I obtained a PhD in Computer Science in 1993. After teaching a year in college I switched to working in Finance and Technology industries as a Data Scientist. Since 2013 I have followed the District’s bond funding options, and provided oversight with detailed comments in emails and Board meetings. My articles can be searched on my HariTitan.com website using keywords: AHT, STEM, Kindergarten or CAB.
Delay would increase construction costs and reduce interest payments
An argument was made that voting NO on Measure H would delay the renovation or rebuild at the expense of increased construction costs in the future. These construction costs are claimed to be rising at 5% - 7% per year, compounded annually.
Measure H is financed with 6 years of interest-only payments (until 2020) followed by paying off the Measure H bond over 7 years for a total of 13 years of payments.
Bonding capacity is akin to the District's credit line. The District bonding capacity goes up as property assessments go up and each time a long-time resident sells their Piedmont home.
Every time the District borrows money, taxpayers make the payments to the creditors via property taxes (specifically the debt servicing on the left side of the property tax statement).
Having the "bonding capacity" is not the same thing as affordability for the taxpayers.
On January 22, the School Board reported receiving many phone calls requesting the tax rate increase to be lower than what is required to pay both the interest due and start paying off the bond amount.
As a result the School Board decided to recommend a payment scheme that is a hybrid of paying interest-only for a number of years followed by a more rapid payoff after the existing Whiter Field debt is paid off.
KNN provided a chart for how this is likely to play out, see page 17 of 43:
