Managing the money
By Daily Press staff
Santa Monica College has appointed an oversight committee to help manage the millions that are trickling in.
More than 70 percent of voters in Santa Monica and Malibu approved a $160 million bond measure on March 5, to fund capital projects at SMC.
By state law, the SMC had to appoint a citizen’s bond oversight committee, made up of 16 members that represent different interests.
The committee will review quarterly expenditure reports to ensure that the bond money is spent for the purposes voters intended.
The money will be used to renovate buildings at the campus on Pico Boulevard. It also will partially fund the purchase of the 10-acre BAE Systems property that the college recently bought for $30 million near the airport for a satellite campus and more parking.
The bond’s average cost to taxpayers will be $1.12 per month for renters and $77 per year for the average homeowner in Santa Monica and Malibu.
The bond issue in the first year is estimated at $16.21 per $100,000 in assessed valuation and the average cost over the bond’s life will be $19.21 per $100,000.
A facilities assessment completed ear-lier this year outlined 21 projects at the college. Priorities are to replace the earthquake-damaged liberal arts building and temporary buildings with modern labs and classrooms. Facilities for the nursing, environmental studies, earth sciences and math programs also need upgrades and improvements are needed to meet standards for campus lighting, security and the American Disabilities Act.
Other pressing needs are to find space for student parking and the emeritus college program, which is geared to students ages 55 years or older.
The emeritus program is housed on the ground floor of a city parking structure on Second Street and the city has plans to turn property into a park at Santa Monica Airport, where students park and ride shuttles to the main campus a mile away.
Renovations are expected to be completed over the next 10 to 12 years. The college’s last bond issue was for $22 million in 1992 to build an addition to the science building and library.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 29, 2002. Read the original PDF.