TUSD will pay consultant to assess voter support for bond election

Tucson Unified School District voters may soon be surveyed on whether they would support a bond election for capital improvements including safety and security needs.

The governing board, on a 4-1 vote Tuesday, approved allocating $25,000 for the estimated costs of hiring a consultant to assess the community’s support for a bond election this year.

“Twenty-five-thousand dollars to figure out which way the wind is blowing, I think, is a great investment before you’re asked to commit the total cost to call for an election,” TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said. “And a good bond consultant could really give you a good read on which way the wind is blowing.”

Board member Sadie Shaw opposed the measure, saying she thought it was a lot of money to pay a consultant to survey the community.

“I think it’s pretty clear that our community is either for or against it, and so to go out and spend such a large amount of money to just ask people whether they agree or don’t agree with a bond seems like a waste of money to me,” Shaw said.

Ricky Hernandez, the district’s chief financial officer, did not say how much money the potential bond election would seek. But he noted that the cost of the district’s current capital needs is more than $480 million.

A bond election would cost TUSD about $1 million, he said, adding the district could possibly reduce that amount by sharing the costs with another local jurisdiction holding an election with similar polling places.

He said administrators have until June 23 to notify the Pima County School Superintendent’s Office whether the district will call for a bond election this November.

Hernandez added that, as of Jan. 1, the district had a $75 million outstanding bond debt from a bond issued in 2004 that is scheduled to be paid off by June 2030.

If voters were to approve another bond, the district would have to repay the principal amount, along with interest capped at 12%, within 20 years.

TUSD taxpayers currently pay about $2.08 per $100 of taxable net value to help pay for the district’s existing debt and desegregation fund. New property tax levies would be dependent on the annual debt service schedule, Hernandez said.

He also noted that the district will lose a few important sources of funding by 2025, such as federal COVID relief money and funding from Proposition 123, a measure passed in 2016 designed to increase education funding by $3.5 billion over the course of 10 years by allocating money from the general fund and increasing annual distributions of the state land trust permanent funds to education.

Board president Ravi Shah said he believes hiring a consultant is important, as it would help the district create a bond proposal that includes what parents and students want and need from the schools, as well as what other taxpayers want to invest in for the future of the community.

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Capital needs

School districts can use bonds to purchase or lease school lots; build or renovate school buildings; purchase furniture and equipment; improve school grounds; buy transportation vehicles; and liquidate existing bond debt.

The district’s current needs have been divided into five phases based on priority.

Overall, the categories are safety and security systems, grounds improvements, building systems, mechanical systems, support site improvements, and furniture and equipment, said Damon Ballesteros, TUSD’s senior coordinator for project management.

The safety and security systems category consists of ensuring that school campuses have access control, surveillance cameras, gates, intercoms, fire alarms and security film on windows.

The grounds improvements include repairs to high school football fields, middle school courts and parking lots.

The building systems category takes a look at the interior needs of campus structures, such as flooring, restroom renovations and plumbing. Support site improvements include roofing repairs.

The mechanical systems consist of additional interior repairs, such as functioning air conditioning and heating. Board member Natalie Luna Rose said she visited a school during 30-degree temperatures this week and noted it was just as cold inside the classrooms as it was outside.

While the list gives administrators an idea of what they need to work on and prioritize, Shah noted it is not the final proposal for capital improvements.

“These aren’t projects that we’re approving tonight. This is all a wish list. We don’t have the resources to do most of this work right now,” he said.

Photos: 2023 MLK Classic at McKale Center, high school basketball