Vote on School Bond Measure Authorized

Voters in November will be asked to approve a $75-million general obligation bond measure to help repair buildings in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, an action the school board authorized this week.

The bonds, which would require approval by two-thirds of the voters, would be used to make the schools structurally safe, to bring each campus up to a state of good repair and to modernize the classrooms. Many of the schools are more than 50 years old.

The bonds would be paid by property tax increases. They would cost the average homeowner in the district $5.66 a month over a 25-year period of debt repayment, according to report by an advisory committee. The board also unanimously authorized the superintendent to begin planning with a bond counsel and a financial adviser.