Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Bond Measure Unpopular With Those to Profit Most

Some of the residents who arguably had the most to gain from a $10.2-million school-bond measure were the ones who supported it the least.

If left to residents living around the filled-to-capacity Charles Helmers Elementary School, Measure S--a bond measure to build two new schools and relieve overcrowding--would have died at the polls Tuesday.

While Measure S won handily in the rest of the Saugus Union School District with 77.6% of the 6,039 votes cast, the 210 residents who voted at the elementary school polling facility were strongly divided on the issue.

It was the only one of 18 precincts in the district in which the measure fell short of the two-thirds majority necessary for a bond to pass, although it did obtain a simple majority of 51.4%. The close vote comes despite the fact Charles Helmers Elementary School is already at its 650-student capacity and expecting an enrollment of 765 in the fall, according to Principal Candy Clark.

A portion of Measure S will fund construction of Seco Canyon Elementary School at the end of Cypress Place, allowing the new school to open in September, 1994, and divert 400 students from Charles Helmers. Measure S assesses district property owners $1 per month for every $100,000 valuation of their home for the next 25 years.

Supporters say they are happy with the wide margin of victory overall but are not surprised by strong resistance in that precinct. Despite the relief the bond provides to the existing schools, residents in the nearby Northbridge community already face an annual fee through a Mello-Roos district.

“What the confounding variable is, they feel, ‘We are paying for Helmers School with this tax that no one else is. We’re not going to pay for schools in other areas,’ ” said District Supt. Troy Bramlett.

Northbridge has only about 180 students attending the elementary school, Clark said.

Mello-Roos districts are an alternate method of funding to pay for services such as roads, schools or other construction, allowing funding to be raised through bond sales at the beginning of a project rather than waiting for a developer to pay impact fees when permits are pulled.

The Newhall Land and Farming Co. established a Mello-Roos district for homes in the Northbridge community in 1988 to pay for schools. Surrounding communities do not pay the fee.

“I’ve got nothing against schools, but I’m already paying more and I don’t have kids,” said Scott McCree, a Northbridge resident who opposed the bond. “Some sort of exception should be made for people who are already paying.”

Residents in the project--which includes 600 homes and is to encompass 1,800 upon completion--pay based upon the size of their home. The Mello-Roos is in place for 20 to 25 years, depending upon how quickly it takes for the community to be completed, and most residents pay $700 to $1,100 per year in Mello-Roos fees in addition to their property taxes.

“It was a way for the Saugus School District to finance Charles Helmers Elementary School sooner rather than later,” said Marlee Lauffer, spokeswoman for Newhall Land.

The Mello-Roos district raised $5.8 million for the William S. Hart Union School District and $4.8 million for the Saugus Union School District. All revenue must be used for school construction.

Saugus school officials will use Measure S revenue to pay off debts on existing buildings, freeing up $700,000 per year that was previously spent on interest. That money will be used to build two 700-student elementary schools.

Besides Secon Canyon, a second, unnamed school will be on Plum Canyon Road near Wellston Drive. Construction of the second school will not begin until additional growth occurs in the district.