top of page

Contra Costa County · June 2, 2026

Vote  NO 
on  Measure  G​

The Contra Costa Community College District wants $920 million in new debt ($1.88 Billion once interest is added).  That's more than all three previously passed  bond measures combined — while enrollment has fallen 28% since 2002.

$920 M
New debt —
principal only

$1.88 B
Total repayment 
with interest

$727 M
    Existing  debt,         3 previous bonds 

$2.61 B
Total bonded debt if Measure G passes 

2059
Year of final Measure G payment

Already Deeply in Debt
 

The Contra Costa Community College District has already passed three bond measures -- in 2002, 2006, and 2014.  As is, those three measures have resulted in $856.5 Million in principal alone.  With the interest added, Contra Costa Taxpayers are presently still paying off $727 Million in existing bond debt.  The anticipated final payment on 2014's Measure E is due in 2039.  

I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.

Measure G's $920 Million — in principal alone — is greater than the sum of all three previous bond measures, combined.  With interest, Measure G's total repayment reaches $1.88 Billion. Combined with existing debt, total bonded indebtedness would reach $2.61 billion if Measure G passes, with Contra Costa County's assessed property values continuing to serve as collateral.

Debt Burden

New Debt Burden Per Resident
 

4CD advertises Measure G as adding only $10 per $100,000 of assessed property value. But that framing relies on a 33-year repayment window to make a massive bill appear small.

And it doesn't tell the whole story:
 

  • Until Measure E's 2039 payoff, 4CD bond taxes already average $13.97 per $100,000.
     

  • Measure G would add $10 on top of that — through 2039 and then continue itself until 2059.
     

  • The $10 estimate assumes that the County's assessed values grow by 4% annually. If growth falls short, the tax-collection rate could increase. So 4CD is legally required to disclose that its estimate "is based upon 4CD's projections and estimates only, which are not binding upon 4CD."
     

  • Measure G has no senior exemption.​

​​

The Bottom Line:

Under Measure G, every Contra Costa County resident — including seniors on fixed incomes — would owe an additional $1,623 per capita to bond underwriters and banks.   That's the number derived by dividing $1.88 billion in total Measure G debt by the County's 1,158,225 residents).

50,000 Students Myth

The "50,000 Students" Myth

4CD claims "nearly 50,000 students" attend its three colleges. That figure is deliberately misleading; it counts anyone who registers for even a single course.   California's actual funding metric — and the honest student-count measure  — is the number of Full Time Equivalent Students (FTES).  One FTES = 525 instructional hours (15 hours × 35 weeks).  By this standard, 4CD enrollment has collapsed.

The 21,940 FTES count is from the State Chancellor’s “Full Time Equivalent Student (FTES) Report" of October 30, 2025.  See page 15 of 20 ("2024-25 Actual Reported FTES by District," Contra Costa CCD).

​

When 4CD passed its first of three voter-approved bond measures in 2002, the District served 30,648 full-time equivalent students. Today it serves only 21,940 — a drop of nearly 9,000 students, or 28%.


Yet the district now wants to borrow $920 Million (plus $960 Million in interest costs) to build expensive new facilities, and to address "deferred maintenance." Adding costly new construction while enrollment trends sharply downward is exactly the wrong approach. As shown further below, "deferred maintenance" is neglected maintenance.  Taxpayers should not have to pay for such irresponsibility.  


But 4CD's own Facilities Plans show extensive new construction planned at all three District colleges anyway — Contra Costa College, Diablo Valley College, and Los Medanos College.

As in California's struggling K-12 systems: building lavish new facilities while enrollment falls is a bad deal for taxpayers.  It serves construction unions, via expensive "Project Stabilization Agreements."  Those provide for union-only construction monopolies, in exchange for "No Strike" promises. 

History

CCCCD's (4CD's) Troubling Bond-Measure History

 

The Contra Costa Community College District (4CD) sustained a reputational black eye when it tried to pass a $145 Million (principal) bond measure in 1996.  The District was caught using tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds to operate its own in-house campaign to promote the measure, despite written notices warning of the illegality of such actions when conducted by a tax-funded public agency. 

The District Attorney of the time, also headquartered in Martinez, refused to prosecute.  Ironically, however, California's Fair Political Practices Commission did fine 4CD — for 8 counts of failing to file campaign-finance reports, for a campaign that 4CD could not operate legally in the first place.  The District then paid the FPPC's $16,000 fine — from booster funds, reportedly.  

4CD returned to the ballot in Year 2000 for another bond-measure attempt, at $236 Million in principal.  With voters still recalling the District's illegal behavior of four years earlier, that measure also failed.  

 

The Prop. 39 Scheme

 

By 2002, California's unions had been able to push through Prop. 39, reducing the passage threshold for school-related bond measures to just 55%.  Prop. 39 was deviously represented as requiring a "tough 55% super-majority vote," though it was replacing a substantially tougher, traditional two-thirds (66.66...%) super majority.   So enough voters were fooled that 2002's Measure A ($120 Million) passed, itself with just a 53.4% "YES" vote.  

Prop. 39 was and is a dangerously skewed and inequitable scheme.  Bond measures, when passed, leave every property owner with a new lien on that property, often for dozens of years into the future. 

So when the two-thirds supermajority was enacted in 1879, there was a general understanding that passing on debts to future generations and burdening property ownership with debt-repayment new taxes should require a high threshold for voter approval, reflecting a broad consensus of need.

 

Now, the result of Prop. 39 is that many ill-considered, overly expensive bonds get passed these days.

Again:  when 4CD passed Measure A in 2002, it served 30,648 full-time equivalent students. Today it serves only 21,940 — a drop of 28%.  Yet 4CD now wants to borrow $920 Million (with $960 Million more in interest) to build expensive new facilities, while enrollment has trended downward. 

