LAUSD Measure US voter guide: $9 billion in property taxes to schools

Measure US would provide $9 billion in school construction bonds for the Los Angeles Unified School District. The dollars would pay for repairs and modernization of buildings, equipment and technology. The funds would be repaid over time by increases in property taxes at a rate that would average about $25 for every $100,000 of assessed valuation on residential properties.

To pass, the measure will require a 55% supermajority of votes.

The benefits and costs of these bonds apply only to areas within the boundaries of the school district. That includes the city of L.A. and all or part of some two dozen smaller cities, including Bell, Maywood, South Gate and San Fernando.

What will the measure do?

With declining enrollment, L.A. Unified no longer needs to build new campuses. The district is, however, going to continue replacing or updating aging buildings.

L.A. school officials said in a staff report that the district’s needs “are great — more than 60% of school buildings are over 50 years old and desperately in need of upgrades, which means most ... students are attending school in deteriorating and aging facilities that do not meet today’s standards for learning and safety.”

The district does have a budget for maintenance, but major repairs or upgrades — such as replacing a roof, updating a WiFi network, replacing an asphalt playground with grass and trees or installing air conditioning in a cafeteria kitchen — are typically paid for out of bonds.

Alberto Carvalho gives a thumbs-up as he and a young girl each hold a fresh meal in a cardboard tray in a school cafeteria

Projections call for about $5 billion for “major modernizations, upgrades and reconfigurations to school campuses.”

Other funding areas include: $75 million for electric buses, $461 million for cafeteria upgrades, $258 million to make spaces accessible for those with disabilities and $70.5 million for security cameras.

About $1.25 billion is to go toward school greening projects. These could include planting trees, removing asphalt from playgrounds, installing outdoor classrooms and erecting shade structures.

This $9-billion bond would be the district’s largest in total dollars, but not in spending value when adjusted for inflation and compared with a $7-billion bond in passed in 2008.

But it’s a lot of money — approaching the size of the $10-billion state education bond that will appear on ballots across California. The state bond includes $1.5 billion for community colleges, which would leave $8.5 billion for all K-12 schools statewide, including those in L.A. Unified — as the district vies separately for its own $9-billion bond.

How much will Measure US cost in taxes?

The L.A. Unified School District bond would be repaid through property taxes.

In the current year, homeowners are paying about $570 for past L.A. Unified bonds, according to a Times analysis of data provided by the district and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. The tax rate for these older bonds will decline over the next 30 years.

Measure US would push the tax rate higher and extend the repayment period.

The district estimates the added cost to property owners would be about $111 per year over the life of the bond based on the current median assessed value of homes, which the district puts at $444,269. The tax due each year would increase when the assessed value of a home rises.

District officials point out, however, that even if Measure US passes, homeowners will be paying a lower tax rate overall per year for L.A. Unified bonds than they were from 2010 through 2015. Those were peak years for the local school construction boom, begun during an era of overcrowded campuses.

For a median-priced home purchased today, which costs more than $1 million, the average new tax would be about about $275 a year, according to estimates by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn.

School bonds aside, every new property tax adds to an annual bill that already contains fees for other purposes.

Is the district out of funds for school repair and modernization?

No, the existing construction program is not yet out of money. About $3.5 billion is assigned to projects that have been approved but not put out to bid. An additional $1.8 billion is earmarked for projects that the Board of Education has yet to approve, officials said.

But district officials also say an additional $81 billion would be required to fund facility needs across the vast school system — more than even the new bond would pay for.

The current wave of projects includes the ongoing reconstruction of Belvedere Middle School in East Los Angeles and of Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights.

Bond-funded construction also could be seen recently at Jordan High School in Watts, where a clinic was built to serve the physical and mental health needs of families in a low-income community short on healthcare.

This clinic first opened in 2008, but the provider could not keep it going during the COVID-19 pandemic. A new provider, UMMA Community Clinic, is taking over the refurbished facility.

“What we have behind us is proof positive that what is happening in this community is still not a reality [in] many other communities,” L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho said at the clinic’s grand reopening. “So continued investments in physical infrastructure like these wellness centers, like air conditioning units, like roofs, window replacement. All the things that we want to see in every single community continue to be a priority for our district and our school board.”

Who are the opponents and what are their points?

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. typically opposes levies of this sort.

“At a time when Los Angeles homeowners are struggling to pay the high cost of living, including skyrocketing utility bills, this bond would sharply increase property taxes,” said Susan Shelley, the group’s vice president for communications.

What makes supporting the bond tougher for some is that district enrollment is steadily declining — a trend that experts say will lead to the closing of campuses, including some that are part of the bond spending plan.

District 3 school board candidate Dan Chang is among those who have criticized the bond, saying the district should assess its enrollment and facility needs across the school system before going to the voters for more money. The district should not pour dollars into campuses that will almost inevitably be closed, critics say.

Critics also are unhappy that the district waited until just before the election filing deadline in August to announce the proposed bond, although the district has done such last-minute maneuvers in the past. The school board voted to put the bond on the ballot with limited discussion or opportunity for public input.

Advocates for charter schools say their campuses would not get a fair share of the proceeds if the bond passes. About $300 million of the proposed bond is provisionally set aside for charter schools, which enroll about 22% of district students.

Charters are privately operated public schools that frequently make use of available space in district-operated campuses. The charter association has not taken a position on the bond.

Who are the supporters?

Among education advocates in the political center or on the left, views on the bond range from neutral to enthusiastic. Supporters include Yolie Flores, president and chief executive of the nonprofit Families in Schools; Alfred McQuarters, president of Los Angeles Trade-Technical College; and Charmaine Morales, president of United Nurses Assns. of California/Union of Health Care Professionals.

Business and construction groups frequently support school bonds because they pump money into their sectors and into the local economy in general. These supporters include Gene Hale, chair of the Greater Los Angeles African American Chamber of Commerce; Ernesto Medrano, executive secretary of the LA/OC Building and Construction Trades Council; and Stephen Cheung, president and CEO of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

How does Measure US compare with Proposition 2, the state schools bond?

Proposition 2 would allow the state to borrow $10 billion to make repairs and upgrades in school districts and at community colleges.

The money from the last successful California school bond, which passed in 2016, has long since been spent, and the state’s school repair fund is expected to be depleted by January. There is a waiting list of districts hoping the new bond will pass so that $3.4 billion can be provided for already approved projects.

If approved by a simple majority of voters, the state bond will allow legislators to borrow money that would be repaid out of the state budget over time.

L.A. school officials estimate that the district could be eligible for about $700 million from the state bond.