Fullerton elementary and high school districts have new school facilities bonds on November’s election ballot. Facilities bonds allow local school districts to quickly raise large amounts of money needed to build long-lasting, expensive infrastructure projects compared to saving money for these endeavors that take too long to serve a community’s student population productively. Facilities bonds are repaid over a 25-year period by taxing local property owners and must be community voter-approved.
If approved, facilities bonds have an independent oversight committee, are audited annually, and cannot pay for any teacher salaries. All raised funds are directly spent on neighborhood school projects, and facilities bonds allow the districts to qualify for matching state funds. Facilities bonds are presented to voters as a monetary amount per every $100,000 of assessed value. Property owners find their property’s assessed value on property tax bills, which can vary widely from market value. For a house assessed at $500,000, a $30/$100,000 facilities bond adds $150 a year to the existing property taxes.
Historically, both Fullerton School District (FSD) and Fullerton Joint Union High School District (FJUHSD) responsibly discharged bond obligations by spending the money on well-planned building projects that last minimally 25 years and prudently refinancing them, saving taxpayer money. FSD’s last bond was approved in 2002, which will be completely repaid in 2025. FJUHSD is currently obligated for 2 previous facilities bonds from 2004 and 2014, meaning that, if they are passed, taxpayers will be obliged to pay for the accumulated repayment of 3 facilities bonds for the high school district.
Besides fiscal responsibility and oversite transparency, districts asking for facilities bonds need tangible projects reflecting community priorities. FJUHSD’s bond, “Measure L,” asks for an additional $21/$100,000 assessed property value to continue implementing ongoing district projects. The 2014 approved bond Measure I allowed FJUHSD to install districtwide safety and infrastructure upgrades, new science classrooms, theaters, and sports facilities. Recently surveyed about high school district facility upgrades, the Fullerton voting community showed strong support for science classroom updates, theaters, Career Technical Education facilities, safe school environments, upgrades to utilities, and access for all students. The least supported area is sports facilities but as the community learned from Measure I, the most expensive facility builds are stadiums, gymnasiums, and other sports structures.
During FJUHSD’s public board discussions concerning the projected $284 million bond, the large projects, or “rock projects” as FJUHSD Trustee Marilyn Buchi puts it, focused on a new multipurpose building for La Vista/La Sierra High School, new locker rooms throughout the school sites, new administrative office buildings, and more artificial turf fields. If FJUHSD’s Measure L is approved, property owners will owe an accumulation of $49/$100,000 of assessed property value until 2029 for FJUHSD bonds alone, then $40/$100,000 until 2039, barring any additional facilities bonds requested by the high school district.
FSD’s “Measure N” facilities bond asks for $30/$100,000 in assessed property value, and it is projected to raise $262 million. It has been over two decades since the last Fullerton Elementary School district bond was passed, and the list to upgrade 18 different school sites throughout the district is lengthy. If passed, Measure N will replace temporary classrooms with permanent energy-efficient classroom buildings and expand multipurpose room facilities and kitchen facilities, providing a greater school community with cooked-from-scratch meal service. There are technology infrastructure upgrades, removal of lead pipes, HVAC (air conditioning, filtration, and heating) upgrades, and safety upgrades scheduled for each campus.
For years, the two districts took turns asking the local property owners for bond money, but that ended in 2020, and now the need to provide funding for the elementary district is critical in many areas not at issue 20 years ago, like roofs and sewage system upgrades. Technology upgrades put a strain on the energy capacity of the district, and though FSD is well known for gaining grants from community partners and the state, a new facilities bond allows the district to carry out large, long-term upgrade projects that are desperately needed.
Voters will decide on Measure L and Measure N on November 5.
Share this:
Discover more from Fullerton Observer
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Categories: Education, Elections, Local News
With only 57% of students proficient at reading at their grade levels and less than 40% at math levels. Maybe it’s time to concentrate on teaching and not building.
Have these percentages gone up since last bonds were issued?
And people wonder why our roads are in bad shape!
You have to keep up with maintenance. But you can always come up with arguments like yours to defer it.
While I am for school maintenance I wish more fake grass fields were not part of these measures.
So if I’m understanding this article correctly, for the average home in Fullerton which is valued at $945,000, then approval of both Measure L & M will add about $747.00 annually to our property tax bills.
It is based on “assessed” value – not necessarily what you could sell your home for today.
(Assessed value is what is listed on your property tax bill and is related to how much you paid for house and land at the time you bought it)
If both L & N pass annual property tax in Fullerton would go up by $79 per $100,000 of assessed value until paid off.
So a home “assessed” at:
$200,000 –
would pay $158 more if both L & N pass.
$400,000 –
would pay $316 more if both pass.
$800,000 –
would pay $632 more if both pass.
$1,000,000 –
would pay $790 more if both pass.
So voters need to decide if that increase is worth keeping local schools high quality.
Neither troll nor Zenger live in Fullerton. Their connection is Bushala and the blog.
Wasn’t the California Lottery supposed to cover a huge share of education and maintenance expenses for public school districts in the State of California?
Can the author please tell me what the current state of bond indebtedness in the FSD and FUHSD is? How much have the previous bonds have left before they’re fully paid off?
Joseph D’Hippolito,
Thank you for writing this. We will ask this question and get some answers as soon as possible.
Dear Joseph D’Hippolito,
My bond article a few issues back answers those questions.
FSD will have no additional bond responsibility if Measure N passes- so $30/ per $100,000 assessed value.
FJUHSD will have $49/ $100,000 assessed value if Measure L passes at $21/ $100,000 for five years- then $40/ $100,000 until 2039.
The proposed FJUHSD facilities bond adds $21 to each $100,000 of tax assessed rate for district area property owners. The assessed rate (found listed on a property owner’s Orange County tax bill) is based on property tax rates, not market value, and current residential property owners still pay for 2 previous FJUHSD facilities bonds, 2004’s Measure AA and Measure I from 2014.
Measure AA built La Vista/La Sierra High School adding $9/$100,000 of assessed value until 2029, Measure I added new and renovated buildings throughout the district adding $19/$100,000 until 2039, and if passed in November, this measure will add an additional $21/$100,000 until 2049. Home owners will owe $49/$100,000 until 2029, and $40/$100,000 until 2039 when Measure I is paid off if the district does not pass any additional bonds in the interim.
Vivien Moreno
Fullerton Observer
Education Reporter