1,621 / 45.36% Yes votes ...... 1,953 / 54.64% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

Approval of Measure Q would authorize the Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District ("District") to issue $21,500,000 in general obligation bonds.

Funds received from the sale of the bonds would be used only for the construction, rehabilitation and equipping of District facilities, or the acquisition or lease of real property for District facilities. No funds may be used for teacher or administrator salaries, or other school operating expenses.

As required by law, the Board of Education of the District ("Board of Education") has adopted a list of the specific school facilities projects to be funded by the sale of the bonds. The Board of Education will conduct annual, independent financial and performance audits to ensure that funds received from the sale of the bonds will have been expended only on the specific projects listed, and will appoint a citizen's oversight committee to inform the public on expenditures.

The bonds would be issued and sold at an interest rate not to exceed the maximum rate allowed by law, presently 12% per annum, and would be repaid by a property tax levied upon real property located within the District over a period not to exceed forty (40) years.

This Measure requires a fifty-five percent (55%) vote for passage.

NOTICE TO VOTERS

Approval of Measure Q does not guarantee that the proposed project or projects in the Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District that are the subject of bonds under Measure Q will be funded beyond the local revenues generated by Measure Q. The school district's proposal for the project or projects may assume the receipt of matching state funds, which could be subject to appropriation by the Legislature or approval of a statewide bond measure.

In 1992 when our community overwhelmingly voted to create a K-12 school district, there were no permanent high school facilities. Measure Q will complete the plan parents, teachers and school leaders envisioned by constructing a permanent high school on the Vasquez site.

Teaching and learning in portables is not easy. Classrooms and science labs are barely adequate to meet minimum standards. No high school library exists. Electrical wiring and outlets in classrooms limit access to technology. Heating and ventilating are inefficient and costly to operate. As student enrollment grows, Vasquez' portables will deteriorate more rapidly and safety hazards will increase.

Measure Q will authorize permanent facilities for Vasquez High School, including:

- Permanent classrooms

- A library

- Modern science and computer labs

- Proper access to technology

- Student and staff restrooms

- Appropriate security systems, outdoor lighting, fencing, walkways and school grounds to ensure student and staff safety and security

- Core high school facilities to serve 700 students

All Measure Q funds will stay in our community, benefiting our local students.

Measure Q will qualify our community for up to $6 million in State matching funds. Without passage of Measure Q, these funds will be given to other school districts in California that have passed local school bonds.

By law, every dollar raised by Measure Q will go directly into providing modern school facilities with proper access to technology and to improving the district's financial standing by responsibly reducing debt.

Measure Q is tax deductible. Quality schools help maintain property values.

Measure Q is supported by parents, teachers, senior citizens, businesses and leaders throughout our community.

Please vote YES on Measure Q.

SHEILA COOK
Parent/Realtor/School Volunteer

VIRGINIA APPLEN
Parent/Community Volunteer

RICHARD ANDERSON
Fire Fighter

MAXIMINO S. DURAN
Grandparent

WENDY K. BARNES
Parent/Vasquez High School Teacher

Measure Q will not complete phase 1 of the high school. The first sale of this bond is for $13,000,000.00. The proposal is to build a permanent Vasquez High School, pay off a previous $2.6 million 1998 Series A Certificate of Participation #1 debt, with no accountability.

This bond issue will cost in excess or $100,000,000.00 to property owners over the life of the bond.

Measure Q claims to be about our children and our schools. Our kids will end up paying for these bonds for 30 to 40 years! It's also about our homes. How many people, especially the elderly on fixed incomes, will stand to lose their homes if they cannot pay the increased taxes?

We are already paying taxes for county Libraries. There is a Citizens Committee working with a County representative to build a County/Community Library next to Vasquez High School. Are we going to be double taxed?

Many parents, teachers, seniors, business people, community leaders and property owners are against this bond.

Please Vote NO on Measure Q!

TANA LAMPTON
Resident, Taxpayer A.D. 25 Yrs.

ELEANOR M. BRAUN
Historian NHC of A/AD

RAY F. BILLET
Owner of Blum Ranch

ROBERT CONNELLY Resident & Landowner

This Bond means that you will pay more property taxes unless you vote NO. Depending on the value of your property, the impact of the Bond means that it could cost you hundreds of dollars every year for approximately 40 years.

