42 / 82.4% Yes votes ...... 9 / 17.6% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

If approved by two-thirds of the votes cast by the voters voting thereon, this measure would authorize the Board of Trustees of the Valley Home Joint Elementary School District to issue and sell general obligation bonds of the District in amounts not to exceed a total of $1,400,000.

This issuance and sale of a bond by a school District is for the purpose of raising money for the District and represents a debt of the District. In exchange for money received from the holder of the bond, the District promises to pay the holder a set amount of interest for a certain time and to repay the loan on the expiration date.

A resolution adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Valley Home Joint Elementary School District, stated the bonds shall be issued and sold to finance school facilities and property of the District and for paying costs incident thereto. The bond will bear interest at a rate not to exceed the legal limit.

If this measure passes, a tax shall annually levy on property within the District. The District has determined that the best estimate for the tax rate during the first fiscal year after the sale of the first series of bonds is $0.03 cents per 100 dollars of assessed valuation ($30.00 per $100,000.00) in the fiscal year 2004/05. The best estimate for the tax rate during the fiscal year after the sale of the last series of bonds is $0.03 cents per 100 dollars of assessed valuation ($30.00 per $100,000.00) in fiscal year 2005/06. The best estimate of the highest tax rate which would be required to be levied to fund the bond issue and an estimate of the year in which that rate will apply is $0.03 cents per 100 dollars ($30.00 per $100,000). The tax shall be sufficient to pay the interest on the bond as it becomes due. The tax shall be sufficient to provide funds for the payment of such part of the principal and interest as shall become due before the proceeds of the next general tax levy can be made available for the payment of principal and interest.

Approval of Measure S, does not guarantee that the proposed project or projects in the Valley Home Unified School District that are the subject of bonds under Measure S will be funded beyond the local venues generated by Measure S. The school district's proposal for the project or projects may assume the receipt of matching state funds, which could be subject to appropriation by the Legislature or approved of a statewide bond measure.

- A "yes" vote is a vote to authorize the District to issue and
sell the bonds.

- A "no" vote is against authorizing the District to issue and
sell the bonds.

This analysis is submitted by the Office of the Stanislaus County Counsel pursuant to the requirements of Section 9500 and following of the Elections Code of the State of California.

VOTE YES on MEASURE S.

Your yes vote on MEASURE S will have a positive and lasting impact on Valley Home school children now and into the future.

MEASURE S will greatly improve a worn and woefully inadequate school facility.

Harold Pope School + the sole K-8 school in the Valley Home Joint School District was constructed in 1903 + over 100 years ago. Not since 1975 (over 28 years ago) has there been improvements to school facilities. Our children and the children of two generations have gone without many of the amenities that other, more affluent districts have come to consider commonplace. While the school continues to be a gathering point and resource to the community + a common cafeteria lunch space, assembly area for class plays, projects, and gatherings, and gymnasium are among the substantial improvements that MEASURE S will provide.

MEASURE S will:

· Help the Valley Home School District to become eligible for State-matching funds for facility improvements. · Make long over due facility improvements NOW instead of putting them off into the future when improvement costs will only cost more. · Provide funds to be used to improve our school and our children's learning experiences + NOT to pay for administrative costs or employee salaries.

Voting YES on MEASURE S will have lasting and positive benefits.

Measure S will help to improve our facilities and assist in maintaining our winning school-community focal point, will contribute greatly to an already quality education environment, and add real value to the surrounding community.

By providing our students and our community with a modern multipurpose facility we will be investing in our greatest assets + our children, grandchildren, ourselves, our community.

Its time to invest in our community's future.

Vote YES on MEASURE S

Submitted by:

/s/ Kathy Steele Shepherd,

Valley Home School Board President

(No arguments against Measure S were submitted)

An election will be held in the Valley Home Joint Elementary School District (the "District") on March 2, 2004, to submit to electors of the District the question of whether to authorize the sale of up to $1,400,000 of general obligation bonds of the District to finance the acquisition, improvement and equipping of real property for school purposes. It is expected that bonds would be issued in series over time. If such bonds are authorized and sold, the principal thereof and interest thereon will be payable from the proceeds of tax levies made upon the taxable property in the District. The following information regarding tax rates is given to comply with Sections 9400-9404 of the California Elections Code. Such information is based upon the best estimates and projections presently available from official sources, upon experience within the District and other demonstrable factors.

