These Voices are against Oak Park's school bond

In today's crazy economic times, we're all cutting back and extremely concerned about committing any additional dollars from our family budget to just about anything. But the Oak Park schools have come back and are now asking for a fourth education tax on top of our regular property taxes.

Are you wondering what these four taxes would mean for you? Do the math. Multiply $184 ($115 for the 1977 tax, $24 for the 2006 tax, and $45 for the new Measure R) by the assessed value of your home. Take off the last four zeros. Then add $197 for the Measure C parcel tax. With an $800,000 home, you'll be paying $1,669 just in additional school taxes. For a $1,000,000 house, you'll be paying $2,037.

How many times can they keep adding school taxes to our tax bill? We can't help but wonder how fixing a few roofs, and updating some plumbing and air conditioning systems can add up to $29.4 million, enough to practically build two new elementary schools from scratch.

This bond is being sold by the district as being strictly for necessary repairs, but when you add all of the "repair" items together— roof and plumbing repairs, carpeting and painting—you only get $6.1 million. The rest, $23.3 million, appears to consist primarily of upgrades such as building renovations, solar heating, clean energy systems, technology networks and even allows for demolition and construction of replacement buildings.

With this economy, with the short sales and foreclosures in our neighborhoods, with the threat of lost jobs and a depressed economy, it's no time to commit to yet another tax that most of us, frankly, can't afford right now. The higher your property taxes, especially since they're already the highest in Ventura County, the harder it will be to sell your home if you need to.

It's fiscally irresponsible to keep trying to have the best of everything in our schools, from $15,000 white boards to airconditioned gyms, when most taxpayers can't afford to have the same level of quality in our own homes.

Vote no on Measure R, and let's use smart money management to make the few repairs that are absolutely necessary right now. Kim Lyon Oak Park

Measure R on the Nov. 4 ballot in Oak Park is not just about school bonds. It's also a referendum on the Oak Park Unified School District's management. After all, we wouldn't want to give the district $29.4 million in our tax money if we thought it would waste those funds, would we?

The problem with Measure R is that we really don't know what the district will do with that money. The school board has not seen fit to give the voters a detailed project list and timetable. And though it might put out a list of some sort shortly before election day as it did with Measure H in 2006, we can't count on it to answer all our questions. That's one reason to vote against R. We can't trust a school district that isn't completely clear about its agenda.

Here's another reason: all those transfer students. I have nothing against the kids from outside the district whose parents want them to have an Oak Park education. But when they make up 20 percent of the student body, our schools are no longer tied to the community as they once were.

The district is running schools for a whole region, not just for Oak Park. But Oak Park residents still pay the bills and our school taxes are already much higher than those in neighboring areas that send us their students.

You get the picture. Families from outside Oak Park pay lower taxes and benefit from our higher taxes. The district says we need all these outside students to keep programs going and maintain Oak Park's reputation for excellence. All I can say is that Oak Park schools were recognized as excellent when they were smaller and when the district had only two elementary schools.

The bottom line of Measure R is that it would raise our taxes to maintain a school system that's more than we need. That's waste. That's mismanagement. That's a strong reason to vote no on R. Ada Gordon Oak Park

The analysis and full text of Measure R, now available to Oak Park taxpayers, make interesting reading. We learn, for instance, that the school district intends to issue the last of the $29.4 million in Measure R bonds before the start of the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

This is a short-term spending plan, not aimed at meeting the district's long-term needs. We can expect to see another bond issue before long to pay for the projects (such as the major additions at Brookside Elementary and Oak Park High) that were included in Measure H6 in 2006 and excluded here. So don't think this is the last property tax increase that the district has in mind for you.

And don't assume that the district has a well-defined list of projects. According to the official text, the potential uses of Measure R funds are almost limitless. The measure spells out a long list of possible projects, not just roof repairs and fire/earthquake safety upgrades, but also new air conditioning and solar heating systems; new voice/data communication systems; new sidewalks, canopies and landscaping; and even new portable classrooms (to hold all those out-of-district students).

What's more, a clause in Measure R gives the district nearunlimited discretion to use the bond money for new construction "if the board of trustees determines that replacement and new construction is more practical than rehabilitation and renovation, considering the building's age, condition, expected remaining life, comparative cost and other relevant factors."

The district can say it means to use the bonds for urgent repairs, but Measure R doesn't hold it to that promise. Measure R is really just a down payment on the district's wish list, with no guarantee to voters that the really important work will get done.

That's one more reason to vote no on Measure R. Tom Gray Oak Park