September 4, 2012 
ISSUE 22
Greetings! 
Bond Oversight Committees, Toothless Watchdogs?
Forum: A School Bond Reform Wish 
August 29, 2012 | By Bill Effinger | www.nctimes.com

 

EXCERPT: Now that the after-the-fact hullabaloo has latently "exposed" the Capital Appreciation Bond scam perpetrated on taxpayers by a broad spectrum of San Diego County school districts, and our county tax collector is demanding reform of the system, maybe it's also time to take a hard look at the structure of Citizen Oversight Committees (COCs) within the districts.

     Ironically, the concept for the oversight committees was created in the city of San Marcos for a previous bond issue and adopted in 1998, subsequently becoming state law. However when legislators created the current law, the wording was left somewhat loose, allowing school districts to frame their COCs to their liking, and to my astonishment, there has been no real "oversight" for numerous COCs throughout the state.

     Recently, a statewide group formed under the name California Bond Oversight Committees (CALBOC) and it has begun sending newsletters to various COC members warning of similar infractions among school districts. When I became a member of CALBOC nine months ago, my education began and I began raising questions within our COC and the district board. ... ... by law, the COCs are not formed until after a bond issue is past, eliminating any kind of citizen oversight/input into that process. ...  ...Not only was the SMUSD COC not formed or allowed to give input into the bond issue, our committee was not formed until more than a year after a noncompetitive bid, negotiated contract of $180 million was given to the contractor and seven months after the high school was under construction. ...   

   ... I humbly suggest that if the county tax collector is serious in his pursuit of reforming the bond process, he adds a complete overhaul of the structure and duties of all school and college district COCs to his wish list.

 
To read the complete forum please visit:
West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD)
School District Asks Voters for Sixth Bond

August 28, 2012 | Kevin Dayton | www.laborissuessolutions.com

  

EXCERPT: ... Voters in Richmond, El Sobrante, Pinole, Hercules, El Cerrito, North Richmond, and Kensington will need to consider the limits of their community debt for school construction at the November 6, 2012 election. For the SEVENTH time since 1998, the elected school board of the West Contra Costa Unified School District is asking voters to approve a measure that would allow the school district to borrow money from investors through bond sales. This time this school board seeks permission to borrow $360 million. That does NOT include interest payments and financial transaction fees. ...   

    ...The total amount of the five approved bond sales is $1,270,000,000.00. Only once did voters in the West Contra Costa Unified School District not approve a bond measure - in a special election in 2003 in which two-third of voters were required to approve the measure, rather than the 55% customarily sought today by school districts and community college districts. ...

     ... But $1.27 BILLION is NOT the real amount taxpayers owe to investors who bought these school bonds. According to a June 7, 2012 statement related to an upcoming sale of bonds issued by the West Contra Costa Unified School District, the district's total annual debt service for these five sets of bond sales is $1.77 billion. Taxpayers owe $1,774,072,000.12 because of interest payments to investors, as well as fees for bond counsel, disclosure counsel, financial administration, escrow agents, rating agencies, printing, and insurance.

     ... page 118 of that June 7, 2012 preliminary official statement for the sale of bonds by the West Contra Costra Unified School District contains some revealing nuggets of information for taxpayers:

  • On August 11, 2004, the West Contra Costa USD borrowed $28,746,812 by selling the Measure D Series 2002 C Capital Appreciation Bonds. The interest to be paid by 2036 will be $67,063,188, for a total burden to school district taxpayers of $95,810,000.
  • On October 19, 2005, the West Contra Costa USD borrowed $95,250,422 by selling the Measure D Series 2002 D Capital Appreciation Bonds. The interest to be paid by 2036 will be $157,139,526, for a total burden to school district taxpayers of $252,389,998. ...

To read complete original article please visit:  

laborissuessolutions.com/for-the-seventh-time-in-15-years-school-board-of-west-contra-costa-unified-school-district-asks-voters-to-let-them-borrow-money-by-selling-bonds/

School Bond Tax Rates per $100K by
School District in Contra Costa County
August 22, 2012 | By Charley Cowens | www.met3000.cowens.net

West Contra Costa........$232.20           Martinez..............................$60.80
Pittsburg..........................$144.30           Orinda/Acalanes.................$60.70
Oakley/Liberty................$115.30           Walnut Creek/Acalanes......$57.30
Brentwood/Liberty .......$107.40            John Swett...........................$41.80
Byron/Liberty ................$ 73.10             Antioch.................................$41.70 
San Ramon ......................$ 66.40            Knightsen/Liberty...............$38.60
Moraga/Acalanes............$ 64.50            Canyon/Acalanes................$33.30
Lafayette/Acalanes ........$ 61.20             Average...............................$78.74 
Mount Diablo...................$ 61.20           Median.................................$61.20 

EXCERPT: People in the West Contra Costa USD pay an in�cred�ibly dis�pro�por�tionate tax rate for school bonds even be�fore tacking on an extra 20% in�crease in the tax rate through this pro�posed new bond (Nov. 2012). Re�member, WCCUSD is a de�clining en�roll�ment district. The closest com�peti�tors in tax rate are dis�tricts that have had sub�stan�tial growth re�cently. While I'm sure there are ra�tio�nal�iza�tions for us having a high school bond tax rate (be�fore the new bond is even added in), the ra�tio�nal�iza�tions would have to ex�plain not just why WCCUSD is com�pa�rable to ex�panding dis�tricts, but why we leap over all other school dis�tricts in the county to such an ex�ag�ger�at�edly high tax rate.
To read the complete post please visit:
In This Issue
Bond Oversight Committees. A school Bond Reform Wish
School District Asks Voters for a Sixth Bond Measure
A Closer Look at School Bond Tax Rates
NEXT CaLBOC Board Meeting
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The Next CaLBOC

Board Meeting is 

November 9, 2012 

10 am -  3 pm

Sacramento Chamber of Commerce

One Capital Mall

Sacramento, CA


Topics include
Legislation


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To promote school district accountability by improving the training and resources available to California's Proposition 39 School Bond Oversight Committees and educating the state legislature, local school boards and the public about the oversight and reporting powers these Citizens' Bond Oversight Committees (CBOCs) have, and to advocate on a state level, where appropriate, on issues of common concern to all CBOCs.

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