By Denice Spangler Adams
How much more money are you willing to pay for housing in Santa Barbara, Montecito, Goleta, Carpinteria? “The Invisible Role Taxes Play in America’s Housing Shortage” and affordability was featured in The Wall Street Journal.
Whatever bonds voters pass, only owners of taxed properties pay the cost – not the many residents of tax-exempt housing, which could be as high as 1 in 7 residents in South County. Taxed property owners already subsidize housing, rent, food, water, and medical care, plus, we pay for a significant portion of utility costs for beneficiaries of any public aid (such as MediCal, debit cards, SSI). Moreover, an estimated 20+% of locals are tipped and paid in cash (tradesmen, gardeners, housekeepers, nannies, hairdressers …), so regardless of their unreported income, they are deemed “income eligible” for benefits.
New cars for some, a 2000 Honda for me.
Reminder, landlords likely cannot pass tax increases onto tenants under the state’s 5% rent increase cap, which might decrease to as low as a 2% rent cap locally if voters approved that ballot measure.
Longtime SBCC Advocate
With that stated, let me address SBCC and its request for property taxpayers – most homeowners plus non-government (NPO and NGO) related buildings – to gift it more money.
First, who am I?
For 44 years, since 1980, I’ve been actively involved at SBCC via past remarkable SBCC President Peter MacDougall, major donor Eli Luria, and many former exceptional trustees and generous donors. Initially – way back when – Peter and Eli asked me to help establish The SBCC Foundation, SBCC Business & Industry Associates, the Theater Group, Nursing Program, and its auto transfer to UCSB (initially only for business students). I served on the 21st Century Campaign which brought in $31M; and co-chaired the Adult Ed Campaign. I continue to attend or view online trustee meetings. I have met for lunch more than once with most all seven interim presidents, plus have email relationships with them. Unfortunately, in recent decades, locals can’t seem to elect high quality trustees capable of retaining a college president to stabilize SBCC.
We lost some great college presidents.
Santa Barbara Community College was formerly a highly ranked institution, noted for its instruction and trendsetting. Now it’s ranked for its beautiful campus location, and online Medical Coding Program.
Wow!
Quite a fall into mediocrity because of inept administrators, faculty senate, and Democrat-controlled trustees. Since the COVID-19 closure, some faculty continue to demand to teach remotely – math, science, foreign language – so there are classrooms rented to private Antioch U for $10 an hour. What a steal! The faculty senate with administrators determine policies, enforcement, and more. Public comment is aggressively fought by faculty militants and the trustee majority. Que sera, sera.
Extending Debt for Another 37 Years
Now SBCC wants voters to pass another bond to extend the indebtedness to property taxpayers to 2060. Measure P is a follow-up to Measure V that voters approved in 2008 and that will be paid off in 2033. Read for yourself SBCC’s 2024 request:
Whew! (Try typing that.) No other link is yet available from County Elections.
Background: 2024 Voter Ballot Guide
I received the following call on 8/1/24: “HELP, no one wrote an opposition statement to SBCC’s Measure P. Could you? Statements are due in about an hour to the Election Office with a wet signature. Go here for the form, fill it out, write up anything off the top of your head around 200 words. You defeated L2020. Can I come drive you there to submit whatever you can quickly write?”
I recall replying, “Gads, are we asleep at the wheel again? I don’t have computer access; I’m in the middle of chain-sawing a tree, it’s difficult to fill out forms on my phone, … “.
I thought to myself: DANG IT! Am I the only one who must sell their home to relocate to a less pricey area because I cannot afford to survive without a high-paying job?
My mind raced: Is everyone else too busy? Why me? Aren’t there more burdened homeowners? I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of the “affordable housing complainers,” and silence from homeowners – property taxpayers, elders like me. So, I got in my 2000 Honda, sped to Elections, asked staff to print from my phone my opposition statement and count words. Yep, I’m aware there are typos, word errors, but IMO, my ten-minute written opposition statement is better than a blank page in November’s Voter Ballot Guide.
