Southwest Corridor tram plan - 04

PCC's Sylvania Campus could see some renovation work as part of a proposed $175 million bond proposal expected to go to voters in November, 2017.

(Dana Tims)

Correction appended

Portland Community College, Oregon's largest post-secondary institution, will sit out the May election after all.

Last week, PCC's board decided to hold off on the $175 million bond until the November election. PCC had been discussing sending a bond to voters since at least last April. The expected project list is centered around maintenance, IT and safety improvements, and other renovations at various campuses.

PCC's decision came days before Portland Public Schools' board approved sending a $790 million construction bond, the largest in Oregon's history, to voters this May. The timing was no coincidence. The PCC board had to make a decision ahead of the March filing deadline for the May ballot.

The decision means Portlanders will have one less big-ticket bond proposal to consider during the May election, where turnout typically drops.

Kate Chester, a PCC spokeswoman, said that though the college was aware of the likely PPS bond, it wasn't the "prime factor" in pushing its own proposal to the fall ballot. It was all about finding the proper timing.

"We said, let's be thoughtful about this and strategic and take our time," she said of the rationale.

Some $70 million of the bond projects would pay for maintenance, IT upgrades and safety and security improvements. One proposal calls for replacing two workforce center buildings at Northeast 42nd Avenue and Killingsworth with a two-story 50,000-square-foot structure. The project also may include housing and other partnerships on the three-acre property at a key intersection. Projects will be completed over a four-year period, Chester said.

She said the $175 million bond is a renewal of the $144 million bond approved by voters in 2000, which is set to expire in 2018. That bond taxes homeowners at a rate of 13.5 cents per $1,000 of assessed value, and the November bond will continue at the same rate, she said.

Voters also passed a $344 million bond for PCC in 2008.

Another metro-area community college is electing to send a bond plan to voters in May. Mt. Hood Community College, which tried and failed to pass a bond for the fifth-time last year, is sending a revised $75 million proposal to voters this spring.

In 2016, voters turned down a $125 million bond.

Mt. Hood, the state's fourth-largest community college and located in Gresham, hasn't passed a bond since 1974.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story had the incorrect taxing rate for PCC's bond. The actual rate is 13.5 cents per $1,000 of assessed value.



-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen