Sonoma County Junior College District
Without increasing tax rates, to improve facilities to train students for careers in nursing/firefighting/first responders, building trades, agriculture, auto mechanics; attract/retain high quality faculty, prepare students for universities; repair leaky roofs; repair, construct, and acquire classrooms/sites/facilities/equipment, shall the Sonoma County Junior College District measure be adopted authorizing $830,000,000 in bonds at legal rates, levying $25 per $100,000 of assessed valuation ($55,300,000 annually), while bonds are outstanding, and with oversight/audits/local control?
BONDS—YES BONDS—NO
Votes required to pass: 55% voter approval.
Arguments and Rebuttals in "support of" or in "opposition to" the proposed laws are the opinions of the authors.
Impartial analysis by County Counsel of Measure AB
California law allows school districts to issue bonds to pay for construction, repair, replacement, and acquisition of school facilities if 55% of the voters who vote on the measure approve the sale of the bonds. The Sonoma County Junior College District (“District”) Board of Trustees (“Board”) has placed on the ballot in Sonoma, Marin, and Mendocino Counties the question of whether to issue bonds in the amount of $830,000,000 for such purposes.
Money raised by bond sales can be used for the purposes and projects stated in the
“Project List” set forth in Measure AB. Projects include but are not limited to upgrading classrooms, labs and equipment; modernizing training facilities; upgrading technology; repairing leaky roofs; and ensuring building code compliance. As required by state law, the measure prohibits using bond proceeds for teacher or administrator salaries or other operating expenses.
The Board has evaluated its urgent critical facilities needs in developing the Project List. Inclusion of a project on the Project List does not guarantee it will be funded or completed. The Board will establish the priority and order in which projects are undertaken.
If Measure AB is adopted, the Board will conduct annual, independent financial and performance audits to ensure that bond proceeds have been expended only on the projects on the Project List. A Citizens’ Oversight Committee will be established within sixty days of the entry of the election results on the Board’s minutes. The proceeds of the bonds will be maintained in a separate account in the County Treasury, and the Board must receive an annual report on the status of projects undertaken and the amount of bond proceeds received and expended in that year.
If approved, the District has discretion to decide when to sell all or any portion of the bonds based on the need for project funds and other factors. The interest rate on the bonds would depend on the market rate at the time the bonds are sold but shall not exceed the statutory maximum. Bonds will be repaid with funds raised from an increase in property taxes based upon the assessed value of taxable property in the District anticipated to be through fiscal year 2058-59. The “Tax Rate Statement” prepared by the District’s Superintendent for the measure estimates the highest tax rate necessary to fund the bonds is $25 per $100,000 of assessed value. Those tax levies are projections, and could go up or down, depending on a number of factors including the timing and amount of bond sales, and changes in assessed property values in the District. If all bonds are sold, the total debt services, including principal and interest, is estimated at $1,760,000,000.
A “yes” vote on Measure AB will authorize the District to issue the bonds and levy taxes to pay for the indebtedness.
A “no” vote on Measure AB will not authorize either the issuance of bonds or the associated levy of taxes.
Joshua A. Myers, County Counsel
By: Adam Brand
County of Sonoma
Brandon Halter, County Counsel
By: Brandon Halter
County of Marin
Katharine Elliott, Interim County Counsel
By: Brina A. Blanton
County of Mendocino
Tax rate statement of Measure AB
An election will be held in the Sonoma County Junior College District (the “District”) on November 3, 2026 to authorize the sale of up to $830,000,000 in general obligation bonds. If such bonds are authorized and sold, principal and interest on the bonds will be payable only from the proceeds of ad valorem tax levies made upon the taxable property in the District. The following information is submitted in compliance with Section 9401 of the Elections Code of the State of California. Such information is based upon the best estimates and projections presently available from official sources, upon experience within the District, and other demonstrable factors.
- The best estimate of the average annual tax rate that would be required to be levied to fund this bond issue over the entire duration of the bond debt service, based on estimated assessed valuations available at the time of filing of this statement, is $22.00 per $100,000 (2.2¢ per $100) of assessed valuation. It is currently anticipated that the tax will be collected until fiscal year 2058-59.
- The best estimate of the highest tax rate that would be required to be levied to fund this bond issue, for each year that bonds are outstanding, based on estimated assessed valuations available at the time of filing this statement, is $25.00 per $100,000 (2.5¢ per $100) of assessed valuation first occurring in fiscal year 2041-42.
- The best estimate of total debt service, including principal and interest, that would be required to be repaid if all the bonds are issued and sold will be approximately $1.76 billion.
Voters should note that these estimates are based on projections derived from information obtained from official sources, and are based on the assessed value (not market value) of taxable property on the County’s official tax rolls. Property owners should consult their own property tax bills and tax advisors to determine their property’s assessed value and any applicable tax exemptions.
The attention of all voters is directed to the fact that the foregoing information is based upon projections and estimates only, which amounts are not maximum amounts and durations and are not binding upon the District. The actual debt service, tax rates and the years in which they will apply may vary depending on the timing of bond sales, the par amount of bonds sold at each sale and actual increases in assessed valuations. The timing of the bond sales and the amount of bonds sold at any given time will be determined by the District based on the need for project funds and other considerations. Actual assessed valuations will depend upon the amount and value of taxable property within the District as determined by the County Assessor in the annual assessment and the equalization process.
Angélica Garcia, Ed.D.
