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School board approves bond measure for November ballot

Posted on August 5, 2010 by Sonoma Valley Sun

At a special meeting last week, school board trustees voted 4-0 to place $40 million worth of general obligation school bonds on the November ballot.
If approved by voters, the measure will save more than $1 million dollars in energy costs each year that will be used to preserve key educational funding priorities such as library hours, music and art classes and small class sizes, all while balancing the budget.

Schools in the Sonoma Valley Unified School District currently face a budget deficit of over $1.5 million for the next fiscal year after already making more than $3 million in cuts in the last several years. The state’s current budget takes nearly $2.5 billion from schools throughout the state.

A recent survey of 400 voters indicated that two-thirds of respondents would support a no tax rate increase Proposition 39 bond GO bond measure. As written, the measure will not increase the current tax rate that citizens pay for local schools. Rather, it extends the amount of time for which two previous rounds of approved school bonds are being paid off.

The last two rounds of school bonds were approved by voters in 1994 and 1997. Those were to be paid off in approximately 2025. If this latest round is approved, the pay off date will be approximately 2045.

If approved, funding is approximated as follows: $12-15 million for solar energy installations at all schools; $12-15 million for additional efficiency improvements; $10 million in program capital improvements.

The measure needs 55 percent of the vote to pass.




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