Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

PCC plans bond community forums at campuses

Photos and story by James Hill

Portland Community College is hosting a series of forums to provide information to the community about its bond measure (26-95) on the Nov. 4 ballot. The forums, which will take place at each of the three comprehensive campuses, are scheduled for:

Sylvania Campus (12000 S.W. 49th Ave.)

6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 15, Dining Hall, CC Building.

Cascade Campus (705 N. Killingsworth St.)

6 p.m., Monday, Oct. 20, Cafeteria, Student Center.

Rock Creek Campus (17705 N.W. Springville Road)

6 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 22, Event Center, Building 9.

Over the last nine years, college-wide enrollment has increased 18 percent. In the 2007 fall term, almost 10,000 students were put on a waiting list for classes, and more than 5,000 were turned away because classes were full. The bond would allow PCC to increase the number of classrooms and lab space throughout the district.

Each term PCC students are unable to enroll in programs due to lack of space, and in many programs, students are trained on outdated technology. The bond would expand the capacity of programs and allow PCC to update equipment for job training, so that more nurses, welders, educators and other skilled workers can join the labor force.

Serving a district that is 1,500 square miles – roughly the size of Rhode Island – PCC has as many college freshman and sophomore credit students as the seven Oregon public universities combined. In fact, two-thirds of every household in the district includes a member who has taken a class at PCC. If passed, the bond would add education facilities in Newberg and Sherwood, as well as add classrooms and labs at every campus, the Washington County Workforce Training Center and the Southeast Center.

In a 2007 survey, the majority of those questioned believed PCC to be a good investment in tax dollars. For every dollar appropriated by state and local government, taxpayers will see a cumulative return of six times that amount over the course of the students’ working lives, in the form of higher tax receipts and avoided social costs.

The cost of the bond is $374 million. The maximum a property owner would have to pay is estimated at 32.9 cents per $1,000 assessed value. For the owner of a home assessed at $280,000, that’s less than $8 per month or about $92 per year.

For more information, visit the Web page: www.pcc.edu/bond