Summary of the October 14, 2025 Special Board Meeting
Published on Oct 14 2025This Special meeting of the Board of Trustees was called to provide the Trustees an opportunity to consider Resolution 834. The resolution the Board approved today authorizes me or my designee to execute the required State Lease Revenue Bond Lease-Leaseback Program agreements on behalf of the District.
The Trustees were provided with background information and specific requirements of the Lease-Leaseback (LLB) community college affordable student housing program at their September 2, 2025 meeting and was agendized in the October 7 Regular meeting. However, President of the Board Dr. Mullery pulled the resolution from the October 7 agenda since we did not have all the Trustees in attendance.
As background, the LLB program requires us to enter multiple agreements with the California Community Colleges Board of Governors, the State Public Works Board (SPWB), and the CCCCO to access the $28.4 million allocation to supplement our Measure I funds to design and construct the new affordable student housing complex. These agreements are necessary to ensure compliance with lease revenue bond requirements and to establish long-term expectations for the use, maintenance, and affordability of the student housing facility.
At the September Board meeting, the Trustees raised very good questions related to the fiscal advisability of the LLB program. I want to share some information that I provided to the Board after the September meeting that answers the questions. First, despite the state’s investment of $28.4 million in our affordable housing project, CR will retain complete operational control of the new housing facility. Second, we will see a positive cash balance in each of the next ten years even if we keep all the beds at an affordable rate of $3,250 per semester or approximate monthly rent of $812.50 per month/bed.
I want to correct a statement I made in the October 7 Board meeting about the cost of the dorm beds. The monthly rate of $812.50 per month/bed is considered affordable (based on the affordable rent calculation of 30% of 50% of Area Median Income) and our current monthly rate for the dorms is approximately $623 per month/bed. So, students will see an increase in dorm rates when the new student housing complex opens in 2028.
I also want to note that I have been very hesitant to raise the dorm room rents too much over in past years because of the subpar conditions of our current dorm rooms.
The 10-year financials that underpin the recommendation to move forward with accepting the state’s funding for our affordable housing project show that the District will see a positive fund balance in each of the next several years with this project.