SBCC to seek $77 million bond

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

The Santa Barbara City College Board of Trustees announced yesterday the school will place a $77.2 million bond measure on the June 3 ballot.
A statement from the school says the board voted unanimously on Thursday in favor of the bond, which will be used to improve campus maintenance and renovate old buildings.


“This bond measure is critical for Santa Barbara City College to maintain high quality, local higher education for this community,” said Desmond O’Neill, president of the board.
If approved the bond would cost local homeowners about $8.50 per every $100,000 of their home’s assessed value. The assessed value is based on what a home was worth when it was last sold on the market.
According to a statement from the school, the money would be spent on a number of infrastructure improvements, which include seismic safety upgrades, updating heating and cooling systems and fixing leaky roofs, windows and rusty structures. Aging classrooms and facilities, many of which are more than 40 years old, would also see improvements.
City College President John Romo said the bond is necessary to provide “core, essential facilities improvements. If voters do not approve a bond this year, he said it could jeopardize millions of dollars in potential matching funds from the sate.
Over the next few months, Romo and other campus officials will present information about the bond measure to the public, the statement said.
Lanny Ebenstein, treasurer of the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association, said he supports the bond measure and will encourage the Taxpayers Association to endorse it.
“Santa Barbara City College has demonstrated the need for more building funds at this time,” he said. “The strength of this measure is that most of the funds local voters would approve will be matched at the state level. In other words, our tax dollars will go twice as far.”