Voters in the Riverside Community College District will see a bond of more than $900 million on the November ballot that would fund repairs and updates to facilities and programs.
The Riverside Community College District board has unanimously agreed to seek approval of a $954 million bond measure to pay for projects across the district’s three colleges, updates to safety and technology systems, the modernization of facilities and the expansion of training programs.
The bond will add $19 per $100,000 of assessed property value to property taxes.
Several buildings are set to be demolished and replaced with newer facilities at Moreno Valley, Norco and Riverside City colleges, district spokesperson Robert Schmidt said in a Wednesday, Aug. 14, email.
The bond would need 55% of the vote to pass in November.
Here are some projects that would be funded.
Riverside City College
These buildings would be demolished and replaced:
Cosmetology
Cesar Chavez Admissions & Counseling
Business Education
Tech A (Air conditioning and refrigeration career/technical education, welding)
Tech B (Information services, international students center, printing and graphics center)
Automotive Technology
Old financial building
Arts and Ceramics
Martin Luther King, Jr. High-Tech Center
Moreno Valley College
These buildings would be updated:
Humanities
Library
Bookstore
Science & Technology
Also, temporary classrooms and buildings would be demolished once new buildings are constructed.
Norco College
These buildings would be updated:
Library
Student Services
Science & Technology
Industrial Tech
Applied Tech
Also, modular buildings near the West End Quad would be demolished.
The projects set for the three colleges would cost about $1 billion, Wolde-Ab Isaac, the district’s chancellor, said during a Tuesday, Aug. 6, meeting.
They would would be paid for in a split between matching state funds and local dollars raised by the bond measure.
If the bond passes, construction in the district would be sprinkled over the course of several years, starting as early as 2025.
There is one bond active in the district, Measure C, which passed in 2004. The bond currently sits at $15 per $100,000 of assed property value.
In 2020, the board brought forward Measure A, a $715 million bond, but it was voted down by 53% of voters, leaving the district about 6% shy of the needed vote.
In the presentation given at the Aug. 6 board meeting a third party poll, which took place in July, showed a 57% approval rating for the bond by residents within the district. The poll shows that the approval rating has remained consistent over the past year.
Leaders from across the community college district encouraged the board to approve the measure for the November ballot at that meeting. More than 10 people spoke, all in support of the measure. They said an investment in the future of community colleges is vital.
The college district will continue to grow and students deserve to have updated facilities at an affordable cost, Lizeth Vega, clerk for the Alvord Unified School District board, said at the meeting.
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“I have seen firsthand the impact our community colleges have on our community,” Vega said.
Gordon Amerson, superintendent for the Perris-based Val Verde Unified School District, said he was reminded of the power of partnerships to create opportunities for the community.
He said upgrading and modernizing the college district’s facilities would be a powerful partnership.
Alejandro Ruvalcaba, superintendent of the Moreno Valley Unified School District, said community colleges and school districts affect the lives of students, which is not taken into account when people just look at the dollar amount of the bond.
