LWV League of Women Voters of California
Smart Voter
Los Angeles County, CA April 10, 2001 Election
Proposition A
Community College Facilities Construction and Repair Bond Program
Los Angeles Community College District

Bond Proposition

See Also: Index of all Measures

Information shown below: Official Information | Impartial Analysis | Arguments |

Shall the Los Angeles Community College District increase educational opportunities, raise student achievement and improve health and safety conditions for students at Los Angeles City College, East Los Angeles College, Los Angeles Harbor College, Los Angeles Mission College, Los Angeles Pierce College, Los Angeles Southwest College, Los Angeles Trade Technical College, Los Angeles Valley College and West Los Angeles College, replace/repair deteriorating buildings, construct/furnish/equip classrooms, laboratories, libraries and related facilities; repair/upgrade electrical wiring for computer technology, heating, air conditioning and plumbing; complete earthquake retrofitting; improve campus safety, fire security, parking and lighting; and improve/acquire real property to relieve overcrowding by issuing, at interest rates within legal limits, $1,245 billion in bonds with citizens' oversight for each college and annual independent performance/financial audits, but with no money for administrators' or others' salaries?

Official Sources of Information
Impartial Analysis from Lloyd W. Pellman, County Counsel
Approval of Proposition A would authorize the Los Angeles Community College District ("District") to issue $1,245,000,000 in general obligation bonds.

Funds received from the sale of the bonds would be used only for the construction, rehabilitation and equipping of District facilities, or the acquisition or lease of real property for District facilities, including replacing and repairing buildings, constructing and furnishing classrooms, laboratories, libraries and related facilities, repairing and upgrading electrical wiring for computer technology, heating, air conditioning and plumbing, completing earthquake retrofitting, improving campus safety, fire security, parking and lighting, and improving and acquiring real property to relieve overcrowding. No funds may be used for teacher or administrator salaries, or other school operating expenses.

As required by law, the Board of Trustees of the District ("Board of Trustees") has adopted a list of the specific school facilities projects to be funded by the sale of the bonds. The Board of Trustees will conduct annual, independent financial and performance audits to ensure that funds received from the sale of the bonds will have been expended only on the specific projects listed, and will appoint a citizen's oversight committee to inform the public on expenditures.

The bonds would be issued and sold at an interest rate not to exceed the maximum rate allowed by law, and would be repaid by a property tax levied upon real property located within the District over a period not to exceed forty (40) years. The tax rate levied as a result of approval of this Proposition shall be no more than $25 per $100,000 of taxable property value within the District.

This Proposition requires a fifty-five percent (55%) vote for passage.

 
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Arguments For Proposition A Arguments Against Proposition A
Proposition A allows for the most urgent repairs at our nine community colleges. These projects will make the classrooms clean and safe for learning, and relieve drastic overcrowding by adding new classrooms and buildings - all projects determined to be essential after a year of diligent review by students, faculty, staff and community representatives.

  • increasing security, lighting and parking;

  • removing asbestos and repairing plumbing, heating and sewer systems, leaking roofs and decaying walls;

  • constructing technology centers and labs to train for in-demand high-tech and healthcare jobs;

  • expanding and modernizing libraries;

  • constructing child development centers for students with children; and

  • installing air conditioning in year round classrooms.

Your YES vote on Proposition A ensures that each of our community colleges will continue to do its job: providing all students with the education and training they need to earn a good living today and tomorrow.

Proposition A will repair and improve all nine community college campuses throughout the Los Angeles Community College District:

Los Angeles City College

East Los Angeles College

Los Angeles Harbor College

Los Angeles Mission College

Los Angeles Pierce College

Los Angeles Southwest College

Los Angeles Trade Technical College

Los Angeles Valley College

West Los Angeles College

Every dollar will be spent only on predetermined, specific projects. No money will go to salaries, and the entire effort will be monitored by an independent committee of homeowners, business and community leaders, students and senior citizens. Audit results will be published in local newspapers and posted online.

Every person deserves a chance for higher education. Our community colleges offer these opportunities. Let's make sure our colleges can continue to do their job by giving them an "A."

