The original Master Facilities Use Agreement (MFUA) between the City and SMMUSD was first created in the early 2000s, and has been amended and renewed many times since. By its terms, the City pays compensation (currently $12 million annually) to SMMUSD for allowing “the city to use school facilities… during hours when the facilities are available for City use.” The MFUA was most recently renewed in 2022, and is set to expire in 2027. In 2025, the City declared fiscal distress, based on costly legal settlements, unexpected costs such as Palisades fire recovery, and decreased commercial activity. The City’s Realignment Plan outlines numerous cost-saving measures designed to eliminate the budget’s structural deficit, including the discontinuation of the annual payment of $12 million to SMMUSD. The Plan assumes passage of a funding measure, like Measure ES, “sized to generate $12 million annually to fund the Joint Use Agreement with SMMUSD.” (Source)

No. Renewal or replacement of the current MFUA, and all similar agreements to date, is completely discretionary by the City, and depends upon the support of the members of the City Council at any given time. Measure ES is designed to replace this uncertainty with stable, reliable funding for our schools.

In 2024, Santa Monica voters approved Measure QS, a general obligation bond package that may only be used for school facilities (building) projects in the Santa Monica schools of SMMUSD. This restricted revenue is different from Measure ES revenue, which explicitly may not be used for construction projects. Measure ES funds SMMUSD operations so it can continue to retain the best teachers and deliver the highest quality education services to its students. Measure ES is based on a flat parcel tax of $495 per parcel, whereas the bonds under QS are paid through a tax based on the assessed value of a property (“ad valorem” tax).