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Measure D – Woodside Elementary School District (June 3, 2014)
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Election - June 4, 2014
San Mateo County
Measure D:
Bond issue of $13,500,000 for Woodside Elementary School District
To repair basic Woodside Elementary School infrastructure and protect quality academic instruction in core subjects with local funding that cannot be taken by the State, upgrade educational facilities to meet current health/safety codes, renovate heating, electrical, sewer/security systems, fix leaking roofs, shall Woodside Elementary School District issue $13,500,000 of bonds at legal rates to repair, renovate, construct, reconstruct, acquire, and equip classrooms and school facilities with independent audits, citizens' oversight, and no money for administrators?
SVTA recommends a NO vote against Measure D.
Here's why:
When school boards ask voters for permission to go into debt with bonds like Measure D, they are admitting that everything they are currently spending your tax dollars on now is more important than the projects for which this tax increase is being sought. Budgets set priorities. Woodside Elementary School District is saying every educational dollar spent today is going to something they consider a higher priority than "safety issues" and "computer technology."
Do you agree?
Would you buy a computer with a useful life of 3-5 years and pay for it with a 25-30 year loan?
No? That's what the District is asking you to do!
Education Data Partnership shows only about 453 students in Woodside Elementary School District which means this bond could exceed $56,622 per student - NOT counting any administrative expenses.
When we buy homes, truth-in-lending laws require we be told the real coast of buying these homes. For example:
Borrowing $13,500,000 and paying 3% interest for 30 years means annual interest payments of $405,000 for a lifetime interest cost of $12,150,000. Plus you have to pay back the bond principle of $13,500,000. That's a total cost $25,650,000!!!
Shouldn't consumer protection laws apply to bond issues, too? As taxpayers we deserve to know the full truth about Measure D. We don't know when this debt will begin or what the market interest rate will be when it does.
Which is more important to you?
1. Paying reasonable amounts on "safety issues" and "computer technology" now with dollars already in schools' budgets
2. sending new tax dollars - through principal and interest payments - to big banks, investment brokers, and wealthy people who buy these bonds as tax shelters.
If you value children's safety and technology more than funding tax shelters, vote No on Measure D.
If you value school maintenance more than making interest payments for 25-30 years, vote NO on Measure D.
VOTE NO
on
MEASURE D!
You may read the Full Text, Arguments, Rebuttal Arguments, and Impartial Analysis of Measure A
at the web site of the County Elections Office: here.
Paid for by the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association PAC.