PCC Plans to Ask for Landmark Bond Issue

By Suzanne Pardington, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.

Jan. 18–Portland Community College wants to send a $374 million bond measure to voters in five counties in November, the biggest education property tax proposal in Oregon history.

The 86,000-student college is risking a crowded ballot and potential competition from a big-ticket Portland Public Schools construction bond for a shot at creating room for an estimated 24,000 more students by 2012.

Despite declining enrollment over the past five years, college leaders say they need to prepare for growing demand for academic, technical and professional education in the Portland area, which Metro expects to grow by 1 million residents by 2030.

PCC President Preston Pulliams acknowledges it will take an aggressive campaign and a lot of money to persuade voters, but he’s comfortable with the cost of the bond.

“We know that any proposal to increase any individual’s taxes is not very popular, but we feel it is critical and vital if our community college is going to respond to our work force and population growth needs,” Pulliams said.

Property owners in Multnomah, Washington, Columbia, Yamhill and parts of Clackamas counties are still paying for a $144 million bond measure from 2000 that financed renovations, technology and new buildings, including a $60 million overhaul of the Cascade campus in North Portland. Those bonds won’t be paid off 2018, and the $374 million proposal would add to PCC’s current levy on property tax bills.

The new 20-year bond would target high-demand programs such as health, welding and online education. It would build classrooms, update science labs, build an education center for teacher preparation programs at Cascade and expand the Southeast Center on Southeast 82nd Avenue into a full-service campus.

The college’s Board of Education is expected to consider the bond proposal March 20. In 2000, voters approved PCC’s $144 million bond measure after two previous measures failed.

The college may confront “taxpayer overload” in November, said Jason Williams, executive director of the Taxpayer Association of Oregon.

“That’s a huge tax bill for taxpayers to swallow, and I’m not sure they’ve made the case that they are spending exactly what they need and nothing more,” he said. “That’s the case they are going to have to make to voters.”

Other local governments and schools are considering property tax levies on the November ballot in the five counties served by PCC. Portland Public Schools, for instance, is studying a consultant’s report that estimates repairs and renovations at its aging schools would cost more than $1 billion. Educators have until March to decide whether to ask voters to approve construction bonds for schools.

In Clackamas County, voters in 2006 approved $230 million in construction bonds for the North Clackamas School District, the biggest education property tax measure in state history.

Liz Kaufman, a political consultant, said PCC is a large voting district and has been successful in the past despite other school tax measures on the ballot.

“I don’t see it as a competition with K-12,” she said. “It’s complementary. They need each other, and voters know they are two different things.”

Bonds pay for construction on campus, not instructors or administrators, but campus leaders say they are confident they will be able to pay for the program growth with the expected state funding and tuition from the additional students.

Enrollment fell by nearly 19,000 students from 101,896 in 2002-03 to 83,193 in 2003-04, reflecting a drop at community colleges statewide. Campus leaders blame state funding cuts for the decline because they offered fewer courses.

Nationally, the economy has affected community college enrollment: In good times, people choose to work instead of going to school; in bad times, people seek more education and job training.

At the Rock Creek campus in Washington County, enrollment has increased by 5 percent to 6 percent each term, and many of the lower division transfer classes such as English, math and social studies have waiting lists, said Katherine Persson, campus president.

“We are pretty much near capacity at this campus during peak times,” she said. “We can’t find a room, and you are hard pressed to find a parking space.”

The bond measure would pay for two buildings at Rock Creek: a $15 million health professions building with room for health care, nursing and emergency medical technician programs, and a $20.6 million academic building.

Pulliams said the bond price tag is large but is necessary to meet the needs of the work force and population growth.

“We know the students are there, especially in our professional and technical programs,” he said. “There’s a risk in all of this in terms of what could happen with the economy, but we feel we have a very solid business plan.”

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