Board Agrees to Expedite School Bond Repairs

The Board of Education has given the go-ahead to speeding up school repairs financed by a voter-approved $240-million school bond issue, a move that will increase property taxes in the short term.

Board members late Tuesday approved a plan to begin major construction at 18 of Pasadena Unified’s 32 schools and complete the work by 2002, instead of 2006 or 2007 as originally scheduled.

In order to have the money to make repairs soon, the school board agreed to sell more bonds at a faster rate than previously planned. District officials said such a move will mean a greater property tax increase than expected over the next five years for residents of the district.

In 2002 property owners will pay $105 on every $100,000 of assessed value, compared to about $77 under old projections. In 2003, property owners will pay $137 for every $100,000 of assessed value instead of $75, with the burden gradually dropping in the years afterward.

District officials said they opted to speed up repairs so they could get $62 million in state funding. Under state Proposition 1A, approved by voters in 1998, projects must be completed within three years to qualify for funding under the proposition.

The vote also comes amid increasing questions about the speed of the district face lift approved by voters in November 1997. So far major construction has only been undertaken at one campus.