School bond elections in California
From Ballotpedia
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| School bonds |
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California school bond elections are local ballot measures that ask voters to decide on whether the school district that is sponsoring the measure should be allowed to issue bonds, and incur the additional indebtedness that bonds bring with them.
All public school district in California are entitled to bond issues on the local ballot.
California also has a statewide school building program known as the School Facilities Grant Program which is supported by statewide bond measures such as Proposition 1D in 2006. Statewide bond measures require a simple majority to pass.
Local school districts can also issue school construction bonds and levy property taxes to pay for them, as long as the voters in the district approve.
Approval rates
Prior to 2001, districts needed two-thirds approval to pass local general obligation bond measures. More than 40% of local school bond ballot questions failed. In November 2000, California voters passed Proposition 39. Proposition 39 reduced the supermajority needed to pass a bond issue ballot question from 67% to 55%. Prop. 39 also imposed some restrictions on the allowable amount of the bond and included some accountability requirements. Since the passage of Proposition 39, districts have had the choice of whether to seek two-thirds or 55% approval. 80% of local school bond ballots that rely on the 55% approval have succeeded.
2008 school bond elections
November 4
Ninety-six (96) school bond requests were on the November 4 ballot and eighty-seven of these were approved. Altogether, $22 billion in debt was incurred in the 87 school districts where bonds were approved. The most expensive bond request was the $7 billion sought and received by the Los Angeles Unified School District. The least expensive request was that of Cold Spring in Santa Barbara County, which sought and received $2.44 million.
Of the nine bond measures that failed, four received less than 50%. The other five that failed got between 50-54.9% of the vote, but failed because to pass, they needed a supermajority vote of at least 55%.
June 3
Forty-six school financing measures were on the June 3 ballot in California. This included:
- 33 school bond measures. 26 passed; 7 failed.
- 13 parcel tax measures. 7 passed; 6 failed.
February 5
39 school districts asked for additional funding on February 5, 2008. 30 of the 39 passed with more than the 55% approval rate required by Prop 39 for their passage, for a total of approximately $3.9 billion in approved local school construction funds.
Eighteen of the thirty that passed would have failed to gain approval before Prop. 39 lowered the success threshold from two-thirds to 55%. The eighteen that passed because of the 55% threshold that would not have passed with a 2/3 threshold added $2.3 billion in new spending.
$100 billion in bonds from 1996-2006
From 1996 to 2006, California voters approved nearly $100 billion in school construction bonds at the state and local level. This total increased with passage of California Proposition 1D (2006) by another $10.4 billion.
In another study, from 1986 through 1999, 450 school districts sponsored 731 general obligation bond elections. 54% of the 731 passed. In those years, two-thirds voter approval was required; this changed in 2000 to 55%.
Statewide school bond measures
External links
- Cal Tax final election results for November 4
- California City Finance: Local Revenue Measures November 4, 2008
- Never-ending school bonds
- What is a bond?
- California's school finance system
- How to get a bond issue passed, from the National Clearinghouse on Educational Facilities (NCEF)
- February 5 approval of local school bonds
- Results of tax, bond and loan elections in California school districts, 1971-1972
- Local bond elections in California: Some vital statistics, January 2000.
- School districts, including many in valley, on thin ice in refinancing bond debt
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