Pass: 955 / 67.44% Yes votes ...... 461 / 32.56% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

Impartial Analysis from County Counsel

Under this measure, the Somis Union School District ("District") is submitting a bond measure, described below, to the voters for approval. The measure will become effective only if fifty-five percent (55%) of the voters vote "Yes" on the measure.

The measure would authorize the District to issue up to $9,000,000 in bonds at annual interest rates that do not exceed the legal limit. Bond proceeds must be used solely to fund projects included in the Bond Project List set forth in Appendix A-1 to the measure. The District's Board of Trustees ("Board") has certified that it has evaluated safety, class size reduction, enrollment growth, and information technology needs in developing the Bond Project List. The Board must conduct annual, independent performance and financial audits to ensure that bond proceeds have been expended only on the specific projects listed in Bond Project List.

Approval of the bond measure does not guarantee that any particular project will be fully funded or that projects will be completed in any particular order. The bond proceeds may be used to cover all project costs, including costs of issuing the bonds, informational distribution costs, and election costs authorized under State law. Funding for the projects listed in the Bond Project List may come from the bond proceeds or other sources. As required by the California Constitution, the proceeds from these bonds may be used only for the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or replacement of school facilities, including the furnishing and equipping of school facilities, or the acquisition or lease of real property for school facilities, and not for any other purpose, including teacher and employee salaries and other school operating expenses.

Principal and interest on the bonds will be payable from the proceeds of tax levies made upon the taxable property in the District. These taxes would be in addition to the property taxes currently levied on taxpayers in the District. The amount of the increased taxes each year would depend upon the amount of taxes needed to pay the principal and interest on the bonds. The bonds will only be issued if the highest projected tax rate necessary to fund this bond issue will be no more than $30.00 per year for every $100,000 of assessed valuation. The actual tax rates may vary depending on the timing of sales, amount of bonds sold at each sale, and increases in assessed valuations. The timing of the bond sales and the amount of bonds sold at any given time will be determined by the District.

An independent citizens' oversight committee shall be appointed and must review annual independent audits to assure that bond funds are spent only on school and classroom improvements and for no other purpose. District officials are also required to provide reports at least annually to the Board stating the amount of bond proceeds received and expended in that year and the status of any project funded, or to be funded, from bond proceeds.