Californians Approved 80% of Local Tax and Bond Measures

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LOS ANGELES — California voters Tuesday approved $32 billion in facility bonds including $23 billion for school construction and $7.2 billion for transit, homeless housing and services, and affordable housing, according to a preliminary report from Michael Coleman, fiscal policy advisor for the League of California Cities.

"The results indicate a continuing confidence in local government in California and the importance of the services provided by cities, counties, special districts and schools," Coleman said.

Preliminary counts show that 343 or 80% of the 430 tax and local bond measures appear to have passed, but Coleman wrote that given the close margins of several measures and additional late ballots yet to be tabulated, this number could change when the final counts are completed over the next few weeks.

"Voters see these local measures as effective mechanisms for addressing key issues, needs and concerns that they feel are going unmet or underfunded," said Fairbank Maslin, Mullin and Metz officials, a public opinion research and strategy firm. "Unlike voting for a candidate or a statewide ballot proposition that would implement a new policy, local ballot measures provide voters with a tangible way to get something done where they live."

In state, and local ballot measures, voters overwhelmingly pulled the lever in favor of more money for education.

Voters approved $23 billion of the $25.3 billion sought by school districts in 184 local ballot measures, according to Coleman's report. A whopping 92% of the 164 local school bond measures that required 55% voter approval appear likely to pass. Only two out of six of school bond measures that require a two-thirds vote, because they would be exceeding the tax rate, passed, however. At least 15 of the 22 school parcel taxes are passing and several more may het succeed when the additional ballots are counted.

On the state level, voters approved Proposition 55 extending a temporary income tax on high earners that provides money for school districts and community colleges. They also approved a statewide $9 billion bond measure that will provide local school districts with state matching funds to build schools.

Moody's Investors Service called passage of both of those measures a credit positive in its weekly report. Proposition 55 is a credit positive for the state, school districts and community colleges, because it maintains a significant revenue source. Proposition 51, the $9 billion bond measure, is a credit positive for school districts with approved by unfunded capital projects, under the state School Facility Program, which is depleted.

The income tax extension under Proposition 51 is expected to generate $4 billion to $9 billion annually, half of which will go to schools, Moody's analysts wrote.

"California's voters are truly committed to providing our students with a quality education and their overwhelming support of Proposition 55 shows they never want to go back to the days of devastating cuts that drastically impacted our schools and communities," said Eric Heins, president of the California Teachers Association.

Transportation projects in San Francisco and Los Angeles will also get a boost. Voters approved the $3.5 billion Bay Area Transit Measure and Los Angeles County's Measure M, extension of a half cents sales tax expected to generate $860 million a year.

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