Bond measure could help Placer district

Leslie favors ballot issue, Oller doesn?tBy Sandy Firth, Journal Staff WriterIf a bond passes on the November ballot, the Placer County Office of Education could receive money for special education buildings and alternate education buildings, said Carolyn Taylor, PCOE spokeswoman. California voters might be asked to pass a multi-billion dollar bond in the November election to provide schools with construction money.A bill to put a bond of $13.05 billion on the 2002 general election ballot passed through the State Assembly several weeks ago. The bond would provide money for construction for K-12 campuses, California State University campuses, University of California campuses and community college campuses.Assemblyman Tim Leslie, R-Roseville, took an unusual step for him and supported the measure. Leslie said he normally doesn?t support bonds because they are so expensive.?Our district has so much growth and so many kids, it is necessary to have enough schools,? he said. ?We won?t have enough room for them if we don?t pass this bond.??We are $17 billion in the hole. We don?t have any money to pay as we go,? he said.The bond money will go to all school districts in the state. Districts that turned in construction projects to the state by February of this year will receive priority when funds are allocated, said Brian O?Neel, Leslie?s press secretary.While Leslie voted for the bill, state Senator Rico Oller, R-Granite Bay, said he planned to vote against the bond measure.Tom Hudson, Oller?s legislative director, said the senator is less concerned about the educational aspect and more about the long-term implications of the bond.?He feels that we need to build more schools, but going into debt for it doesn?t make sense,? Hudson said.Hudson also said the bill is written so that districts in Los Angeles will receive more money that others in the state.?The politicians down there claim they need more money,? he said. ?Under state formulas for school money, Los Angeles already gets more than their fair share.?Hudson said Oller doesn?t deny schools need more money for construction, it just needs to be written into the budget.?Senator Oller feels we need to use the pay-as-you-go approach,? Hudson said. ?Bonds are spent over time and put us into more debt.?Hudson said one way to make building more schools easier is to reduce the cost.?Schools cost twice as much as other buildings because of the high prevailing wage,? he said. ?If the prevailing wage was lower, then the cost to build a school would be cut in half.?If the bond passes, money to pay it back would come from taxes, Leslie said.?A portion of the monies that go into the general fund are spent on debt reduction,? he said.O?Neel said if the bond passes, the $13.05 billion would be distributed as follows:n $11.4 million for general obligation bonds for k-12 educational facilities;n $4.8 million for new construction and modernization projects filed by February of this year;n $3.45 billion for new school construction related to growth;of the $3.45 billion, $100 million would be used for charter schools and $25 million for school fee relief;n $1.4 billion for modernization of older schools;n $1.7 billion for critically overcrowded schools;n $50 million for joint use facilities;n $1.65 billion for general obligation higher education bonds; andn $651 million for lease revenue bonds. Another bond for $12.3 billion would be put on the March 2004 ballot if the November 2002 bond passes. ?If we were to put a bond for $20 billion on one ballot, the chances of it passing are very small,? Leslie said. ?Two elections will fool the voters. By the time the second bond is on the ballot, voters will have forgotten about the first one.? Hudson said he doesn?t know when the bill will be voted on in the State Senate. The Journal?s Sandy Firth can be reached at sandyf@goldcountrymedia.com.