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| Chemeketa outlines need for bond levy |
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| Chemeketa Community College is asking voters to approve a $92 million bond levy during the May 20 vote-by-mail election. |
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 | | Graphic by Adam Korst | | |
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By Kurt Holland
Chemeketa Community College is asking voters to approve a $92 million bond levy during the May 20 vote-by-mail election.
The money would go toward updating, renovating and building new state-of-the-art facilities to help support Chemeketa's 64,000 students located on five campuses in Polk, Marion and Yamhill counties.
The $92 million bond, if approved, would cost homeowners 27 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. The owner of a home assessed at $150,000 would pay an estimated $40.50 annually for the life of the bond.
Bond passage requires at least a 50 percent voter turnout and at least 50 percent "yes" votes.
Chemeketa representatives say their need is at an all-time high. New buildings are needed to keep up with technology and growth of teaching programs, other buildings and infrastructure are in need of repair, and yet other buildings are simply wearing out and must be replaced.
"The needs add up to a lot of money," said John Hawkins, executive director of the Chemeketa Community College Foundation and head of college advancement. "It's time to ask voters to approve dollars for capital projects. We have great instructors, a great institution, but we need the facilities."
At the heart of the bond message is the need for a modern, well-trained work force that many of the programs offered by Chemeketa will help provide.
"We have programs like nursing that are limited by space, and in order to meet the needs of communities with health care professionals it's important to be able to extend and expand our ability to serve the community and students," said Hawkins.
Nearly half of the bond money would go toward building new facilities, with the rest applied toward renovation, maintenance and replacement of other facilities.
Twenty-four percent of the bond would finance a new health services facility, 20 percent would go toward classroom and other building construction in Salem, 17 percent would go toward a new industrial technology center, 14 percent would be used for facilities at the CCC campus in McMinnville, and 12 percent would be applied to building and infrastructure repairs.
Also, 6.5 percent of the bond would go toward a new emergency response training facility in Brooks, and 6.5 percent would be used for additional classroom lab and development projects.
Hawkins acknowledged that with the tough economic times, the price tag may be a hard sell to some voters.
"There are questions about the tax rate and how affordable it is for people on fixed incomes. Nobody likes to pay taxes," he said. "But if the bond measure fails, Chemeketa will continue to struggle with the buildings and facilities it has. We lack enough classroom space for the programs we offer."
"It's about the people - the students and the communities - who stand to benefit.
To help get the word out to voters about the need, a group called Friends of Chemeketa is campaigning in support of the measure.
No organized group has come forward to oppose the measure.
Chemeketa last approached voters with a bond request in 2006, when an $89 million measure narrowly failed by 1,707 votes among the 139,577 cast. Nearly 49.5 percent of voters in that election supported the levy.
"The needs have not gone away," said Hawkins, "and they have gotten greater." |
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