The Abridged version:
- The Los Rios Community College District is considering a bond measure to assist with what the district says is a $3.1 billion need in facilities improvements.
- But first, the district’s board will decide whether to limit which voters and taxpayers will decide.
- Los Rios officials say the decision to omit certain areas from their “facilities improvement” district was based on campus locations, not political affiliations. Critics, including some board members, have questioned the approach, accusing Los Rios of gerrymandering.
Leaders of the Los Rios Community College District are considering a potentially sizeable ask of taxpayers. But first, the board may move to limit that decision — and the costs — to just a portion of voters.
District staff have identified about $3 billion worth of facilities upgrades and expansions needed across the four schools and almost a dozen satellite campuses.
To address some of those needs, the district’s board will consider putting a general bond measure on the ballot this fall — with approval from 55% of voters required for passage.
But district officials have recommended limiting that bond vote to just two of the five counties in Los Rios. The logic, they say, is that the vast majority of district facilities are located in Yolo and Sacramento counties.
Critics, however, accuse the district of aiming to exclude conservative voters, who might oppose the additional taxes required to repay the bonds, and of creating an uneven cost burden.
“Everybody needs to have skin in the game,” said Los Rios Trustee John Knight. “This is one district, and I think we should treat it as one district.”
What would a subdistrict mean?
Trustees this week will consider drawing boundaries inside of their five-county region, limiting which voters would decide on the bond measure and be affected by the potential tax increases to repay them.
Los Rios spans almost all of Sacramento County, most of El Dorado County, the eastern wing of Yolo County and slivers of Placer and Solano Counties. It is the second largest community college district in the state by enrollment, behind the Los Angeles district.
Known as a school facilities improvement district, the subdistrict that the board will weigh during Wednesday’s meeting would be limited to Sacramento and Yolo counties.
All four main campuses — American River College, Cosumnes River College, Folsom Lake College and Sacramento City College — lie within the improvement district.
A spokesperson for Los Rios, Gabe Ross, said only the Folsom Lake’s El Dorado Center would be left out. The district has no facilities in Solano or Placer counties.
Gerrymandering?
Some community members have questioned the approach.
“This resolution literally divides our community,” Alisa Shubb, professor of speech communication at American River College, said during the board’s March meeting.
Shubb, who said she has worked for Los Rios since 1989, accused the district of excluding certain areas from the improvement district based on “political inclinations.” Areas east of Sacramento that may be considered more conservative leaning make the outcome of a bond measure vote more questionable.
“This resolution uses the system, legal gamesmanship to gerrymander our district for financial gain,” Shubb said.
But district officials say the decision was practical, not political.
“The reality is 95% of our facilities exist between these two counties (Yolo and Sacramento),” said Mario Rodriguez, vice chancellor of finance and administration, at last month’s meeting. “It’s not a red or blue issue.”
Too early to talk cost or specifics
Ross emphasized the board has not made any decision on a bond measure yet. The earliest it would move, he said, is sometime this summer.
It is also too early to know the size of the request or how much it would cost taxpayers.
The amount would likely be a fraction of the district’s $3.1 billion needs, Ross said. District documents state the improvements could include upgrades to colleges’ technology, engineering and nursing programs. A specific project list has not been developed.
Needs increasing as enrollment goes up
Ross said the colleges need building upgrades and program enhancements as the student population at Los Rios grows.
Enrollment across the four community colleges was almost 96,500 last school year, he said. In 2020-21, the number was just under 84,000, an increase of about 15% in four years.
More and more of those students are receiving an education partially or fully online. Still, Ross said, the need to update aging infrastructure exists.
“Online education takes a certain level of infrastructure, technology infrastructure, that gets tested and pushed as our enrollment grows,” he said.
Savannah Kuchar is a reporter covering education. She came to Sacramento to be a part of the Abridged team and contribute to a crucial local news source.