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# SMC buys land; struggles with state budget cuts
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/smc-buys-land-struggles-with-state-budget-cuts/
- Published: 2001-12-13T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-22T22:31:42.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import

*SMC financing plan hinges on voter approval*

*By BEATRIZ E. VALENZUELA Special to the Daily Press*

While Santa Monica College struggles to afford basic teaching materials for its instructors, it recently spent $30 million for a new parking lot and buildings for new classrooms.

The college’s trustees voted unanimously last week to purchase the BAE Systems property at Santa Monica Airport. The college will buy the property at 3171 Centinela Ave. — a 10.4-acre office and light manufacturing site which offers a parking lot and four buildings for a future satellite campus.

Yet Santa Monica College’s administration, along with all other community colleges in California, is struggling under budget cuts handed down by California Governor Gray Davis. The school expects even more cuts in its state funding next year.

SMC spokesman Bruce Smith said the money used to buy the BAE property comes from a capital fund that is earmarked specifically for facilities. College officials are banking on the property being paid for by a $160 million bond measure that will be in front of voters next year. If the bond doesn’t pass, the property may be funded through other sources.

“If the bond does not pass, we will have to look to our general fund,” Smith said.

Specific state cuts Meanwhile, state funding must be used for specific budget items that must be used for operations. However, money can be pulled from one budget to another under certain circumstances, Smith said.

Earlier this year, Gov. Davis cut $127 million originally allocated for California’s community colleges. After legislators and community leaders rallied together to recover some of it, Davis restored about $46 million.

“Initially the college stood to lose $1.4 million from its budget,” said Dr. Piedad Robertson, president of Santa Monica College. “But we were able to recover $250,000 after the restoration.”

With about 80 percent of Santa Monica College’s annual budget coming directly from the state, the cuts were a major blow to the school, said Smith.

According to Davis’ office, the state cuts went across the board and are mainly because of the soft economy.

“With the recession we are currently in, it has been and will be a tough budget to get out,” said Hillary McLean, a representative at Gov. Davis’ office.

> “With the recession we are currently in, it has been and will be a tough budget to get out.” — — HILLARY McLEAN Gov. Gray Davis representative

Thanks to some creative shuffling of monies and some belt tightening, SMC was able to avoid major budget problems, said Smith. He added that cuts were made in certain areas of the budget like teaching materials and maintenance of the college’s facilities.

“Because the cuts were made in specific areas, it wasn’t like we had to cut across the board,” he said, adding the state funds the school by category.

One of the areas cut, however, was basic instructional materials like chalk and paper. Many instructors have had to reach into their own pockets in order to provide basic materials to the college’s 32,000 students.

“Our real problem is, what’s going to happen next year?” said Robertson. “The economy isn’t getting any better and we know that there are going to be more cuts.”

Some of the concerns for the upcoming year involve the status of part-time educators, as well as building repairs and improvements.

“We understand that the entire state is in a recession,” said Robertson. “We want the governor to understand that when people lose their jobs one of the things they do is go back to school.” Without proper funding, many community colleges in California will not be able to accommodate them, she added.

Davis will introduce his proposed budget in January of 2002, said McLean.

“At this time there is still no telling how deep the newest rounds of cuts will go,” she said. “We’re still crunching the numbers.”

Banking on the bond measure In order to insure that the college will not be short of funds in the future, the Santa Monica College board of trustees is attempting to place a $160 million bond initiative on the March 5 ballot.

That may help pay for the $30 million chunk of land it just bought.

“Our constituents have told us in polls that they believe that additional student parking, including at sites off our main campus, are very important,” said Patrick Nichelson, chairman of the trustees. “This college has worked hard to establish satellite campuses to reduce traffic and parking problems on our main campus. The BAE land purchase is a golden opportunity to continue that work and to enhance our educational programs.”

In an October poll, 52 percent of Santa Monica and Malibu voters indicated that providing additional student parking, including off the main campus, was important to them. In addition, the college’s facilities assessment plan developed this summer recommends purchase of property off the main campus.

The need for additional parking is particularly pressing because a current SMC student satellite parking lot at Santa Monica Airport — which is leased from the city of Santa Monica — is slated to be turned into a park sometime in the next few years. The BAE site has space for parking that is estimated to be 1 1/2 times the space currently used by the college at Santa Monica Airport.

On the BAE property are four structures, totaling nearly 200,000 square feet, including a four-story and a two-story office building.

“It’s very rare that an opportunity of this kind comes up,” said Robertson. “We’ve been looking for space for a long time, and this provides us what we need, as well as a way to reduce traffic on the main campus and meet student parking needs.”

Funding structure complex The land acquisition will be financed with 20-year “certificates of participation,” a form of borrowing available to schools that generally have more favorable interest rates than conventional loans.

Under the complex financing plan approved by the SMC board, BAE will stay on the site and lease it from the college for 18 months to two years.

After that, the college plans to pay back the certificates with funds from the $160 million bond, if the bond is approved by Santa Monica and Malibu voters. If the bond doesn’t pass, the college has the option of refinancing the debt to spread it out over a longer period of time, as well as try to find money in other places.

In addition, SMC will save about $500,000 a year it currently spends renting space in an office building on Santa Monica Boulevard for its work force and fundraising office — which will likely be moved to the BAE site — and for the Santa Monica Airport satellite parking lot.

SMC will spend the next two years planning the specific educational use of the property, aside from parking. Smith said the satellite campus most likely will house the college’s economic development program. SMC is one of 108 community colleges in California.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 13, 2001.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/121301.pdf?ref=smdp.com)