Measure RLS: Manhattan Beach Unified School District facilities bond

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The Manhattan Beach Unified School District is asking voters to extend an existing property tax to fund $200 million in renovation and repair projects.

At least 55% of voters need to approve Measure RLS for it to pass.

Official title on the ballot: Measure Repairing Manhattan Beach Schools Without Increasing Tax Rates

You are being asked: Can Manhattan Beach Unified School District borrow $200 million to fund repairs, renovations and construction?

what your vote means

A "yes" vote means: The district can borrow $200 million to construct new buildings, repair and renovate existing public schools.
A "no" vote means: The district cannot borrow $200 million to construct new buildings, repair and renovate existing public schools.

More voter guides

City of Los Angeles
- City Council: Vote for districts 2, 10 and 14.
- Charter Amendment ER: A package of ethics reforms designed to fight corruption at City Hall. Plus: Charter Amendments DD, FF, HH and II.
L.A. County
- Board of Supervisors: Measure G would dramatically overhaul county government.
- District Attorney: Criminal justice reform, or more law-and-order justice?
- LAUSD school board: Voters are also deciding on a $9 billion facilities bond and a redistricting measure.
- School district bond measures: Schools have a lot of repair needs.
- Superior Court judges: Plus: Tips to make sure you're putting right person on the bench.
Statewide races
- Whoa! There are 10 propositions on the ballot. Here's your cheat sheet to Props. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36.
Jump to the full Voter Game Plan for dozens more races ▶

Understanding Measure RLS

The Manhattan Beach Unified School District serves about 5,900 students across eight schools.

School districts rely on voters to approve statewide and local bonds to pay for repairs, renovations, and new construction. This year, Manhattan Beach voters will decide whether to support one of each: the district’s Measure RLS and the statewide Proposition 2. (We’ve got a voter guide for that one, too.)

A bond is basically a loan that a school district takes out, and which property owners in that school district pay back through property taxes.

If at least 55% of voters approve Measure RLS, the Manhattan Beach Unified School District can issue up to $200 million in bonds to finance specific school facilities projects.

The district told LAist in a survey that the top three priorities are:

Replacing aging and leaking roofs
Upgrading outdated classrooms and labs to support instruction in science, technology, engineering, math, reading, and writing
Upgrading plumbing to protect safe drinking water

The money borrowed through the measure would be paid back through a property tax.

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"Measure RLS, if approved by voters, would simply extend the current the current school bond rate without increasing tax rates to fund local school repairs and upgrades," Public Information Officer Hibah Samad told LAist.

The district estimates the bond would cost property owners that live within the school district's boundaries an average of $32 per $100,000 of assessed value each year. There’s also a possibility that Manhattan Beach could get additional state funding if Prop. 2 passes.

Districts cannot spend bond money on employee salaries and are required to commission independent audits of bond spending.

Calculate the impact of Measure RLS on your property tax

- The district estimates Measure RLS would not increase tax rates because it extends the property tax associated with prior bonds approved in 2016.
- Find your property’s assessed value on the L.A. County Assessor’s website.
- Divide your assessed value by $100,000 and multiply that number by $32.
- The resulting number is the estimate of the annual property tax associated with Measure RLS.
- Remember: Your property’s assessed value will change, but increases are limited to 2% per year, except when a property changes ownership or undergoes new construction.
- Rent? It’s possible that landlords pass increased property taxes on to tenants, but the limits on annual rent hikes depend on where you live.

What supporters of school bonds say

Research links higher student achievement to better quality schools — it’s easier to learn in clean, climate-controlled, well-lit classrooms.

In California, there’s no dedicated stream of funding to support the upkeep of the 10,000 public K-12 schools attended by 5.9 million students. The majority of the money schools receive from the state every year supports students, staff salaries and other day-to-day expenses.

Throughout the state, 38% of K-12 students go to schools that do not meet the minimum standard to be considered clean, safe, and functional.

A wall and ceiling reveal water damage. A patch of the wall has a plastic covering over it. Tiles are missing from the ceiling.

If the state and local measures fail, the need for funding will remain.

“Those buildings are not going to magically renovate themselves while we're waiting for a better bond,” said Sara Hinkley, the California program manager at the Center for Cities + Schools at UC Berkeley.

Manhattan Beach Mayor Pro Tem Amy Howorth and several local business leaders are among those who submitted an argument in favor of the bond to the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder.

Read more:

The district's case for Measure RLS
The Committee to Repair Manhattan Beach Schools — Yes on RLS also has this argument

Wasn’t the lottery supposed to fund education?

The lottery does contribute money to public education — L.A. County alone has gotten $11 billion since 1985 — but as revenues ballooned in recent years, school funding stagnated.
When California voters approved the creation of the lottery, the law required 34 cents of every dollar to fund education. In 2010 lawmakers changed the rules giving the lottery the mandate to “maximize” funding for education.
Now there are bigger jackpots, but fewer dollars for schools. A 2018 LAist investigation found the lottery’s contributions had dropped to 23 cents per dollar.
And in 2020, the California State Auditor found the lottery “has not provided required funding to education” and shorted schools tens of millions of dollars.

What critics of school bonds say

In general, critics of bonds often say the cost to property owners is too high and question why school districts with declining enrollment need money for construction when they’re serving fewer students.

The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association is a frequent opponent of state and local school bonds. The nonprofit is dedicated to upholding Proposition 13, the 1978 constitutional amendment that limited changes to California property taxes.

“We think bond financing has its place, but it should be judicious because it raises property taxes at the local level,” said Susan Shelley, HJTA’s vice president of communications.

The Association has not taken a position on specific local bonds other than LAUSD’s $9 billion Measure US (no) and on Proposition 2 (also no).

Shelley said voters weighing school bonds should carefully consider how the school spent previous bond funding and the plans for future projects.

“You should have confidence that the priorities are right,” Shelley said. “And if they're not, say no and make [the district] come back to you with a better plan.”

No individual or group submitted an argument in opposition to the bond to the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder.

Who is in charge of all this money?

State law lays out several accountability measures for local school district bonds, including:

The creation of an independent bond oversight committee that includes:
- At least seven members
- Representatives of the business community, taxpayers, and parents. School district employees, vendors, contractors, and consultants cannot be appointed.
Independent, annual performance audits of bond-funded projects and spending

How long would construction take?

While districts identify projects that could benefit from improvements, that list is not a guarantee of which projects will be funded.

There are often years of community meetings, design, and permitting between the passage of a bond and the start of construction, though minor renovation projects could be completed sooner.

Manhattan Beach voters approved two bonds in 2016, the $114 million Measure C and $39 million Measure EE. A few projects funded through the measures include air conditioning for all elementary school classrooms and an extensive renovation at Grand View.