We urge you to vote YES on Proposition A.

Beverly W. Shue, President, District Academic Senate

Janice Hahn, Community Leader

Additional Persons Signing Argument in Favor of Proposition A

Juana Gutierrez, President & Founder, Madres de ELA Santa Isabel

Lee Baca, L.A. County Sheriff

Bruce D. Ackerman, President & CEO, Valley Economic Alliance

Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County Supervisor, Third District

Fred D. Smith, President & COO, Operation Hope, Inc.

Carl A. Friedlander, President, American Federation of Teachers College Guild

Paul M. Esparza, Student E.LA.C./Student Trustee

Charles Woo, Chairman, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce

Rebuttal to Arguments For
PROPERTY OWNERS will pay higher taxes for the next 40 years if Proposition A passes. RENTERS, too, will be impacted - many could see higher rents as a result of Proposition A.

In the past, state bonds - bonds that do not require a tax increase - would usually pay for these projects.

Now, thanks to the recently passed state Prop. 39, the burden is being shifted to the backs of local PROPERTY OWNERS.

While some of the work that Proposition A would fund is worthwhile, it is unfair to make just local PROPERTY OWNERS pay. The state of California is enjoying another multi-billion-dollar surplus. Now is not the time for higher taxes.

HOMEOWNERS, don't agree to raise your taxes to pay for Proposition A, which also includes funds for unnecessary items like a stadium for Los Angeles Southwest College. RENTERS, don't risk higher rents. VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION A.

Jon Coupal, President, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association

Richard H. Close, President, Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association

Ernest Dynda, President, United Organization of Taxpayers, Inc.

Homeowners hold onto your wallets and VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION A!

This $1.2 billion bond is a massive amount for a community college district! With interest, the amount to be repaid by property owners will double.

Proposition A is another example of the incredible debt that is going to be piled on the backs of property taxpayers as a result of the passage of state Prop. 39 last November.

In the past, community colleges have primarily received their funding from state education bonds - bonds for which everyone pays through sales and income tax.

Now, the state is able to shift funding responsibly to local property owners because, thanks to Prop. 39, it is so much easier to pass local bonds for education - bonds that place a lien against property to guarantee repayment.

Mr. and Mrs. Homeowner watch out. If Proposition A passes, single family homeowners will be hardest hit because, unlike businesses, homeowners cannot pass on the increased taxes to their customers.

Even if you feel that support for community colleges is important, ask yourself if you really want to be obligated to repay a $1.2 billion bond that includes funding for items such as state-of-the-art culinary arts facilities, media arts centers, stadiums and swimming pools.

Protect yourself against higher property taxes. VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION A.

Jon Coupal, President, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association

Rebuttal to Arguments Against
With over 110,000 students, Los Angeles' 9 Community Colleges have educated over 1 million people now working in and around Los Angeles. Over 200,000 students have transferred to four-year colleges and universities.

The improvements paid for by Proposition A will be shared by 9 colleges. Only urgently needed repairs and construction will be funded. For a list of projects, visit http://www.laccd.edu. <http://www.laccd.edu>

With Proposition A, the estimated tax rate for homeowners is barely half of what is allowed by law, and the repayment period is one-third less than the maximum permitted.

To guarantee bond funds are used only as voters intended, each college will have an oversight committee with homeowners, senior citizens, students, businesses and taxpayers.

City, East Los Angeles, Harbor, Mission, Pierce, Southwest, Trade-Tech, Valley and West Los Angeles Colleges are invaluable community assets run locally, not by the State. We need to keep them clean, safe and working well.

Rick Tuttle, Controller, City of Los Angeles

Ruth A. LaCarra, Valley Homeowner

Miguel Contreras, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, L.A. County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

Don E. Dyer, Retired Audit Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

J. Richard Leyner, Valley Business Leader

John Olguin, Director Emeritus, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

Geraldine R. Washington, Ed., President, Los Angeles NAACP

Sheila Rogers Engelberg, Senior & Homeowner in Community

Father Gregory J. Boyle, Director, Jobs For a Future, Homeboy Industries


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Created: April 27, 2001 02:34
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