CALIFORNIA CITY, MOJAVE VOTE TODAY.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

MOJAVE - Voters in Mojave and California City will go to the polls today to vote on two tax measures that would help raise money to build and modernize schools.

California City voters are being asked to approve a new tax to finance an $11 million bond measure to build an elementary school and a high school in California City.

Voters throughout the school district are also being asked to approve a districtwide 10-year, $25.50-per-parcel tax to renovate campuses.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Both measures need a two-thirds approval from voters to pass.

The California City tax would cost about $1.50 per $1,000 in assessed valuation - $112 a year for a $75,000 home - to pay off a school construction bond of more than $11 million.

The average assessed valuation in 1997-98 for a single-family residence in

California City was $53,280.

The second measure asks voters throughout the district to approve a $25.50 parcel tax. The parcel tax would generate $450,000 a year in Mojave and $1.25 million in California City.

Revenues from the parcel tax would be used in the communities where they are raised and would match state aid to modernize local schools, most of them in Mojave.

California City residents have long desired a local high school to spare students daily bus trips to and from Mojave High School, about 15 miles away.

Mojave residents fear that the proposed new high school could result in the closing of Mojave High School, which now draws about 65 percent to 70 percent of its 565 students from California City.

A survey of residents in the spring of 1999 indicated the community of Mojave would not support taxes to build schools in California City, district officials said.

For location of polling places, voters can call [phone] or [phone].