Home Columns Measure U can benefit Alpine schools

Measure U can benefit Alpine schools

By Travis Lyon

Alpine’s schools, the actual properties themselves, are the most valuable community as­sets in Alpine. As community owned property, they are liter­ally owned by the taxpayers of Alpine. As all property owners recognize, you must make capi­tal investments in your prop­erty to properly maintain your property and address deferred maintenance. Without periodic investments operating costs rise and the value of your property deteriorates over time. Mea­sure U is the right way to fund that investment.

  1. Fiscally Conservative Ap­proach:

The Alpine Union School Dis­trict Board of Trustees made a prudent decision to pursue a micro-bond with a repayment period of 6 years instead of opt­ing for a larger bond with a 25-year repayment period. This responsible choice results in ap­proximately 12% total interest compared to 46% for a larger bond. In short, we are NOT maxing out our credit.

  1. Localized Use of Funds:

The bond funds are protect­ed from state intervention and cannot be redirected to other school districts. This is NOT a Grossmont Union High School Bond. This bond is exclusively for the benefit of Alpine schools, ensuring that the money will be spent solely on improving fa­cilities within the Alpine com­munity. It guarantees that the resources stay local, directly benefiting Alpine students and schools.

  1. Tax Reduction:

This bond will NOT lead to an increase in taxes. On the con­trary, property taxes for Alpine School Bonds will be reduced by approximately 50% compared to the levels of the past 20 years. This provides substantial fi­nancial relief to property own­ers while still ensuring that the district can make necessary im­provements.

Quality schools provide our children with the education they need to succeed and strengthen our community by protecting the value of our homes and businesses. Supporting this bond means supporting a fis­cally responsible plan that benefits Alpine schools directly while reducing the tax burden on the community. Measure U is supported by The San Diego County Taxpayers Association, The Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, and the Alpine Union School District Board of Trust­ees.

Travis Lyon is a trustee with the Alpine Union School District

3 COMMENTS

  1. Louis Russo
    In 2013 AUSD enrollment stood at 2095. By the time Travis Lyon was elected, it had fallen to 1745 and now sits at 1523. It consisted of three elementary schools and one middle school. Travis says the fall in enrollment of over 500 students is due to "demographics", but that is not true. Parents have voted with their feet, taking their children to higher performing districts as well as charter and private schools. The enrollment drop has forced the closure of one of the elementary schools. A telling statistic that verifies the above is that in 2012, 63% of AUSD students were performing at grade level on standardized tests. It now sits at 40%, a 23% drop. This is with a budget of about $24 million, which works out to $15,568 per student. Included in this is over $1.6 million interest on debt or about $1,060 interest on debt per student per year. We are not getting what we are paying for, and now they want more. Vote NO on prop U!
  2. Louis Russo
    IT HAS JUST BEEN REVEALED THAT AUSD IS $2.2 MILLION THE RED WITH ONLY 1.7 MONTHS ($3+ MILLION) IN RESERVE!!!!! AND THEY WANT MORE MONEY??????
  3. Richard Ducharme
    Having a one sided article written by the person who created this prop U, then hosted by a local paper is misleading. This prop is lead by school board members who most of them have filed for bankruptcy. A true fiscal conservative does not file for bankruptcy. They don’t spend what they don’t have, they plan for the future and for emergencies. This bond is nothing more than a piggy back off a bond that will expire in 2025. Then on top of everything else that’s going up, Alpine home owners will still be paying for this bond another 20 plus years. Funny how the prop reads that funding can come from other sources like fund raising or donations but I don’t recall these board members ever reaching out to the citizens of Alpine for any of those requests. And last, if you need to hire a private citizen committee to police your spend IF the measure passes then you’re just admitting you are horrible at managing money. We don’t need to hire a nanny committee, we need new board members!