 

We hope that at least 45% of Contra Costa voters understand that fact, and vote NO on Measure B.

Prop 39 Scheme

"Deferred Maintenance": A Recurring Excuse


"Deferred maintenance" projects — roofing, seismic retrofits, electrical, HVAC — appear over and over in 4CD bond project summaries dating back to 2002.  If three bond measures totaling $856.5 million haven't resolved basic maintenance needs, why should voters believe a fourth will do so?
 

The answer may lie in spending priorities. Over the last decade, 4CD's maintenance budget has crept from just 0.10% to 0.20% of Plant Replacement Value (PRV). The standard for commercial buildings is 2–5% of PRV. The district spends a fraction of what responsible building management requires — then asks taxpayers to cover gaps via bonds (borrowed money with interest on top).

Very Generous Salaries and Benefits, Lean Maintenance​

While 4CD defers routine building maintenance and seeks $920 Million in new bond funds to cover the gaps, its administrative compensation is lavish.  In salary alone, the District Chancellor's pay is more than the official salary of the President of the United States (when accepted, $400,000).  It's much higher than the California Governors current salary ($245,929).   The numbers below represent current highest levels reported for the positions listed.

4CD Compensation

Official Arguments Against Measure G

Ballot Arguments

Measure B supporters and opponents submitted initial ballot arguments for and against Measure G on March 18th, followed on March 23rd with rebuttals against the other side's initial argument.  When Voter Guide pamphlets are mailed at the end of April, however, our rebuttal (to Measure B proponents) will appear before our primary argument. 

That's  the order in which our arguments appear below....

REBUTTAL TO ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF MEASURE G
 

Vote NO on Measure G: 

 

  • The Contra Costa Community College District (4CD) is already deeply in debt.  Three previous bond measures (2002, 2006, 2014), totaled $856.5 Million, principal alone.  Including interest, County taxpayers still owe nearly $727 Million on those existing obligations, with final payoff in 2039. 

 

  • 4CD’s claim of “nearly 50,000 students” is highly misleading; it includes single-course enrollees. California’s funding metric is “full time equivalent students” (FTES).   

 

 

  • Adding expensive new planned facilities while enrollment trends downward is ill-advised.

 

  • But Measure G intends $920 Million in new principal (plus $963 Million interest), with payoff scheduled in 2059.

 

More concerns:

 

  • How many bond measures will it take to complete fundamental projects included repeatedly in 4CD’s bond summaries?  Roofing repairs, seismic retrofits, electrical work, HVAC, etc. appear over and over in 4CD project summaries and “deferred maintenance” lists.

 

  • 4CD’s “Project Stabilization Agreements” (Union construction exclusively, exchanged for no-strike promises) can increase costs. 

 

  • Bond Measures like Measure G have no senior exemption.

 

  • 4CD’s numerous administrators remain very well compensated.  For example:  at $404,238 salary alone ($548,112 including benefits, as of 2024), 4CD’s Chancellor was paid more than Governor Newsom ($245,929 salary). 

 

With shrinking enrollments:  instead of building plush new facilities with new bonded millions — and
funding excessive compensation levels — 4CD should maintain existing buildings in better condition, with existing money. 


                                                            NOonMeasureG.info​

 


ARGUMENT AGAINST MEASURE G

 

Measure G:  far too much, far too soon:  

 

  • The Contra Costa Community College District (4CD) passed three bonds prior to Measure G:
    Measure A (2002, $120 Million); another Measure A (2006, $286.5 Million); and Measure E
    (2014, $450 Million).  Those three measures totaled $856.5 Million (in principal alone). 

 

  • Bonds are loans, paid back to investors with interest.  We’re still paying on all three prior bonds.
    That remaining payback obligation, including interest, is still nearly $727 Million, with Measure E’s final payment scheduled for 2039.

 

  • Now comes Measure G, adding $920 Million more (in principal alone) — greater than the sum total of the three previous bonds.  With interest, Measure G’s repayment total becomes $1.88 Billion, by 2059.  Adding earlier measures, total bonded indebtedness would become $2.61 Billion, with Contra Costa County’s assessed property values as collateral. 

 

Troubling repayment terms:

 

  • The long repayment schedule allows advertising Measure G as adding only $10 per $100,000 of assessed property value.  But until Measure E”s 2039 payoff, 4CD bond taxes already average $13.97 per $100,000.  Measure G  would add $10 to that until 3039, and then continue onward itself.
     

  • 4CD’s estimates rely upon Contra Costa County’s assessed property values continuing to grow by 4% annually.  If less, Measure G’s tax rates could increase.  So 4CD is required to advise voters that the estimated new tax rate “is based upon 4CD’s projections and estimates only, which are not binding upon 4CD” (emphasis added).

 

  • Under Measure G, Contra Costa County’s citizens — with no senior exemption — would owe
    $1,623 more per capita to bond underwriters and big banks.   

 

  • 4CD spends relatively small portions of its budget on building maintenance (which comes out
    of the same general fund that pays salaries and benefits).  So some maintenance is then “deferred,” and borrowed money (like Measure G) pays for the fixes.

 

4CD should rely less on successive large bond measures, and more on its existing budget to maintain
its existing buildings.
 

More information:
NOonMeasureG.info
 

Election date: June 2, 2026. Contra Costa County is a vote-by-mail jurisdiction. Ballots will be mailed to all registered voters before election day.   To learn more or get involved, visit cocotax.org.

NOonMeasureG.info

A Project of Contra Costa Taxpayers Association

Election date: June 2, 2026  ·  Contra Costa Community College District Bond Measure

bottom of page