Superintendent/President
Sonoma County Junior College District
Argument in favor of Measure AB
Vote Yes on Measure AB to train the next generation of Sonoma County nurses, firefighters, EMTs, first responders, and skilled workers, without increasing tax rates.
For more than 100 years, SRJC has helped local students train for essential careers, afford college, and transfer to four-year universities. Today, SRJC teaches and trains the people who fight our fires, work in our hospitals, and respond when we call 911.
Measure AB will modernize nursing labs, classrooms, career-training facilities, and equipment; improve earthquake and fire safety; and upgrade technology, so that the people we depend on every day can learn with the tools and facilities used in today’s workplaces.
Voting Yes on Measure AB will ensure that local students can continue to train for local jobs in healthcare, public safety, building trades, agriculture, and other essential fields — right here at home.
Measure AB will not increase your property tax bill, because Measure AB does not raise tax rates. Instead, it replaces expiring bonds, maintaining or lowering the current SRJC bond tax rate.
Every dollar authorized by Measure AB remains under local control and can only be used for voter-approved SRJC projects. Funds cannot be taken by Sacramento or Washington, DC, or spent on administrator salaries or pensions. Annual independent audits and an independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee will ensure funds are spent as promised.
It’s simple: Measure AB keeps higher education and career training affordable and close to home while preparing the workforce Sonoma County depends on.
Train local students for local jobs. Protect affordable higher education. Prepare Sonoma County for the future. Vote Yes on Measure AB.
HERMAN G. HERNANDEZ
Trustee, Sonoma County Board of Education
GAYE LeBARON
SRJC Grad, Historian, Lecturer
JUDY COFFEY
Registered Nurse
DAVID PENA
Firefighter, and Alumni
CHERYL E. La FRANCHI
Rancher
Rebuttal to argument in favor of Measure AB
SRJC has been a top community college to educate local students with the nursing program one of the top credentials. The Yes on Measure AB makes its seem that remodeling existing facilities will improve the education of students. A recent bond measure of $410 million just completed was supposed to do this.
The backers of Measure AB fail in financing. They are selling property owners who pay off the bond that the tax rate won’t go up from the current bond measure. Not true! The public tax rate of $25/$100,000 of assessed value is only a projection per the County Counsel’s Impartial Analysis on Measure AB. “They are projections,” not hard numbers!
Why? We don’t know what the interest rate will be or how many bonds will be sold which is at the discretion of the District per the County Counsel’s Impartial Analysis. The public tax rate could increase! This is a 30 year bond measure potentially costing property owners $1,760,000,000 which is double the $830 million bond offered!
Voters are not told the cost of underwriting this bond will decrease the $830 million because we don’t know how it will be issued. But property owners pay for the full amount. This large bond measure could have the unintended consequence of raising the cost of renting as landlords get the new bill.
My concern is how the District came up with a large bond amount without fulling disclosing the costs of upgrades or technology equipment.
ANDREW J. SMITH
Sonoma County Resident
Argument against Measure AB
The SRJC Bond Measure lacks transparency on how they came up with the $830 million bond twice as large as the prior bond measure of $410 million. There is no list of each building and the upgrades needed anywhere per building. So how did they come up with the $830 million number? The voters are not told that the entire bond measure will go for construction costs because of underwriting costs. The cost to underwrite the bond is not listed. How will the money be managed? Bonds could be sold in smaller amounts but each time there is a cost to do that decreases money for upgrades. What’s the potential interest rate on the bond? Unknown!
The payback tax rate used is the same as the prior bond measure half the cost to make it seem not a burden on property owners who will pay back this large bond measure. But in the long run, the interest costs are substantially increased for payback. Poor financial management! Other Santa Rosa school districts pushed bond measures and then they had financial issues. This could happen to the SRJC! Vote No for better management and fiscal responsibility.
ANDREW J. SMITH
Sonoma County Resident
Rebuttal to argument against Measure AB
The opposition statement offers much speculation but ignores the facts. Measure AB is not a blank check. Every dollar is restricted to voter-approved SRJC projects, with annual independent audits and oversight by an independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee. And Measure AB does not increase the current SRJC bond tax rate. But more important is the reason this investment is needed.
More than 30,000 students learn at SRJC every year, providing an affordable pathway to college and training local students for essential local careers. These students deserve the opportunity to prepare for good careers close to home. And local employers need a strong pipeline of skilled, qualified workers.
Our communities desperately need more nurses, firefighters, EMTs, construction workers, and other skilled tradespeople. Measure AB will modernize labs, classrooms, career-training facilities, and equipment so Sonoma County students can learn with the tools and technology used in today’s workplaces.
The rise of artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the job market and increasing demand for the hands-on training that SRJC offers in careers that cannot be replaced by AI.
That is why Measure AB is supported by the nurses, teachers, and firefighters we depend on every day. It’s also endorsed by Congressman Mike Thompson, Congressman Jared Huffman, Senator Mike McGuire, Assemblymembers Damon Connolly and Chris Rogers, and the Sonoma County Democratic Party.
Measure AB protects affordable higher education, trains the workforce our community depends on, and keeps taxpayer dollars locally controlled and accountable.
Vote Yes on Measure AB.
CHRIS ROGERS
Assemblymember
DIEGO ROMAN HERNANDEZ
SRJC Student Body President
LINDA COLLISTER
SRJC Instructor, Fire Academy
JACQUELYNNE OCAÑA
Licensed Fiduciary
MICHAEL P. COUTRÉ
Citizens Bond Oversight Committee