SAN FRANCISCO Voters in the Far West Tuesday will weigh bond requests totaling more than $10.2 billion.
Most of the action will be in California, where the more than $9 billion of bonds on the ballot include an unusual $3 billion request to fund stem-cell medical research.
There are at least 60 local general obligation school bond measures on ballots around the state, including more than $2.3 billion from at least 50 K-12 districts, and $1.4 billion worth of community college bond referendums.
Novembers school bonds probably mark the end of a bond wave sparked by the passage four years ago of Proposition 39, a state constitutional amendment lowering the threshold for approval for most school GO bonds to 55% from two-thirds, said Kim Reuben, a research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California.
Basically what weve seen since the passage of Proposition 39, and even to a small extent prior to that, is theres been much more support for school bonds, she said.
Since the amendment passed in November 2000, voters have authorized K-12 school districts to borrow more than $18 billion and community college districts to sell roughly $8.5 billion of debt, she said.
Next weeks wave of bond measures will probably be the last that can garner matching funds from Proposition 55, which was passed in March of this year and authorized $12.3 billion of state issuance to provide matching funds for local schools.
After the Proposition 55 money is spent, I think its going to be a while before the state can propose a new bond for schools, Reuben said.
With $15 billion of deficit bonds authorized this year and $11 billion issued, the states debt burden has increased, she said. In some ways were kind of tapped out for the short term statewide. I think thats part of the timing.
Proposition 39 also dictates when districts can schedule bond elections. To qualify for the 55% approval threshold, the bond election must be held in conjunction with another regularly scheduled election held throughout the school district.
The next opportunity for school districts to take advantage of the lower 55% approval rate wont come until June 2006.
There are far fewer opportunities, said John Hartenstein, chair of the school finance group at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.This years school bonds come in all sizes. In the large category, Santa Clara Unified School District is seeking a $315 million authorization and the Yosemite Community College District has proposed $326 million of debt to build and repair facilities at junior college campuses in four counties.
On the small side, Monterey Countys 38-student Graves Union School District, is seeking a $180,000 bond authorization.
Localities around the state have also proposed more than $2 billion of other GO bonds, including a $980 million Bay Area Rapid Transit District proposal for earthquake upgrades to the rail system, a $500 million measure in Los Angeles to control storm water runoff, and a $496 million measure from the Palomar Pomerado Health Care District in northern San Diego County.Local proposals that rely on property tax hikes for non-school bond measures require a two-thirds majority to pass.
In San Francisco, one such measure would authorize up to $200 million of GOs for housing for low and moderate-income households, and another would allow the city to issue up to $60 million of bonds to fund renovation of the citys historical landmarks.
The San Francisco bond propositions share space with two other measures that would increase sales and business taxes to balance the citys budget.
On the state level, Proposition 71 would authorize $3 billion to finance stem-cell research. The measure reached the ballot through a petition drive financed by proponents of embryonic stem-cell research who were frustrated by the limits President Bush placed on federal funding for such research.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has endorsed the well-financed campaign, which has far outspent opposition efforts by fiscal conservatives, abortion opponents, and people concerned that embryonic stem cell research is on the slippery slope toward human cloning.
Another state bond measure would provide $750 million for childrens hospitals. The two bond measures are among 16 initiatives on the state ballot.
In 10 counties, voters will be asked to weigh in on sales taxes for transportation projects. Five of the proposals are to extend existing half-cent sales taxes, while in five counties the proposal would create a new tax: in Marin, Ventura, Santa Cruz, and Solano counties the plans call for half-cent sales taxes while Sonoma County voters are looking at a quarter-cent tax.
The transportation sales taxes could be leveraged with revenue bonds. In each case, a two-thirds vote is required.
In Riverside, residents of the Southern California city are looking at 12 proposed amendments to the city charter, one of which would allow mail elections for bond authorizations and clarify the law to allow bonds to be sold either through competitive bidding or negotiation.
In Washington, the state ticket is topped by the governors race between Democrat Christine Gregoire and Republican Dino Rossi, who seek to replace Democrat Gary Locke, who will step down after two terms.
The most sizable bond issue on the ballot is Spokanes Proposition 1, which would authorize the city to issue up to $117.3 million of general obligation bonds to finance road improvements.
In Seattle, voters will decide once again if the Seattle Monorail Project can build its 14-mile rail system above the citys streets. In 2002, voters authorized a vehicle tax to back bonds that would be issued to build the system. Project officials contend that if approved, Initiative 83 effectively kills the project but it does not affect the vehicle tax, which would allow them to issue the bonds while they mount a lawsuit to revive the project.
Anti-tax gadfly Tim Eyman qualified a measure for the state ballot that would permit electronic gambling devices in many locations and use revenue to finance property-tax relief.
Another measure would increase Washingtons sales tax by 1% to fund education.
In Oregon, voters will look at 31 local Go proposals worth about $302 million.
They will also decide if state Treasurer Randall Edwards gets another term, and voters in Multnomah County will decide on a measure to repeal a local income tax for schools.
In Wyoming, the states single bond ballot is a $10 million question that, if approved, would allow Cheyenne to build a public wastewater utility.
In Montana, either Republican Bob Brown or Democrat Brian Schweitzer will replace GOP Gov. Judy Martz, who is stepping down after one lackluster term. Voters in Gallatin County will decide on a $10 million bond measure to finance the acquisition of open space.
