Voters in Los Angeles on Tuesday approved a $980-million bond measure for the Los Angeles Community College District just two years after agreeing to a $1.245-billion bond for the 130,000-student, facilities-strapped nine-college district.

The money will go mostly to improving technology centers and renovating buildings, said the district's chancellor, Mark Drummond. He added that the district would now be able to save some $8-million because the bond money will allow the district to purchase property and get out of lease agreements and to pay off facilities loans for energy improvements.

"With the state budget the way it is, this comes at just the right time for us," he said.

Mr. Drummond said that the money saved would help stave off layoffs, though that proposition still might come to bear, depending on the district's state appropriations for next year.

The California Legislature has not yet enacted a budget for the 2003-4 fiscal year, which begins July 1. In a revised budget proposal issued last week, Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, suggested a cut of $285-million, or 5.6 percent, for community colleges statewide (The Chronicle, May 15).

Many news reports questioned the Los Angeles district's decision in January to ask voters to increase their property taxes again, so soon after the 2001 bond. Officials admitted that they had not yet formulated any master plans for district facilities before they put the bond on the ballot two years ago.

Mr. Drummond said that the long-term uncertainty of the state's budget ultimately swayed the district's Board of Trustees not to wait to ask voters for the additional money.

"Californians are frustrated with their inability to do a lot about this state budget crisis," said Drummond. "This is a way the average citizen ... could actually go to the polls, vote yes or no, and do something locally."

Early results indicate that the bond passed by 64 percent. Only 55 percent of the vote is necessary to approve the bond. Its passage means that Los Angeles homeowners will pay an extra $11.45 per $100,000 of a home's assessed value in property taxes.