John Knight Middle School, on East A Street in Dixon, was renovated using funding from Measure Q, the 2016 bond issue.

DIXON, CA (MPG) – Even if the $49 million school bond issue on the ballot next week is approved by voters, Dixon taxpayers can expect to see another request for money in the not-too-distant future.

Measure U, the fourth bond issue placed on the ballot by the Dixon Unified School District since 2002, won’t be the last general obligation bond to come before voters, at least one board member has said. 

“I would see this (Measure U) as the first maybe one or two steps,” DUSD Board President Julian Cuevas said during a June 18 school board meeting. “It will help us knock out the projects of highest need, and then we might have to come back in a few years, and I don’t even know what that looks like. Is it four years, is it eight years to go back and do the other portion of the work?

“I don’t want folks to feel that just because it does pass that all of the facilities will look state-of-the-art,” he added.

Cuevas, who is running for re-election to the board this year, said the district is working off a master plan, passed in 2024, that lays out estimated costs for repairs and modernization projects over the next 10 years at approximately $200 million.

Money from Measure U would go to repairing and upgrading aging classrooms, roofs, plumbing, technology and electrical infrastructure; upgrading disabled access; and installing security systems, fire alarms and fencing, District Superintendent Brett Barley said.

The three schools in the most need of repair and refurbishing are Anderson Elementary School, the old Silveyville Elementary School, which is now home to the Dixon Montessori Charter School, and Tremont Elementary School, Cuevas said.

If passed, Measure U would result in an estimated $30 tax increase per $100,000 of property for area residents, according to district officials. With the median sale price of a home in Dixon at approximately $640,000, that would mean an additional $192 a year in property taxes if the measure is approved.

That amount would be tacked onto what residents are already paying for Measure J, the 2002 general obligation bond which raised $29.4 million, and Measure Q, the 2016 general obligation bond which secured $30.4 million. 

Measure J added about $34.71 per $100,000 of a property’s assessed value to local homeowners’ tax bills in 2026. Measure Q added about $27.57 per $100,000 of a property’s assessed value in 2026. 

What that means is if Measure U passes, the combined burden for the three bond measures would be nearly $600 annually on a house assessed for $640,000. Dixon homeowners already pay a considerable amount for property taxes. An area home assessed at $640,000 carries an annual property tax bill of more than $10,000. 

Regardless of how Measure U does at the polls, area property owners will continue to pay on Measure Q through 2043 and Measure J through 2044.

Measure D, which sought to raise $32 million in 2010, did not pass.

Dixon Unified School District serves approximately 3,060 students at three elementary schools, a middle school and two high schools. It is also connected with the Dixon Montessori Charter School. 

All homeowners and business owners within the district area are taxed for the repayment of general obligation school bonds. A 55 percent vote is required for approval of Measure U.

Dixon Unified School District has an annual budget of approximately $50 million, but as much as 85 percent of that goes to salaries and benefits, leaving roughly $7.5 million for everything else, from repairs to electricity to supplies, Barley said. 

District officials believe that if Measure U passes, they will be able to secure additional funds from the state through Proposition 2, passed two years ago, which approved a $10 billion bond to pay for upgrades at K-12 schools and community colleges.

California provides matching funds for certain types of local school district funding, including repairs and modernization. 

“We believe that with matching state dollars that are available, we can get about $128 million,” Cuevas said. “That would still leave us short in terms of doing everything in the master plan, but it will go a long way in helping us meet our goals.”