Voters OK $70 million facilities bond

Given the stakes, the Eugene School District will take one out of two.

“I’m extremely happy about the bond measure,” Eugene School Board Chairman Craig Smith said Tuesday night at Davis’ Restaurant in downtown Eugene, where he had gathered with other supporters of the city income tax for schools.

Although the income tax measure for schools was going down hard in partial returns, the $70 million facilities bond measure for the school district was passing by 62 percent to 38 percent. “It will enhance the safety of the schools for our kids, offset the general fund, and it’s of no additional cost to taxpayers,” Smith said.

Unlike the controversial city income tax measure, the bond measure faced no organized opposition.

And not only will it provide immediate money for new roofs, remodeling and technology, but the money is also expected to funnel $1 million annually into the district’s general fund — to help with teachers’ salaries and classroom expenses — by covering maintenance and repair costs that now come straight out of the district’s regular operating budget.

The bond measure voters were approving Tuesday was actually a scaled-down version of a $130 million bond initially proposed by Superintendent George Russell last fall. That included an additional $60 million to replace 62-year-old Roosevelt Middle School and also build a new elementary school, likely one to replace Howard Elementary School in north Eugene, also constructed in the late 1940s.

But the school board ultimately decided that asking voters for money to build new schools right after it had voted in February to close four elementary schools at the end of this school year would have sent a bad message.

Jon Lauch, the school district’s facilities director, was elated — and relieved — Tuesday after hearing the early returns.

“That’s great news,” Lauch said, speaking by telephone from his home. “The closer it got to the election, the more I was on pins and needles. I’m really pleased that the voters would support us in this way. It will help keep our buildings operating.”

The bond measure is part of a 24-year facilities plan approved by the school board in 2002 to address the district’s aging facilities. The plan’s first bond was passed in 2002 and provided $116 million for Madison and Cal Young middle schools to be replaced, and the construction of Bertha Holt and Cesar Chavez elementary schools, to replace four elementary schools that closed.

The measure will not increase local property taxes. Bond sales will be structured so that large payments won’t be made until existing bonds are paid off, keeping the property tax rate for bonded debt at its current level of about $1.30 per $1,000 of assessed property value, according to the school district.

School district officials say bond costs will be kept low because a federal stimulus program will pay the interest on a portion of the bonds, saving taxpayers a substantial amount. Under that program, which would not have been available later if the bond measure had failed, the government will pay the interest on $15 million in bonds, saving district taxpayers $23 million over the 20 years the bonds are paid off.

Before the measure passed Tuesday night, the school district opened bids earlier in the day for roofing work this summer. Now that the bond is approved, that work can go ahead, Lauch said. First up will be North Eugene High School, which is in the most dire need, he said. Bidding also began Tuesday on exterior paint jobs for Adams and Camas Ridge elementary schools, Roosevelt and the Arts and Technology Academy at Jefferson, he said.