As Election Day draws near, Central Oregon Community College administrators are cautiously optimistic that their bond measure will pass, allowing them to build new facilities and expand services around the area.

And even as more data show the nation may be in a recession, COCC isn’t sweating the challenge of selling bonds in a potentially problematic market.

“I’m optimistic,” Chief Financial Officer Jim Jones said.

“I think people see this is part of the solution to the economic problems we have. Initially, it will provide some good jobs. Then, people will need to buy the concrete and steel for the building. Then, it will train people for good family-wage jobs, and they’ll be in high demand.”

The $43.75 million bond, which has no organized opposition, would pay primarily for a new health and sciences center, as well as new education centers in Madras and Prineville.

In addition, the bond would pay to renovate three campus buildings and to improve access for the disabled on COCC’s hilly campus.

Property owners are currently paying off a 15-year bond for COCC’s library at 9.3 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. If the new bond passes Tuesday, property owners would begin paying 12.07 cents per $1,000 of assessed value in 2009, meaning their taxes would increase by about 2.8 cents per $1,000.

For a home assessed at $200,000, that would mean a tax of about $24.14, $5.60 more than in previous years. Property owners would see no overlap in the two bonds.

Residents of Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties, those living on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation and residents in northern Lake and Klamath counties and southern Wasco County are voting on the bond.

With the economy as uncertain as it currently is, President Jim Middleton said he is happy he has been able to explain how the bond will affect average homeowners.

“I’m trying to give them a clearer understanding that it’s a bond swap rather than a bond addition,” he said. “That seems to be a really key point. We are very pleased we had the opportunity of timing things in that manner, at a time when there’s greater pressure on everyone.”

Another economic concern is, if the measure passes, how easy it will be to sell the bonds down the road.

If the college has to sell the bond at higher rates than expected, it will leave property owners with a higher tax bill than promised.

But, Middleton said, if the bond doesn’t pass, there is no chance the school will have the funds to build the health and sciences center.

“As you look at the health and science center, if we took all of our set-aside funds, if we took all the funds we’ve been raising for the culinary center, we would be nowhere close to doing the health and science center,” he said. “It would be only one-fourth to one-third of the money we need to build (the facility).

“But we do have enough to get started and buy us time (until the bond sale).”

And Middleton pointed out that the college has many more projects it has chosen not to bring to voters, including plans to build a new culinary arts building, new student housing and the campus center that’s currently under way.

According to Jones, COCC has enough reserves to avoid selling the bond for as many as nine months before the project would be delayed.

“COCC is not in the position where we would need to sell bonds right away,” Jones said. “We’ve gone through the conceptual design with our architects, but we’re not ready to bid it out. We didn’t want to do too much if (the bond) didn’t pass.”

Jones said the college has enough money set aside to finish the design phase before needing to sell the bond. And he said he believes the bond market is bouncing back and looking pretty stable.

Jones pointed to Chemeketa Community College in Salem, which sold $50 million in bonds last week with a rate of less than 5 percent.

In the end, Middleton said, he believes in bleak economic times like these, voters must decide whether higher education will be “part of the problem or part of the solution.”

He noted the enrollment numbers show a 27 percent increase in full-time students attending COCC.

“That’s a real clue that the students are coming back more serious, more focused on making progress toward their goals, and in a number of the career areas,” he said. “This is not the casual learner.”

Measure 9-58

Funds Central Oregon Community College

Fiscal impact: Currently, property owners pay 9.3 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for a COCC bond that will retire in 2009. The measure would cost property owners in Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties about 12.07 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, an increase of about 2.8 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, beginning in 2009 – about $24.14 for a home with an assessed value of $200,000, $5.60 more than in previous years.

What it would fund: The $43.75 million bond would pay for a new health and sciences center, as well as renovations on three campus buildings and improved access for the disabled on COCC’s campus. It would also fund two new education centers in Madras and Prineville.