Prop 51 is a public school facilities improvement measure which will use general obligation bonds to raise $9 billion dollars.
As we know well in Culver City, many schools in California were built over 60 years ago and are in need of repairs and updating. In 2014, our community overwhelmingly passed Measure CC which will utilize $106 million in locally issued general obligation bonds to do the same.
State general obligation bonds (GO bonds) are paid from the state general fund, which in turn is mostly funded by personal income taxes. So, the question is, “Do you want to add another expense to a general fund that is not sufficient enough to support all of our state’s needs as it is?” Another question to ask would be, “Since Culver City is already funding its own school infrastructure needs with its own GO bond funds, will our school district receive any of these new debt-funded monies or will it hurt our chances?” Knowing that CCUSD’s assessed capital improvement needs total over $165 million, one final question I have is, “Could Prop 51 funds help CCUSD fill in the remaining costs of budgeted needs, above the $106 million agreed upon by the voters through Measure CC?”
Here is the link to the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office breakdown for each ballot measure. Click through for what they had to say about Prop 51:
www.lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Proposition?number=51&year=2016
Dan O’Brien
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