013. The District should be consolidating schools and selling unneeded school properties. Instead they keep smaller schools open. They cut teachers but not bureaucracy. They argue that: "Prop S maintains the current tax rate with no increase". Because the Prop 13 "rate" of 1% property tax has not changed since 1978 does not mean the actual property "tax" has not increased! They deliberately substituted the word "rate" for 'tax" in order to confuse the voters. Prop S would fall most heavily on those who purchased homes in the last decade. The building industry is in favor of this new property tax because it would transfer a further $2.1 billion from homeowners to businesses. This is a massive transfer of wealth. Vote NO on Proposition S PAT FLANNERY Real Estate Broker RICHARD RIDER Chairman, San Diego Tax Fighters

San Diego home owners pay among the highest real estate taxes in the nation. San Diego home prices soared over the last few years and local government reaped a tax windfall. Yet it is not enough. They would now add an extra $2.1 billion in school debt. If you currently own a home valued at $500,000, Prop "S" would impose an additional $300 per year. This is on top of the base $5,000 tax (1% according to Prop 13) you already pay. And you are still paying off previous school debt. Something is wrong. 90% of downtown real estate taxes (over $100 million) are "diverted" to subsidize downtown developers. You are being asked to backfill this school funding hole. Your tax dollars were "diverted" from your children's education to so-called "redevelopment". Home owners pay 78% of all property taxes collected in San Diego County. Condo owners alone pay more taxes than all the commercial owners in the County combined. Don't pay for your children's education twice. Vote "NO" on Prop "S". TAXPAYERS FOR SHARING REDEVELOPMENT FUNDS WIITH SCHOOLS PAT FLANNERY Real Estate Broker MARGARET KUYPER Retired Educator Rebuttal to Arguments Against "The opposition is wrong. Prop. S will NOT raise our taxes. Proposition S bonds simply replace expiring Proposition MM bonds. Our taxes will NOT increase." + John O'Neill, Chairman San Diego County Taxpayers Association Prop. S. Strict Accountability and Taxpayer Safeguards. Independent Annual Audits. Independent Citizens Oversight Committee. No money for administrators' salaries. Repairs and renovations for every neighborhood school are on-line: (http://www.edforchildren.com/improvements). Prop. S. Essential repairs and upgrades to improve health, safety and security of our neighborhood schools + with no tax increase. In 1998, voters approved Prop. MM to begin repairs and renovations at 180+ neighborhood schools. MM was a tremendous success, delivering projects ahead of schedule and saving taxpayers $82 million through effective financial management. Prop. S continues repairs and revitalization of neighborhood schools begun under MM + without raising taxes. Many neighborhood schools, built in the 50s and 60s, need basic repairs and upgrades for 21st Century learning. Prop. S replaces obsolete fire protection systems; installs emergency communications to improve school safety; repairs roofs, outdated electrical, air conditioning, heating and plumbing; increases disabled accessibility; repairs restrooms; and increases technology in every neighborhood school. If we don't pass Prop. S now, it will only cost more to make these repairs later. This is a good financial investment. Good schools raise home prices and prevent neighborhood deterioration. "130,000 school children and 8,000 classroom teachers need Prop. S." + John L. King SDUSD Teacher of the Year YES ON PROPOSITION S Repair and Revitalize Our Neighborhood Schools RAYMOND SANCHEZ PTA President DONALD J. BRAUN Chief of Police San Diego City Schools JOE CARTA Real Estate Broker RUBEN BARRALES President & CEO San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce JOHN L. KING SDUSD Teacher of the Year

Tax Rate Statement

An election will be held in the San Diego Unified School District (the "District") on November 4, 2008, to authorize the sale of up to $2,100,000,000 in bonds of the District to finance school facilities as described in the proposition. If the bonds are approved, the District expects to sell the bonds in six series over time. Principal and interest on the bonds will be payable from the proceeds of tax levies made upon the taxable property in the District. The information presented in numbered paragraphs 1-3 below is provided in compliance with Sections 9400-9404 of the Elections Code of the State of California. 1. The best estimate of the tax which would be required to be levied to fund this bond issue during the first fiscal year after the sale of the first series of bonds, based on estimated assessed valuations available at the time of filing of this statement, is 0.47 cents per $100 ($4.70 per $100,000) of assessed valuation in fiscal year 2010-11. 2. The best estimate of the tax rate which would be required to be levied to fund this bond issue during the first fiscal year after the sale of the last series of bonds, based on estimated assessed valuations available at the time of filing of this statement, is 2.07 cents per $100 ($20.70 per $100,000) of assessed valuation in fiscal year 2020-21. 3. The best estimate of the highest tax rate which would be required to be levied to fund this bond issue, based on estimated assessed valuations available at the time of filing of this statement, is 60 cents per $100 ($60.00 per $100,000) of assessed valuation in fiscal year 2029-30 and each year thereafter until final maturity of the bonds. The District intends to structure the proposed bonds so that the estimated combined tax rate needed to repay all of the District's bonds, including Proposition MM Bonds which rate is $66.70/$100,000 of assessed valuation in the 2007-08 fiscal year, will not increase as a result of the issuance of the proposed bonds. Voters should note that the estimated tax rates are based on the ASSESSED VALUE of taxable property in the District as shown on the County's official tax rolls, not on the property's market value. Property owners should consult their own property tax bills to determine their property's assessed value and any applicable tax exemptions. The foregoing information is based upon the District's projections and estimates. Approval of the ballot measure authorizes the issuance of bonds under certain conditions, and is not approval of a specific tax rate. The actual tax rates and the years in which they will apply may vary from those presently estimated, due to variations from these estimates in the timing of bond sales, the amount and repayment structure of bonds sold, market interest rates at the time of each sale, and actual assessed valuations over the term of repayment of the bonds. The dates of sale and the amount and repayment structure of bonds sold at any given time will be determined by the District based on its need for construction funds and other factors, including the legal limitations on bonds approved by a 55% vote. The actual interest rates at which the bonds will be sold will depend on the bond market at the time of each sale. Actual future assessed valuation will depend upon the amount and value of taxable property within the District as determined by the County Assessor in the annual assessment and the equalization process. STATEMENT REQUIRED BY EDUCATION CODE SECTION 15122.5 "Approval of Proposition S does not guarantee that the proposed project or projects in the San Diego Unified School District that are the subject of bonds under Proposition S will be funded beyond the local revenues generated by Proposition S. The District's proposal for the project or projects assumes the receipt of matching state funds, which could be subject to appropriation by the Legislature or approval of a statewide bond measure."