San Joaquin

In San Joaquin County, a total of $89,290,852 was taken out of school-allocated property taxes to pay State obligations in 2010-2011.  $78,928,793 was redirected to satisfy the State's VLF backfill obligation.  $10,362,059 was redirected to pay for the State's 2004 Economic Recovery Bonds.  This increased to $89,738,449 in 2011-12.  It represents redirection of one property tax dollar out of every six in the county going, not to the schools, but to pay the state's unrelated obligations.

 

In 2011-12, San Joaquin County K-12 schools saw over $265 million of state funding arrive after the end of the school year, $189 million of which was formal deferrals.  In 2012-13, this dropped to $182 million (thanks to Proposition 30), of which $143 million was formal deferrals.  For this June (2014), $87,362,876 of deferrals have already been announced for K-12 schools, with roughly another 50% anticipated as part of the Second Principal Apportionment in June.  An additional $8 million in deferrals is expected for San Joaquin Delta Community Colleges.

 

San Joaquin County schools will therefore not see a penny of their property tax diversion repaid by the end of the school year.  On average, school districts in California recoup about 30% of their 'guaranteed' loans to the state.

 

Can San Joaquin County schoolchildren really afford to serve as the state's bankers -- interest free and repayment negoatiable?  No.  San Joaquin County suffers one of the seven highest LCFF deficits in the state -- requiring 66% more funding to reach its per-student LCFF target. 

 

Source:  State Controller's Office, Local Government Reporting Section.  (City and county detail shown in the reports, totals upon request from the SCO.) California Department of Education, First and Second Principal Apportionments.