OPPOSITION STATEMENT TO MEASURE P
Vote NO on P2024 the requested SBCC Bond. Do not reward waste, mismanagement, and SBCC's failure to serve LOCAL students determined to receive high quality instruction on campus; those who live within SBCC District Boundaries. BEWARE of the planned bait and switch strategy. We do not need to create more housing for out-of-district and foreign students who do not belong at SBCC. We've a housing, water shortage and inadequate roads.
Vote NO! 5 of our elected 7 Trustees have failed District students and taxpayers. I've been an active community volunteer and donor for 44 years. There is plenty of existing tax money allocated to fulfill its mission to serve LOCAL students & maintain the campus. Imagine the amount of infrastructure that could be repaired with the money Trustees wasted on superfluous, wasteful, self-serving decisions. The list is long! SBCC has deviated far from serving locals. There has been a revolving door of multiple interim college presidents because of the militant or complicit, incompetent Trustee majority. SBCC is in debt and lost its high ranking. Now in an effort to remedy, Trustees seek more money from us. Teachers and staff are compensated from $100-$400K for a 4-day work week. https://Transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2022/santa-barbara-city-college. Assess SBCC's situation later, after we elected 5 replacement Trustees; first, stabilize SBCC.
Vote NO! Need more specifics? NoP4SBCC@gmail.com
Denice Spangler Adams
SBCC Foundation Board 1980+
21st Century Campaign: Exec Committee
Co-Chair, SBCC Adult Ed Campaign
Co-Founder, SBCC Business & Industry Associates
Co-Founder, SBCC Theater Group
Member, Nursing Program Creation & UC Auto Transfer Committees
Mom, 2 SBCC alum (MIT & UW grads)
Rebuttal to Opponents
Days later, conscientious Elections Staff called to ask: “Do you want to submit a rebuttal to the proponent argument from Rep Gregg Hart, Jonathan Abboud, and Peter Haslund?” I replied, “There’s more? Sure, but I’m in Orange County now: what did they write? What’s the deadline?” Staff immediately emailed 23 pages. I headed back home writing in my head up to 250 words as I drove. My rebuttal submitted by the deadline:
It’s a shell game. Santa Barbara Community College has $500,000 of donor dollars to spend advocating passage of Measure P. SBCC advertises “without increasing taxes above the rate previously approved by voters.” No joke! Why would we approve extending our tax levy FOR 37 YEARS to 2060-61 from Measure V Bonds: $77M, approved 2008, expiration 2033? Total debt service on Measure P (Principal and Interest $198M) is almost a half billion dollars: $451,555,000! Taxes impact the cost of our housing.
SBCC has an $11M budget shortfall due to mismanagement; and asked Foundation donors for $500,000 to promote Measure P.
VOTE NO
It’s the wrong time to take on more debt. Money will not improve SBCC. Has 60% of property taxes allocated to local K-14 improved student proficiency, or access to essential instruction? NO!
Measure P conceals ‘we’ll decide later how to spend the money, just trust us.’ Use of Measure V Bond proceeds proved SBCC unworthy of our trust or our money. The only two ‘budget knowledgeable’ trustees voted NO on this ballot request, and deficit spending.
SBCC is not prepared, has no clear plans, wants student housing built for out-of-district foreign students, and seeks a deficit bailout. Too many unnecessary administrators are hired, while district students, area needs, campus maintenance, and repairs ignored.
VOTE NO ON P
Hold SBCC accountable before gifting another half-billion dollars of hard-earned taxpayer funds.
As Representative Gregg Hart has stated: PAUSE. Wait for specifics. Consider unintended adverse impacts of more debt.
VOTE NO!
•••
OK, you’ve got my take on SBCC’s Measure P Bond request. What’s your position? Do you support it? If not, how do you suggest we proceed to defeat it? David versus Goliath. Post your comments, contact me. I’ll submit a ‘What’s Next?’ summation to editors of this website.
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