Dear Editor,
If the past is any kind of indicator of what might happen in the future-if Measure E passes, it should be better than the district-hired adviser’s partial guess. Using a rounded-down, 1.06% average of increase for our assessed valuation over the last 17 years, as reference, local taxpayers, at $60 tax rate, will be paying out almost 1.4 billion dollars over the next 37 years for a bond measure that will probably cost between half-a-billion and $620M. This figure doesn’t even include the $175M we still have left to pay on the principle and interest owed on the three bonds issued from 2014 Measure CC Bond that are still outstanding. It also includes two more years on the 2018 $189 parcel tax.
Why so much overkill? The district could receive–or in other words– local taxpayers, could be paying over $800M beyond the actual cost of their $358M bond. The district wants to hold the local narrative captive and tightly control what is released to the public about the bond. Only offering what they want the public to know about Measure E, in order to get it passed.
Why can’t the board be more candid with the voters and trust them with all the information to make an informed, educated decision. They ask voters to trust them, but they, themselves, cannot trust the public enough to give the voters the pertinent information to cast an informed vote on the measure.
When are they going to tell us this information? Are they going to wait until Measure E is passed, before disclosing how much taxpayers will be on the hook?
Vote No on Measure E! Don’t worry. The Board will learn its lesson. They will be back next November with a smaller sized, more manageable bond that won’t leave our community knee-deep in debt.
George Laase
