Facility Bond - Measure LL Overview
The voters of our community approved Measure LL in November 2018. This measure is intended to bring much needed relief to our aging school classrooms and facilities. For a little bit of history, the last school facilities bond approved by voters in Vista was almost 20 years ago - Measure O. This bond was a great success, allowing us to renovate many classrooms and construct new facilities like Foothill Oak Elementary and Mission Vista High School. As the Measure LL facilities bond projects start, Vista Unified is committed to including the community in transparent communications, updates, and forums so every member of our community is actively engaged in this important school facilities improvement process. To this end, we have developed a communication plan that is easily accessible to all members of the community. This plan includes periodic updates on individual construction projects, detailed reports to the school board, and live community forums before and during the construction projects so that the community members may learn about the details of the projects and provide feedback to the bond team.
Measure LL Summary of Overall Project
The Measure LL facilities bond overall project is large. The goal of the bond is to invest $247,000,000 of the taxpayer’s money in improving classrooms and facilities throughout Vista Unified. The approval of Measure LL authorized the District to issue and sell $247,000,000 in general obligation bonds. The best estimate of the average annual tax rate is $33.15 per $100,000 of assessed valuation. That means, approximately $108 annually will be added to the property tax bill for the typical homeowner. The final fiscal year in which it is anticipated that the tax will be collected is 2057-58. This facility bond does qualify for approximately $18,000,000 in State Matching Funds. If Vista is able to receive the state matching funds, the overall project would be $265,000,000. Additionally, there are other funding resources like routine restricted maintenance and new construction developer fees that will be added to the projects to increase the construction impact. As a result of all of these funding sources braided together, Vista Unified anticipates investing more than $293,000,000 in school facility improvements over the next fifteen years (2019-2035).
Facilities Bond Purpose
- Repair or replace deteriorating roofs, plumbing, sewer lines, and electrical systems
- Replace wood and support beams that have extensive termite damage or rot
- Provide the classrooms, labs and technology to support high quality instruction in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math
- Upgrade classrooms, libraries, and science labs to keep pace with learning technology
- Provide classrooms, labs, and equipment for career and technology education so students are prepared for college and in-demand jobs in health sciences, engineering, technology, and skilled trades
The bond projects are organized into categories to address various aspects of the facilities that require upgrading. Many schools will see improvement during this bond process in more than one category.
Facilities Bond Improvement Categories
Category A - Projects to create 21st century learning environments to support science, technology, engineering, and math curriculum and career/technical education training opportunities
Category B - Projects to modernize technology infrastructure
Category C - Projects to improvement student and campus safety and security
Category D - Projects to modernize and upgrade utility infrastructure, improve building functions and systems, and install energy efficient systems
Category E - Projects to complete basic facility upgrades and to meet current academic and safety standards
Category F - Projects to remove portable buildings from school campuses
Due to the large scope of work, the bond process is intended to be completed over the course of approximately fifteen years. To better track the individual bond construction projects, they have been organized into a timeline by phases. Each phase lasts approximately three years and includes many projects. It is important to note that the projects in these phases may be adjusted by the superintendent and school board. Click HERE to view a detailed list of the individual school projects on the construction timeline.
Facilities Bond Construction Timeline
Phase 1 - 2019-2021
Phase 2 - 2022-2024
Phase 3 - 2025-2027
Phase 4 - 2028-2030
Phase 5 - 2031-2035
The facilities bond project is exciting for us all because we know that in order to realize our vision to become the model of educational excellence and innovation, we need our facilities to be high quality, safe, and stimulating places to learn and grow for all students. Please follow our progress as we work together to transform our learning environments into 21st century learning spaces that promote excellence and innovation.