Voter Guide 2001: Parcel tax, bond measure on Las Lomitas ballot Voter Guide 2001: Parcel tax, bond measure on Las Lomitas ballot (October 24, 2001)

By David Boyce
Special to the Almanac

Voters in the Las Lomitas Elementary School District will decide November 6 whether to approve two measures to raise funds for a variety of needs, ranging from teacher training and foreign-language instruction to fixing roof leaks and replacing a 1960s-era heating system.

Measure D would extend the district's parcel tax six years and double it to $196. If passed, the tax would generate close to $4.8 million over the six years for teacher salaries and training, student programs and other operating expenses. Seniors living in the district may qualify for a tax exemption.

Measure E authorizes the sale of $12 million in bonds to upgrade the schools' physical plant by replacing or repairing lighting, flooring, wiring and ventilation systems. The funds would also pay for improving playgrounds, fields and landscaping, and the construction of a new gymnasium at La Entrada school.

Paying off the bonds, including interest, would cost property owners an estimated $19.21 a year per $100,000 of assessed valuation (not market value) for the life of the bonds, estimated at 25 to 40 years. A district resident with a home assessed at $500,000 would pay $96 a year.

Interest payments can equal or exceed principal payments. The interest rate depends on market conditions at the time the bonds are sold.

Mary Ann Somerville, the district superintendent, said students would see better with upgraded lighting and would be warm and dry in the winter. She described the older classrooms at Las Lomitas school as dark and dingy and the heating system as unreliable.

With the capital improvements, Ms. Somerville said, teachers would no longer have to coordinate classroom activities to avoid blowing fuses from overloaded wiring. "We just can't continue without doing the repairs and renovations," she said.

She noted that parents would not tolerate work environments that resembled current classroom conditions, so they should not tolerate it for their children.

Ms. Somerville said that what is serving as a gym at La Entrada is actually a multipurpose auditorium with a hardwood floor and some basketball hoops. The facility is overbooked, she said, with drama and music programs conflicting with sports and physical education programs.

Opponents of Measures D and E point out that the Las Lomitas district's budgets have risen steadily over the past several years and that eight years ago, the district was funding itself on property taxes alone. They counsel patience and careful spending, using existing property tax revenues.