Palm Springs USD Seeking $465M In Bonds With Measure S

This November, voters in the Palm Springs Unified School District will be asked whether or not to approve Measure S, a $465 million bond package that will be used to improve specialized classrooms, update others and modernize some of the district’s older facilities.

“We have a standard here in Palm Springs of having excellent facilities,” Jeffrey Simmons, assistant superintendent of Business Services, said. “We continue to do so with the help of the citizens.”

Simmons said the bond revenue would be used to finish the modernization of Cathedral City High School, which was started with funds from a previous bond. It would also be used to modernize both Bubbling Wells and Vista Del Monte elementary schools.

“Those are some of the major projects, and that will take up a good chunk of that money,” Simmons said. “We kind of keep a running list of what we can get approved by the state to be reimbursed on at that 50% rate through the bonds and the grants that they have…to make sure that we’re getting as much money back as we possibly can in order to keep this momentum going for us.”

In addition, he said bond revenue would be used to improve vocational, career technical education and college preparation classrooms and facilities; expand science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) classrooms and labs; and replace deteriorating heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.

Prior to heading out for bond, the district conducted polling with voters and received overwhelming support from the community.

“We did a survey, and it was very positive,” Simmons said. “It was very positive feedback in support of this as it usually is in this area.”

Voters previously approved Measure E in 2008, which provided the district with $516 million. Voters later approved Measure I, which reauthorized $216 million of that initial bond.

“We’ve sold the last series of the last bond that we had, and we’re still continuing to need improvements in particular areas and also at particular schools that are around the 30 year old mark,” Simmons said. “So we decided to put this bond out there with the promise that we weren’t going to increase taxes beyond the current rate, just extend those taxes.”

When it comes to property taxes, the district is asking voters to approve a levy of up to $40 for every $100,000 in assessed value for all residential, commercial and industrial properties. However, Simmons said that property owners will not see an increase in their taxes.

“The first step for me was getting the rate down to a correct amount, to where we’re collecting the right amount of taxes, and the county is holding onto the reserve rate that they’re looking for,” Simmons said. “We were in a situation where the reserves were becoming a little bit high, so we wanted to negotiate this down.”

Simmons said the tax rate went from about $145 to $106 per $100,000 of evaluation throughout the process of evaluating the district’s tax rate with the county, a rate he said would not increase throughout the lifetime of this bond.

“We will sell the bonds, the series, in such a way to where it won’t go over that amount,” he said. “It’ll actually reduce down from that [as past bonds mature], but it won’t go over that amount. That’s our promise.”

Simmons said now is the right time for this bond because the district still has a number of capital projects that need funding and general elections tend to be more favorable for school bond elections due to the larger voter turnout.

“We’re trying to keep that balance between, you know, the tax rate and our needs, and being very responsible as to how we sell these series,” Simmons said. “We want them to trust us so we can continue to help their students and provide the best facilities and meet their expectations.”