The West Contra Costa school district should slow its deceptive school construction program because it's pushing too much debt onto property owners and will soon exceed tax limits it promised voters.
From 1998 to 2012, the district obtained voter authorization for six bond programs, totaling $1.6 billion. As a result, in the first 10 years, West Contra Costa issued more bonds for school construction than any other K-12 district in the state except much-larger San Diego and Los Angeles.
Today, the district has $797 million of outstanding debt. The average homeowner in the district, with a house assessed at $215,000, will pay an extra $464 in property taxes this year to fund the district's annual bond