The district's 2008 Measure E ballot language stated that property owners would not pay a higher rate than they were already paying for bonds issued in 2002, but the district recently disclosed that the promised tax rate has already been exceeded this year due to lower-than-anticipated growth in assessed property values.

     In 2008, 64 percent of voters approved the $93 million bond measure, which promised that the bonds would be issued "without increasing current (school bond) tax rates" of $35.58 per $100,000 in assessed property value.

     The calculation was based on the assumption that property values would grow by 5.75 percent a year after 2008, even though the actual growth rate was only 5.74 percent the year before the election.

     Instead, property values declined or grew more slowly than projected, causing the tax rate to jump to $36.10 per $100,000 in 2013-14. The district is projecting the tax rate will rise to about $51 per $100,000 in 2024 if it issues the $15 million in new current interest bonds to complete school improvement projects as planned.

     Trustees voted 4-1 last month to do just that, with the understanding that the bonds could not be sold unless a judge agrees that the district can renege on its promise in the ballot language. The district is asking the court to issue an injunction preventing anyone from challenging the validity, issuance and sale of the bonds in the future.

     "Because it can be argued that the current bond issuance is not consistent with the Measure E ballot language regarding the estimated tax rate, the district will pursue a validation process through the Superior Court to ensure the legality of the bond sales, and verify that the bonds will be valid and binding," said Board President Kathy Coppersmith in a message to the community posted on the district's website last week.

     In court documents, the district is arguing that the tax rate projections included in the ballot materials were estimates that "would not prevent the district from increasing the tax rates as allowed by law if necessary to fund and build approved school facilities."...