Proposition 13, California's $15 Billion School Bond, Headed for Likely Defeat

Updated Friday, 4:15 p.m.

The California primary election’s only statewide measure, which asked voters to consider borrowing billions of dollars to fund school construction projects, appears headed for defeat.

With support from just over 44% of voters as of Friday afternoon, Proposition 13 was far short of the simple majority it needs to pass. Continued updates to voting results will be posted by the California Secretary of State here.

Backers of the measure — the largest school facility bond in state history — argued that the money is desperately needed to retrofit aging facilities, keep students safe and encourage learning. The most high-profile opposition came from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which routinely rejects increased taxation.

Proposition 13 — no relation to the much-contested 1978 measure that changed how property is assessed in California — asked voters to authorize $15 billion in bonds for K-12 schools, community colleges and state universities.

The Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated that Proposition 13 would cost taxpayers another $11 billion in interest, raising the total to $26 billion.

Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association President Jon Coupal criticized the measure for putting Californians deeper into debt at a time when the state is bringing in record revenue.

But school leaders warned that conditions in their schools are dire.

“We have schools that are literally held together with duct tape,” said Tony Wold, associate superintendent of business services for the West Contra Costa Unified School District. “We need to do earthquake safety. We have two comprehensive high schools that have no windows.”

About 70% of California’s K-12 schools are more than 25 years old, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, and districts are projected to need more than $100 billion to rehabilitate facilities in the next two years.

Wold estimates that in West Contra Costa Unified School District alone there are more than a billion dollars in unmet needs.

Critics of Proposition 13 said an increase in local bonds, which would raise property taxes if passed, was imprudent in the face of an unprecedented housing crisis. Coupal argued that increased property taxes would be passed along to renters in some cases, or overburden strapped homeowners.

Berkeley resident Mary Behm-Steinberg was one of many voters who faced both Proposition 13 and a local school bond this election. Though she supports robust taxation in general, she said for homeowners like her who rely on a fixed income, any increase in property taxes is painful.

“It just doesn’t follow that everybody who has a house has money,” she said, arguing that local bonds disproportionately hurt the elderly and those with disabilities. “For some people this will cut to the bone.”

Since 1998, Californians have approved five statewide education bond measures. The most recent, in 2016, borrowed $7 billion for K-12 education and $2 billion for community colleges.