In Oakland, they are going to use bonds passed to help parks, to instead put part of that money in the General Fund, to cover the over $100 million deficit. Cities and School district are using bond and tax money allocated for specific projects, for the General Fund to cover deficit. Now a Grand Jury is exposing bonds in San Diego.
“The San Diego Unified School District doesn’t give taxpayers enough clear information on bond measures before votes are cast and afterward on how money is spent, according to a new report.
San Diego County’s Civil Grand Jury found that the district hasn’t consistently complied with state law to inform voters on bond ballot initiatives, offering too little information on ballot summaries and about unspent funds from previous bonds, the Union Tribune newspaper reported.
District officials should tell voters how much money in previously approved bonds still hasn’t been spent by the district, and they should be given the required school-specific list of projects each bond would fund, the report states.
In street language: San Diego schools LIED about how the money was spent. Expect different from a government agency. This is why you always vote NO on bonds and tax increases—you will not know where the money went.
Grand jury finds San Diego Unified fails to give voters enough information on bonds
EdSource, 5/23/25 https://edsource.org/updates/grand-jury-finds-san-diego-unified-fails-to-give-voters-enough-information-on-bonds
The San Diego Unified School District doesn’t give taxpayers enough clear information on bond measures before votes are cast and afterward on how money is spent, according to a new report.
San Diego County’s Civil Grand Jury found that the district hasn’t consistently complied with state law to inform voters on bond ballot initiatives, offering too little information on ballot summaries and about unspent funds from previous bonds, the Union Tribune newspaper reported.
District officials should tell voters how much money in previously approved bonds still hasn’t been spent by the district, and they should be given the required school-specific list of projects each bond would fund, the report states.
The district has four active bonds of different ages, the newest being Measure U, a $3.2 billion initiative approved by voters in 2022 with 65% of the vote. Also still active are previous bonds from 2008, 2012 and 2018. The district still has $4.58 billion left to issue from those bonds, the grand jury found.
San Diego Unified’s head of facilities told the newspaper that the district has transparently operated its bond program and will cooperate with the grand jury by carefully reviewing and responding to its report.
