Pima County voters to consider $250M college bond proposal

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(The Center Square) – Residents of Arizona’s second most populous county will vote Nov. 3 on a $250 million bond measure to modernize and expand Pima Community College.

Proposition 430 asks voters to help pay for new programs and infrastructure across the college district’s five campuses in Tucson. The ballot measure represents Pima Community College’s first bond since 1995, when voters approved a $140 million measure in support of the two-year college system in Pima County.

This time around, the college district is hoping to spend $57 million modernizing its campuses. That's in addition to building a $39.8 million, 20,000 square-foot Center of Excellence in Public Safety & First Responders facility at PCC’s East Campus and a $29 million campus police station at the downtown campus, in addition to other projects and bond refinancing costs.

Think tank praises college's plans

Katie Ratlief, executive director of the Common Sense Institute of Arizona, said PCC’s actions represent the kind of sound financial decision-making that others around the state and region can learn from.

“In my mind and in our research, this is what bonds ought to be used for,” Ratlief told The Center Square. “They are proposing to provide a new service to Pima County and to the state that they are not currently doing, and it is in something that is desperately needed, which is additional first responders and police officers.”

Ratlief said CSI Arizona’s projections show that the PCC measure will increase Pima County property taxes by $27 per year, on average.

Why now?

 Pima Community College Chancellor Jeffrey P. Nasse said the college district is asking the community to help expand educational access in Southern Arizona.

“Education changes lives, whether through a certificate, a degree, or the skills needed for a better career,” Nasse said in an email to The Center Square. “These investments would help us keep tuition affordable, modernize and maintain our campuses, and expand our Centers of Excellence with state-of-the-art facilities and equipment.

“Most importantly, Proposition 430 would help us continue creating opportunities for our students, meeting the evolving workforce needs of Southern Arizona, and strengthening our community for generations to come,” he added.

Nasse told The Center Square that PCC’s capital needs have only increased in recent years, as the state’s support for operational funding was reduced to zero in 2015, creating $221 million in lost capital and operating aid during that timeframe.

“Having exhausted revenue bonds and surplus reserves, PCC must now secure funding,” Nasse said.

Ratlief said she thinks the district’s ability to go three decades without asking taxpayers for help speaks well of PCC’s ability to manage those bonds and surplus reserves. That's especially compared to districts that propose bond measures more frequently, she added.

“It tells me that they really need it,” Ratlief said. “When you see jurisdictions that have bonding authority going out every single cycle for more and more and more bonding, you start to wonder, ‘Where's all this money going?’ or ‘What are they doing with it?’

“When you see an entity wait 30 years to ask property taxpayers to make upgrades to their facilities, to build new facilities for programs that will be extremely relevant to the community - that tells you it's desperately needed," Ratlief said. "And they probably really thought this through and will make good use of the funds."