On Tuesday, citizens will be asked to cast their votes on a $180 million bond measure that proposes to update and renovate Bakersfield College buildings, as well as those of the two other colleges in the Kern Community College District.
Measure G, which is a bond that allows improvement projects to take place on all of the KCCD campuses, will be used for the BC, Cerro Coso and Porterville campuses and also districtwide projects.
Steve Eso, faculty union president, explained that the main goal of the bond measure is to improve the facilities and expand the campuses. Ultimately, these upgrades would help in the reduction of class sizes in the future, he said.
“The main reason we’re endorsing this (bond) is we’re seriously underfunded by the state,” Eso said.
Enrollment at BC has surged over the past decade, and state funding has not kept up with the growth of the district, said Dr. Walter Packard, chancellor of the KCCD.
“The state is not in a position to cover our needs,” Packard said. “We can address pressing problems more effectively and more quickly through a bond.”
Because BC is the largest of the schools in the district, it will receive the bulk of the bond.
If passed, BC is scheduled to receive $115 million Packard said.
But critics argue the method of funding the bond will be too costly to taxpayers and the district needs improved communication with all parties involved over the entire duration of the measure, which is almost two decades.
Joe Johnson, who was employed as a campus police officer at BC for more than 16 years before retiring last semester, says he is worried about the proper management of the bond if it passes.
“My concern is that for the past 12 years, BC has had a budget problem,” he said. “The district should better manage their own budgets instead of throwing hardships on the taxpayers.”
According to the bond measure, funding for the bond will come from property tax revenue.
The cost for property owners will be $1 a month per $100,000 of assessed valuation per year.
Taxpayers are already paying billions of dollars in taxes because of previous mishandling of budget money, Johnson said.
“This is really costing homeowners, who are already paying $1,700 to $2,000 in property taxes annually,” he said.
A property survey of the district was done and the average assessed valuation of the property affected by the measure is $87,000.
These property owners would pay an extra $10.44 in taxes every year on average for 25 years, according to the survey.
If the bond is passed, 65 percent of the taxed property that will be affected by the bond measure is owned by agriculture companies and oil interests, said Walt Howald, director of the Bakersfield College Foundation.
The other 35 percent is owned by retail businesses and private homes. According to Howald, the property distribution is an accurate representation of the community and will allow each taxed sector to contribute within its capabilities.
Plans were developed by each school to determine what projects needed to be completed, Packard said.
By law, money can only be spent on the projects outlined in the measure.
A formal oversight committee of consultants from the community will oversee how the money is being spent, according to Packard.
But Johnson maintained that control should lie with independent auditors and protections need to be put in place to ensure the bond is used properly.
“The district has always been operating in the red, not in the black,” he said.
Also, he said more of the revenue needs to be directed toward student and professor needs.
“Students, professors and taxpayers should not have to pay the price for the district’s mishandling of their budgets,” he said.
BC will renovate and construct science and engineering facilities. Also, the district will acquire land to expand local education centers.