Economy could thwart school bond passage

By Jessica Keller
Argus Observer
Saturday, October 4, 2008 11:21 PM PDT

Ontario Middle School students leave school to awaiting parents or school buses at the end of the day Wednesday. If passed in November by voters, a good portion of an $18.5 million bond would go toward facilities improvements at OMS, but each of the other Ontario School District schools would benefit as well.

ONTARIO — The Ontario long-range school facilities plan is done, and all that is needed to move to phase 2 of the improvement blueprint is the majority of voters to support an $18.5 million bond measure in November.

Given the current economic instability, that could be easier said than done, but at least one Ontario School Board member and a member of the Ontario School Facilities Task Force promotion committee are hopeful more than half the voters who turn out will still vote yes.

The current economic situation “certainly doesn’t help,” Ontario School Board member David Cox, who was also a part of the Ontario School Facilities Task Force that developed the long-range plan prior to his appointment to the board, said.

“We’re cautiously optimistic that there is strong enough support in the community and that our request is modest and that people will still vote for it,” he said of the promotion committee.

Ontario voters are being asked to decide on a district-wide construction bond levy, to be paid over 20 years, not to exceed $1.49 per $1,000 property valuation. The $18.5 million would be used to construct a new building at Ontario Middle School for seventh- and eighth-graders and administrators and renovating an existing building to better accommodate sixth-graders; provide for new science classrooms at the high school and adequate space for vocational programs; make external site improvements; update existing systems and facilities at each of the schools, including safety, heating and ventilation improvements; and pay bond issuance costs.

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Cox said one benefit is the current proposed plan was developed based on what community members want and indicated they would support.

“The plans didn’t spring out of our head,” he said. “It came from the community.”

Cox and task force bond promotion committee member Ralph Poole, who was also part of the original task force, said approval from senior citizens will be key in this bond election because many of them are on fixed incomes. Cox said, however, he has no doubt checkbooks will play a large part for everybody.

“Yes, I think it’ll certainly come down to an economic issue,” he said.

Poole said, while economic uncertainty is making everyone nervous, he thinks Ontario is removed enough from the current financial troubles bogging the nation.

“I think that everybody’s concerned about what’s going on on Wall Street and Washington D.C., but I think we’re not impacted to nearly the degree as the bigger cities,” Poole said.

Economics are not the only challenge for the successful passage of the school bond because Ontario voters will also vote on a permanent tax base of 50 cents per $1,000 property valuation per year for a library district. Poole said it is possible school district voters may be disinclined to vote in favor of two property tax levies, and he hopes they recognize the value and need for both.

“You know, I hate seeing two requests on the same ballot, but timing was such that it was coincidental I think, and hopefully people won’t have to choose between one or the other,” he said.

Ontario senior citizen Eunice Guerrant said, although she isn’t a property owner and won’t vote to increase others’ property taxes, even though her own rent may increase, she does think the Ontario schools are long overdue for the improvements. She also believes permanent funding for the library is needed as well.

“I would like to think they have a chance, but I can also understand with all that’s going on in the country some people would say, ‘Wait a minute, we can’t do this now,’ ” she said.

However, Guerrant said she wouldn’t be surprised if many people were forced to choose between one or the other or neither based on financial circumstances.

“They’re competing for our dollars, and we only have so many dollars,” she said. “So we have to decide where our priority is and decide where we’d like our dollars to go.”