Voters in the Sierra Joint Community College District rejected the district's first bond measure in more than 40 years - $394 million in bonds that would have built new classrooms and expanded campuses throughout Placer and Nevada counties.

With 98 percent of precincts reporting, 51 percent of voters opposed Measure E, leading college district President Kevin Ramirez to declare the measure had suffered "a pretty resounding defeat."

The bond required 55 percent approval from district voters in Placer and Nevada counties and portions of El Dorado and Sacramento counties.
Bond opponent Carl Hass of Rocklin said the reason for the defeat was simple.

"People are just tired of being taxed to death," he said.

Ramirez said the repairs and expansions to college district campuses are critical, and that he'll be "back on the horse tomorrow" strategizing for the next bond measure.

"We're going to be back in November," Ramirez said. "This is just too serious a situation to not regroup and come back."

The bond would have added a tax of $19 per $100,000 of assessed property value, according to Ramirez. The median assessed value for homes in the district is $173,000, he said, which would have amounted to an additional tax of $32 per year.

Officials said the work needed on district campuses is the result of aging classrooms, labs and other buildings, and the added pressures from enrollment growth. Between 1995 and 2002, they said, enrollment grew by 48 percent while the space that holds the additional students expanded by just 11 percent. Officials predict that with the region's growing population, enrollment at district campuses could increase by an additional 10,000 students by 2015.

Opponents of the bond said that it was loaded with wasteful spending and was poorly thought out. They said that enrollment might not grow as fast as college officials expect it to, as fees increase and private colleges move into the area.

Critical repairs to the campuses will cost much less than the bond amount, opponents said. Instead of asking taxpayers for such a big bond, the college should pay for repairs out of its existing funds, opponents said, and come back to voters with a more reasonable bond proposal to cover the cost of new buildings, labs or classrooms.

Projects were proposed at all of the district's campuses. They included a new fire station at the Rocklin campus; expansions and repairs to classrooms and labs at the Rocklin and Nevada County campuses; building a new campus at the Twelve Bridges development in Lincoln; improving distance learning programs in Auburn, Colfax and Foresthill; and building permanent campuses in Truckee and Roseville by buying land and building classrooms and labs.