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Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Voters OK $616M for Schools
By Hailey Heinz
Journal Staff Writer
Albuquerque voters resoundingly approved a property tax and bond package Tuesday, giving Albuquerque Public Schools a green light to start on $616 million in capital improvements.
Voters were asked to weigh in on two questions, one of which will keep property taxes at their current level, generating about $391 million. That question passed with about 69 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results from the County Clerk's Office.
The second question asked voters to authorize the district to sell $225 million in bonds and was approved by about 72 percent of voters.
Voter turnout was a little more than 8 percent. Low turnout is common for bond elections.
District officials had worried that the timing for the vote might be inopportune, with the local economy flagging and the state Legislature grappling with a budget shortfall.
But Superintendent Winston Brooks said that might have helped the bond's passage.
"The bad economy may have helped us, in that people realized APS is the only construction game in town," he said.
APS accounts for about 63 percent of current construction in Bernalillo County, according to the district, and a coalition of builders and architects partnered to campaign for the bond.
Brooks said the bond's strong passage showed that Albuquerque voters value their public schools.
"I think it's a testament to the commitment that the people in Albuquerque have for the public school system," he said. "And I think the greatest legacy that we adults can leave for our children are state-of-the-art schools."
Voters leaving the polls said mixed things about the bond package.
Mike Schuetze, who was voting at Sierra Vista Elementary School on the West Side, said he voted for the bond and tax questions mainly because he supports the construction of a $38.3 million West Side sports complex that would be built with the money.
"We just need more stadiums," he said.
All of Schuetze's children have graduated, he said, but he remembers shuttling them around town to games at Milne and Wilson fields, the district's only football stadiums.
Beverly Huggins, who was also voting at Sierra Vista, said she, too, was in favor of the funding.
"I used to work for a school district, and I think it's important that the children have the money," Huggins said.
But Manuel Montoya said he had reservations as he walked into Sierra Vista to vote. He said the district rolled too many projects into the package.
"To me, it's like they threw the kitchen sink in there," he said.
The money will fund projects throughout the district, with an emphasis on revamping aging high schools like Del Norte and Sandia. The money will also be used to upgrade computers around the district and build some districtwide facilities, like a $12.3 million central kitchen.
For the first time in such an election, the package also includes $40 million for the city's charter schools.
One issue complicating this election cycle has been the possibility that the West Side may split into its own school district.
Earlier this year a group of residents, including several state legislators, petitioned Secretary of Education Veronica Garcia to create a new district. And although split proponents have been supportive of the bond campaign, the issue has raised questions about how tax money and bond debt would be divided in the event of a split.
Brooks has said he would likely hold off construction of a West Side sports complex until the split question is resolved.
School board president Martin Esquivel, celebrating the bond's passage with Brooks and others on Tuesday night, said he is excited to see construction start on some of the city's older schools.
"I think there are a lot of commercial contractors that are happy, and I think there are a lot of older schools that really need the work," he said. "I'm looking forward to addressing those schools that have been neglected for a long time."
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