Lucia Mar considering bond measure on November ballot

April 22, 2016

school busThe Lucia Mar Unified School District is considering asking voters to pass a bond measure to pay for facility upgrades. The proposal would cost property owners between $29 and $45 per $100,000 of assessed value. [Tribune]

School district officials say Lucia Mar could raise between $104 million and $170 million if the bond measure were to pass. The Lucia Mar school board will decide in June whether or not to place the initiative on the November ballot.

Superintendent Raynee Daley said funds raised from a bond initiative would go toward modernizing the district’s outdated facilities, which were built in the 50s and 60s. The district is considering using potential revenue from the bond to replace modular classrooms with permanent structures.

District officials may also spend the funds on materials and technology for science labs and new desks and chairs that can easily move around classrooms. Bond revenue could likewise go toward replacing windows that are not energy efficient, repaving asphalt in playgrounds and updating plumbing.

Lucia Mar considered placing a bond measure on the 2014 ballot but tabled the plan. That year, three school districts in the county — Atascadero, Cuesta College and San Luis Coastal — placed bond measures on the ballot. All three of the initiatives passed.


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One year I saved every single purchase receipt, from fries at McDonalds to clothes and everything else. I did not buy any big ticket items – no appliances, no furniture, no car, just ordinary expenses. I was shocked that my sales taxes alone (and this did not include gas taxes BTW) were $400. All these taxes and fees chip away at one’s income. It’s a slow chipping so we don’t notice it. Well, wake up! When was the last time you actually got what you were promised when you voted for a tax hike or a bond? Now the state wants us to raise the state sales tax another 1 cent or so to repay the gas tax money it stole that was supposed to maintain our roads.


But wait, there’s more! Very soon the new audited financial reports of every government agency from the state down will come out, and for the first time the unfunded pension liabilities MUST be listed on those balance sheets. SLO city owes over $140 million in pension debts and I guarantee the rest of the cities, the county, school districts, etc. are in similar straits. So be prepared to pay even more or else demand some systemic changes starting immediately.


I tried to do that a few years ago, but with a family of four I was impossible. Ever see all of the taxes on a cable or phone bill, which hat and all of the times we filled up with gas.


I was uploading everything to a spreadsheet. Turns out I needed a far more sophisticated algorithm as we are also taxed on things that we have already paid taxes on.


It is us vs them. Ruling class vs serfs. Forget whether you associate with democrats or republicans. They must all be vilified and treated as the pariahs they are on first the local, then state, then national levlel before any meaningful change will ever occur.


You can chalk up $17 million for Atascadero. What kind of fee or tax will be promoted to pay for all of these unfunded pension costs?


School districts waste a vast amount of money on non-essential personnel, non-academic programs like athletics, and useless “professional development” in the form of conferences and seminars.


Go to any school district office and there are far too many educational bureaucrat administrators who utilize their Educational Leadership Doctorate (yes, sadly these degrees exist) on long-winded and unrealistic school policies. These educrats have little to no contact with students and parents and often are an impediment to teachers and site Principals who know their own students and communities well. There are also numerous secretaries for each educrat so the educrat has to do less work than the average site Principal. School districts have and will spend bond money on hiring yet more administrators and management to “implement the bond.”


School districts spend huge sums on athletic programs and their requisite facilities, coaches, and team travel. This is not the case in Europe or most of the world where teen athletics occurs on the club level and teen sports is a continuation of programs like Little League and AYSO. Most of these school bonds earmark money for new gyms, pools, and fields that are not necessary for educating students. End high school sports and fund it at the club level with Parks and Recreation professionals rather than giving a blank check to school officials.


Rather than expecting school personnel to stay current with new trends and technology on their own, as is the case with lawyers and doctors, school districts will pay thousands of dollars for administrators and teachers to attend conferences on the latest fad. Or a school district will hire an educational consultant for an expensive seminar to train employees rather than utilizing in-house training as a resource.


Given the profligate waste that occurs in school districts and the fact that many of the students are illegal aliens who should not be in this country and are a burden on taxpayers, voters in the South County must reject the Lucia Mar bond. It does not take $150 million to paint buildings and fix roofs.


Atascadero is a good example of this. The good old boys just kept placing unqualified friends into higher up positions who had absolutely no experience with any type of financing. That is unless who count their monthly overpaid checks. Look where their finances are? Have any of these self proclaimed geniuses ever heard of deferred maintenance? Conference were held at the Cambria Pines with all expenses paid. Out of town conference were the same.

I would suggest that their next conference address what a balanced budget is.


The Atascadero Superintendent is the definition of a used car salesman! Of course he’s blowing money!


A former Assistant Superintendent who was actively involved with the financial matters of the school district lost their house to foreclosure due to the lack of making any payments. How much more responsible can you be to trust these people with our money.


This is one of many results of our lack of immigration reform. Look at what has happened to the school systems in the cities, Los Angeles being a perfect example. As more and more illegals enter our Country, most with kids, we are obligated to education because I believe know one wants uneducated citizens. The unfortunate part of this is that they are then indoctrinated how to vote, vote for Democrats, unions, more taxes for more freebies especially since they do not pay taxes. You just have to look at Bernie Sanders campaign promises of free college, free healthcare, free housing, free, free, free. There is no free lunch (well, actually there is in schools) and someone has to pay for our open border policy. California in May will be giving free healthcare to all illegal children under 19 years old paid by California taxpayers and then the Governor is proposing free healthcare for all illegals soon. More money designated for our programs (roads, education, etc.) will be diverted to pay for these new benefits.


The reason we have no money for highways is because the State of Ca is diverting the money to the train to nowhere, health care for illegal, etc. Every gallon of gas sold in the State is charged a Federal Tax of $.39 and “Other Taxes” which include a 1.4 cpg state UST fee (gasoline and diesel), a 2.25% state sales tax for gasoline, a 9.67% state sales tax for diesel, gasoline and diesel rates are rate + local sales tax


Just when the Federal Congress approves a long-awaited five-year Transportation Bill for States the State pulls back its spending and we are not being asked for a COUNTY SALES TAX TO PAY FOR BROWN’S SHORTCOMING. These are all scams on the taxpayers!

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-adv-transportation-funding-20160203-story.html