There have been hundreds of local tax increases proposed throughout California to deal with one problem – government employee pension debt. This debt was never authorized by voters but was incurred by politicians desiring the contributions and voting clout of employee unions.
As a former local government administrator said privately last weekend, “Government takes very good care of its own.” Its ‘own’ does not include the taxpayer.
Of course, in no ballot argument and rarely even in news articles will you read that tax hikes or bonds are for pension debt. The voter is routinely deceived by government bureaucrats and their Deep State mouthpiece, the mainstream media.
School districts have joined the flurry to tap the taxpayer by passing school bonds, many of them. You may be thinking “Heh, we just passed some school bonds or we’re still paying off those bonds on our property tax bill!” Good memory.
Just one bond isn’t enough. The upcoming bond blitz will include two, three or more bond measures on the ballot. If passed, the taxpayers’ will pay their ‘fair share’ with their property taxes. The problem is that most property owners won’t see what hit them. Their tax bill is hidden in their mortgage payment.
Every CA school bond is for pensions and benefits. Pension obligations (and pay increases) are devouring more and more of school budgets. Employee costs in the San Diego Unified School district recently exceeded the entire district school budget. But not one bond measure will tell you that and neither will the media.
California’s State Auditor recently concluded that the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) with 41,000 students and 2,200 teachers is facing insolvency next year. At a May 2019 County Board of Education meeting, Sacramento City Board members learned that “91 cents of every dollar is spent on salary and benefits,” with only 9 cents going to programs. The SCUSD Board acknowledged that the Sacramento County Office of Education had warned the District for 14 years that their practices were unsustainable.
After the SCUSD ended the 2017-18 fiscal year with an $11 million deficit and just days after Superintendent Jorge Aguilar submitted the 2018-19 budget projecting another $22 million deficit (which was rejected by the county), Aguilar and seven other administrators spent more than $35,000 to attend a six-day conference at the Harvard Business School. This is typical going-broke-spending in government.
Yuba College is asking voters to approve another $228.4 million bond that will cost taxpayers $412 million. Taxpayer’s still owe $190 million on bonds approved in 2006.
The Yuba College Board has buried the district in debt in the past. The Yolo County Daily Democrat reported, “The ‘ugly circumstance’ began in April 2011, explained Chancellor Douglas Houston, when the district board sold $4.6 million in bonds under Measure J, approved by the voters in 2006.”
“Because they were a lesser-known form of general obligation bonds called capital appreciation bonds that $4.6 million will result in an eventual $54.2 million interest payment — costing the district nearly $59 million to pay down.”
“In the case of the Yuba Community College District, no payments on the $4.6 million will be made until 2038, with final payments due in 2048, 2049 and 2050. The Yuba College district’s $4.6 million in capital appreciation bonds will ultimately cost it about $12 for every $1 borrowed,” the Daily Democrat reported.
Houston and the Yuba College Board that hired him worked to reduce the damage done to the district by previous financial mismanagement. In the end, taxpayers still pay for all the financial misdeeds.
Opponents of the current bond proposal are wondering why the college is leasing administration offices for $310,000 annually on Plumas Street in Yuba City and why new buildings need to be added if enrollment is stagnant or decreasing. Others are asking why we need to borrow money for maintenance work and whether the district is top heavy with administrators. As usual with government, transparency is not its strength.
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