Funding
The $80 million proposal supports the J.O. Combs Unified School District and includes much needed safety and security improvements, facility upgrades, transportation improvements, site and athletic facility improvements, along with student educational support.
Proposition 400 will allow the district to make needed repairs and modernize facilities without increasing the tax rate. This program is designed to make these important investments while maintaining the overall property tax rate equal to the current rate – no tax rate increase.
How Does State Funding Support Capital Projects
In J.O. Combs Unified School District (JOCUSD) we believe it is our duty to maintain our
taxpayer-funded facilities to the best of our ability, and we work very hard to maintain all of our facilities and keep them in good repair utilizing some of our annual funding from the state. For needs beyond those funds, districts must work with the Arizona School Facilities Division (SFD), which gets their funding from the Arizona State general fund appropriations.
The Governing Board has called this bond election due to the lack of sufficient state support. The Arizona School Facilities Division (SFD), established by the Legislature in 1998 to fund school construction and maintenance, has provided limited financial support to J.O. Combs in recent years. Despite this, the District has invested more than $30 million from various funding sources over the past five years to meet capital needs, without turning to voters for additional support. Those funds have now been fully utilized, and the District has no remaining alternative but to request voter approval through this special bond election.
As the San Tan Valley community continues to grow, many of the District’s existing facilities require significant renovations and updates to keep pace with student needs and evolving safety standards. Local bond funding is the only viable option to protect the community’s investment in its public schools and ensure every student learns in a safe, secure, and modern environment.