What the politicians are not telling you about the GO BOND is that they are going to spend a portion of the bond tax to pay off existing School District debts. Even if the debts were partially satisfied with the New Tax, there still would not be enough money to complete building Vasquez High School.

The politicians are relying on matching funds from the State to complete construction of the school.

Don't be fooled by the term "State Matching Funds." At present these so called Matching Funds are less than half of the District's amount spent. Unless the State Bond measure passes the fund is empty. It is still your tax money!

Let the politicians come up with another plan that does not include the payment of higher property taxes. Higher property taxes will not insure that the children get a better education.

It doesn't take buildings to educate kids!

Vote NO on School Bonds!

TANA LAMPTON
Resident/Taxpayer A.D. 25 Yrs.

ELEANOR M. BRAUN
Historian NHC of A/AD

RAY F. BILLET
Owner of Blum Ranch

ROBERT CONNELLY
Resident, Landowner

Measure Q is about one thing--quality facilities for Vasquez High School.

Here are the facts:

1. Every single student attending Vasquez High School--the entire high school campus--is educated in portables. This will continue indefinitely unless we approve Measure Q.

2. Vasquez High School has no school library.

3. Science labs barely meet minimum standards, let alone provide the kind of instruction our children should be getting to prepare for college and a competitive workforce.

4. Our temporary Vasquez facilities will continue to age and deteriorate. The longer we wait to build permanent facilities on the site, the more expensive it will be.

5. It is fiscally responsible to pay off debt at lower interest rates with proceeds from the bond. This will free up other money that can be used for improving educational programs and keeping the best teachers by providing adequate salaries and benefits.

6. The State requires school districts to raise funds locally to qualify for State matching funds that reduce the cost to local taxpayers of rehabilitating our schools. Without Measure Q, these matching funds will go to other school districts.

The children of our community deserve good schools. The economic well-being and quality of life in our community depend on good schools.

We need a permanent high school. Please vote YES.

SHEILA COOK
Parent/Realtor/School Volunteer

VICTORIA PIQUE
Parent/Community Volunteer

RICHARD ANDERSON
Fire Fighter

MAXIMINO S. DURAN
Grandparent

WENDY K. M. BARNES
Parent/Vasquez High School Teacher

An election will be held in Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District (the "District") on November 5, 2002, for the purpose of submitting to the electors of the District the question of incurring a bonded indebtedness of the District in a principal amount of $21.5 million. If such bonds are authorized and sold, the principal thereof and interest thereon will be payable from the proceeds of tax levies made upon the taxable property in the District. The following information regarding tax rates is given to comply with Section 9401 of the California Elections Code. Such information is based upon the best estimates and projections presently available from official sources, upon experience within the District, and other demonstrable factors.

Based upon the foregoing and projections of the District's assessed valuation, and assuming the entire debt service will be paid through property taxation:

7. The best estimate of the tax which would be required to be levied to fund the bond issue during the first fiscal year after the sale of the first series of bonds based on estimated assessed valuations available at the time of filing of this statement is $59.62 per $100,000 of assessed valuation for the year 2003-04.

8. The best estimate from official sources of the tax rate which would be required to be levied to fund the bond issue during the first fiscal year after the last sale of the bonds and an estimate of the year in which that rate will apply based on estimated assessed valuations available at the time of filing of this statement, is $59.42 per $100,000 of assessed valuation for the year 2017-18.

9. The best estimate of the highest tax rate which would be required to be levied to fund the bond issue and an estimate of the year in which that rate will apply, based on estimated assessed valuation available at the time of filing of this statement is $59.99 per $100,000 of assessed valuation for the year 2036-37.

Attention to all voters is directed to the fact that the foregoing information is based upon projections and estimates only. The actual times of sales of said bonds and the amount sold at any given time will be governed by the needs of the District and other factors. The actual interest rates at which the bonds will be sold, which in any event will not exceed the maximum permitted by law, will depend upon the bond market at the time of sales. The actual assessed values in the future years will depend upon the value of property within the District as determined in the assessment and the equalization process. Hence, the actual tax rates and the years in which such rates are applicable may vary from those presently estimated as above stated.