LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – In addition to many state propositions, Lake County's voters will decide on several local ballot measures set to appear on the November ballot.
Nine local ballot measures are on this fall's ballot, according to Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley.
The measures are targeted to specific communities and uses, so all nine won't go before all county voters.
The fall measures include:
– Measure A: A $4 million bond measure for the Lucerne Elementary School District.
– Measure B: Raises the appropriations limit for the South Lake County Fire Protection District.
– Measure C: A cannabis cultivation tax in the county's unincorporated areas that exempts personal use but charges $1 per square foot on outdoor cultivation sites, $2 per square foot on a mixed-light cultivation sites and $3 per square foot on indoor cultivation sites, which will raise an estimated $8 million annually.
– Measure Q: A $33.5 million bond measure from the Yuba and Woodland community colleges aimed at continuing improvements to campuses.
– Measure V: A one-cent sales tax in the city of Clearlake that would be used for road maintenance and improvement. It's estimated to raise $1.6 million annually. It must pass by a two-third or supermajority of voters.
– Measure W: It would make Clearlake's city clerk position appointed, not elected.
– Measure X: Proposal to make Clearlake's city treasurer position appointed, not elected.
– Measure Y: A $29.6 million bond measure by the Konocti Unified School District for additional upgrades, modernization and new facilities at district campuses.
– Measure Z: A one-cent sales tax to improve Lakeport's roads, maintain and enhance public safety services, improve youth and recreational programs. Estimated to generate $1.5 million annually. A simple majority vote is required.
In a series of articles Lake County News will explain the measures, the intention behind them and opposition to their passage.
This article will focus on Measure A, Lucerne Elementary's bond, and South Lake County Fire Protection District's Measure B.
Measure A: Improving Lucerne Elementary's outdated school facilities
Lucerne Elementary School District is asking voters in its area to give the go-ahead on a $4 million bond, Measure A, that district officials said will fund much-needed improvements to facilities and technology, and modernize or – in some cases – build new classrooms.
The school, which is kindergarten through eighth grade, was first established in 1923. Today, it sits on a 6.5-acre campus at 3351 Country Club Drive, where the school was built in 1974. Last year's enrollment was estimated at between 250 and 260 students.
With the school in serious need of upgrades, including replacing nearly a dozen portable classrooms, this spring the district board approved beginning a telephone poll of voters, according to district officials.
At the June 8 board meeting, Superintendent/Principal Mike Brown presented the polling results, which were “very positive,” according to Lisa Cockerton, the district's business manager.
Under the provisions of Proposition 39, Measure A would need to pass by a 55-percent vote. Cockerton said polling results came in at about 70 percent.
The following week, on June 15, the Lucerne Elementary School Board held a special meeting during which it discussed and approved placing the bond measure before voters this fall.
“We're asking for the voters to approve a $4 million bond,” Cockerton explained.
The measure's language estimates that the tax rate to be levied to fund the bonds would be $30 per $100,000 of assessed valuation annually beginning in fiscal year 2017-18 and continuing through 2029-30.
Considering the district's tax base, Cockerton said the district only intends to seek a sale of $2 million in bonds initially if the measure is passed. The other $2 million would be pursued at some point in the future, as property values continue to improve.
Cockerton said the district hopes to be able to get some state matching funds, and it might qualify for hardship assistance due to the age of its facilities.
That hardship assistance, plus a state facility bond on the November ballot, ultimately could add another $2 million to the $4 million Measure A promises to bring in, she said.
Explaining the district's needs, Cockerton said that the majority of Lucerne Elementary's classrooms are portables that were installed from 1989 to 1991. They're well beyond their normal life expectancy of about 20 years.
“We've maintained them very well. You can't tell they're falling apart,” she said. However, “They're not going to last that much longer.”
If voters approve Measure A, Cockerton said the district would use a global priority list to help establish what projects to first pursue first.
Cockerton said a project at the top of the list is building a main wing with primary classrooms to replace five or six of the one dozen portables, starting with the oldest first.
As for technology, Cockerton said the district already has been spending a lot of funding on technology, with a brand new computer lab, and iPad and laptop carts, achieving a student-to-computer ratio of two to one.
Now, with good hardware at the ready, they would like to improve the IT infrastructure so the campus is fully wired, she said.
She said they're also looking at restructuring the entrance into the parking lot to make it broader, which would improve the flow of traffic. The parking lot also needs to be repaved.
Additionally, the school's aging playground equipment will be upgraded, Cockerton said.
How the bond's proceeds are used will be determined by a citizens' oversight committee, according to the measure's language.
However, the bond language also ensures that the bond funding goes only to projects – not to salaries, administration or overhead.
No arguments against the measure have been submitted to the Registrar of Voters Office.
Measure B: Raising South Lake Fire's spending limit doesn't raise taxes
This fall, the South Lake County Fire Protection District isn't asking voters to pay more.
Rather, Measure B will raise the district's appropriations limit on the amount of property tax funds it can spend, according to District Board President Jim Comisky.
“There's no change, there's no extra tax whatsoever,” he said.
Essentially, the district is asking voters for an override of spending limits set by Proposition 4, a state constitutional provision which voters approved in 1979 and which was updated by voters in 1988 and 1990.
Proposition 4 limits the level of appropriations from tax sources that many local and state entities can make in a given year, which generally is set at the limit for the prior year with adjustments for cost of living and population, according to state documents.
Those appropriations limits – or ceilings on what can be spent – must regularly be updated through measures such as Measure B according to Comisky.
Measure B would allow tax monies collected over and above Proposition 13 to be used to maintain the fire district's current level of service.
“It's allowing us to spend what we're able to bring in,” Comisky said.
Otherwise, if the limit isn't raised, anything that exceeded it would roll into the county's general fund. Voters wouldn't get it back, Comisky said.
If the measure were to fail, the district's annual budget would be reduced by one-third, which officials said would drastically reduce the district's staffing and services.
The last time the South Lake County Fire Protection District put a similar measure on the ballot was in November 2012, when Measure F – which did the same thing as Measure B proposes to do – was approved by a 64 to 35 percent margin, according to Registrar of Voters Office records.
No arguments against the measure have been submitted to the Registrar of Voters Office.
Editor’s note: A previous version of the story had the Lucerne Elementary enrollment lower based on an education reporting site. Cockerton gave the updated number.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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