Proposition A allows for the most urgent repairs at our nine community colleges. These projects will make the classrooms clean and safe for learning, and relieve drastic overcrowding by adding new classrooms and buildings - all projects determined to be essential after a year of diligent review by students, faculty, staff and community representatives. Every dollar will be spent only on predetermined, specific projects. No money will go to salaries, and the entire effort will be monitored by an independent committee of homeowners, business and community leaders, students and senior citizens. Audit results will be published in local newspapers and posted online.
Every person deserves a chance for higher education.
Our community colleges offer these opportunities. Now is not the time for higher taxes. With interest, the amount to be repaid by property owners will double. Proposition A is another example of the incredible debt that is going to be piled on the backs of property taxpayers as a result of the passage of state Prop. 39 last November. In the past, community colleges have primarily received their funding from state education bonds - bonds for which everyone pays through sales and income tax.