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Measure E – Santa Clara County (June 3, 2014)
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Election - June 3, 2014
Santa Clara County
Measure E:
Bond issue of $99,000,000 for Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District:
To upgrade local schools with funding that cannot be taken by the State, shall Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District make essential safety repairs, fix or replace leaky and aging roofs, keep schools clean and well-maintained, update science labs, classrooms and technology, prevent classroom overcrowding, renovate, construct, acquire classrooms, sites, equipment, facilities, by issuing $99 million in bonds, at legal rates, with citizen oversight, annual independent audits, qualify for State matching funds, and no funds for administrator salaries?
SVTA recommends a NO vote against Measure E.
Here's why:
When school boards ask voters to go into debt with bond measures like Measure E, what are they saying? They want to borrow money, in part, to pay for the following:
1. Keep schools "clean and well maintained"If you want your house cleaned, do you take out a 25 year loan to hire a cleaning service?
2. Provide updated classroom technology
3. Fixing "leaky roofs"
4. Update "smoke alarms"
No? But, that's what the School District is asking you to approve.
If you want to buy a laptop computer, do you take out a 25 year loan to pay for it?
No? But, that's what the School District is asking you to approve.
If your roof needs a leak fixed, do you take out a 25 year loan to pay for it?
No? But, that's what the School District is asking you to approve.
If you wanted to update your smoke alarm, do you take out a 25 year loan to buy a $49.95 smoke detector?
No? But, that's what the School District is asking you to approve.
No sane person would do such things. And at a cost that could exceed $30,500 per student -- NOT counting interest expense.
This is irresponsible behavior. Don't reward bad behavior! Vote NO on Measure E.
Is this the best use of $99,000,000 plus interest of your money?
Education Data Partnership shows at least at least 3,232 students in the district, which means the bond cost could exceed $30,500 per student -- NOT counting interest expense. When you buy a home, truth in lending laws require that you be told the real cost of buying that home. For example:
Borrow $99,000,000 & pay 3% interest for 25 years: payments are $2,970,000/year in interest, for a lifetime interest cost of $74,250,000 and you still have to pay back the principle: $99,000,000. Total cost = $173,250,000!
Shouldn't consumer protection laws apply to bond issues, too? As taxpayers, we deserve to know the full truth about Measure E. We don't even know when this debt will begin, let alone what the market interest rate will be, when it does.
Let's teach the School Board to be more responsible by voting NO on Measure E.
For more information, visit http://www.SVTaxpayers.org/2014-06-los-gatos-saratoga-joint-uhsd-bond
VOTE NO
on
MEASURE E!
You may read the Full Text, Arguments, Rebuttal Arguments, and Impartial Analysis of Measure N
at the web site of the County Elections Office: here.
Paid for by the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association PAC.