Based upon the foregoing and projections of the District's assessed valuation, and assuming the entire debt service will be amortized through property taxation:

1. The best estimate of the tax rate which would be required to be levied to fund the bond issue during the first fiscal year after the sale of the first series of bonds is 3.00 cents per 100 dollars ($30.00 per $100,000) of assessed valuation in the fiscal year 2004/05.

2. The best estimate of the tax rate which would be required to be levied to fund the bond issue during the first fiscal year after the sale of the last series of bonds and an estimate of the year in which that rate will apply is 3.00 cents per 100 dollars ($30.00 per $100,000) of assessed valuation for the fiscal year 2005/06.

3. The best estimate of the highest tax rate which would be required to be levied to fund the bond issue and an estimate of the year in which that rate will apply is 3.00 cents per 100 dollars ($30.00 per $100,000) assessed valuation for the fiscal year 2004/05.

The attention of all voters is directed to the fact that the foregoing information is based upon projections and estimates only, which are not binding upon the District. Such projections and estimates may vary due to variations in timing of bond sales, the amount of bonds sold at each bond sale, market interest rates at the time of each bond sale and actual assessed valuation over the term of repayment of the bonds. The actual date of the sales of said bonds and the amount sold on any given date will be governed by the needs of the District and other factors. The actual interest rates at which the bonds will be sold, which in any event will not exceed the maximum permitted by law, will depend upon the bond market at the time of each sale. Actual assessed valuation in future years will depend upon the value of property within the District as determined in the assessment and the equalization process. Hence, the actual tax rates and the years in which such rates are applicable may vary from those presently estimated above.

/s/ Alan Wilkinson

Superintendent, Valley Home Joint Elementary School District

EXHIBIT A

Shall Valley Home Joint Elementary School District prepare for future growth and provide facilities that best serve the students and community by constructing and equipping a multipurpose building and by issuing $1.4 million of bonds at interest rates below the legal limit?

Funds received from this bond will serve as a match for "State of California Joint Use Funds."

As required by the California Constitution, the proceeds from the sale of the bonds will be used only for the provision of school facilities by construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation or replacement of school facilities, including the furnishing and equipping of school facilities, or the acquisition or lease of real property for school facilities, and not for any other purpose, including teacher and administrator salaries and other school operating expenses. The proceeds of the bonds will be deposited to a Building Fund and the chief fiscal officer of the District will annually file a report with the Board of Trustees, which report shall contain information regarding the amount of funds collected and expended, as well as the status of the projects listed in the ballot measure.

The District's Board of Trustees has certified that it has evaluated safety, class size reduction and information technology needs in developing the foregoing list.

The District's Board of Trustees will conduct an annual, independent performance audit to ensure that the funds have been expended only on the project list set forth above.

The District's Board of Trustees will conduct an annual, independent financial audit of the proceeds from the sale of the Bonds until all of those proceeds have been expended for the school facilities projects.

Pursuant to Section 15772 of the Education Code, the District's Board of Trustees will appoint a citizens' oversight committee and conduct annual independent audits to assure that funds are spent only on school and classroom improvements and for no other purposes.

As required by Section 53410 of the Government Code the following accountability measures are hereby made a part of the District's Bond Measure (the "Measure"):

(a) The specific purpose of the bonds is to improve the quality of education by constructing and modernizing school facilities.

(b) The proceeds from the sale of the District's bonds will be used only for the purposes specified in the Measure, and not for any other purpose;

(c) The proceeds of the Bonds will be deposited into a Building Fund to be held by the Stanislaus County Treasurer, as required by the California Education Code; and

(d) The chief fiscal officer of the District shall file an annual report with the Board of Trustees of the District, which report shall contain pertinent information regarding the amount of funds collected and expended, as well as the status of the projects listed in the Measure.