West-MEC looking to expand campuses with bonds on your ballot

PHOENIX — The Western Maricopa Education Center (West-MEC) has two items on the Nov. 4 ballot: a $415 million bond proposal and a request to approve a real estate sale.

West-MEC Superintendent Scott Spurgeon said neither measure would result in a tax increase. The current tax rate for community members is $0.13 per $100 of assessed property value.

Spurgeon noted that he personally pays just over $55 per month in taxes to West-MEC. That amount would remain the same if the bond is approved.

“The exponential growth, there’s been a lot more economic growth happening in the West Valley,” Spurgeon told KTAR News 92.3 FM.

Why will voters cast ballots impacting West-MEC?

Bond funds would be used to purchase 14 acres of land in Peoria, expand the Northeast campus in Deer Valley, begin construction on a new campus at Thomas Road and Loop 101 and support other projects.

The real estate sale item is a state-mandated step required before a district can sell property it already owns. Spurgeon said three parcels of land would be sold if the measure is approved.

“Every time someone builds and improves a property, it has more assessed valuation,” he added. “Now we have $415 million worth of increased value for properties, so we want access to that money by simply still paying the same rate.”

The items appear on ballots outside of Maricopa County as well, due to West-MEC’s reach as a CTE district.

“We go as far west as Saddle Mountain, as far south as Gila Bend, as far east as the Paradise Valley School District, and as far north as Wickenburg … So, every district within that space … has the ability to vote on our bond issue,” Spurgeon said.

What is the goal of the bond and real estate sale impacting West-MEC?

He added the goal of the bond and real estate sale is to increase access around the state and improve workforce development outcomes for students.

Plus, “1,700 or 1,800 of those students we graduate every year, if we’re able to get the bond issue, (that) would allow us by 2029 to have close to 6,000 spots available, which means we would be producing … about 4,000 students completers a year,” Spurgeon said.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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