Cost tables for the two measures circulate in community threads, and the most common mistake we've seen inflates the total by about two thirds. This page gives the official number, the only safe way to split it, and the error to watch for.
The official figure is combined. The district's estimate — the only one it publishes — is $3.50 per month for every $100,000 of a home's actual value, for both measures together: $42 a year per $100,000, about $22.75 a month or $273 a year on the county's $650,000 median home. Our calculator uses exactly this rate.
If you need a per-measure split, the district does not publish one. The honest arithmetic is proportional: 5A is $73 million of the $133 million total and 5B is $60 million, so on the district's combined rate that works out to roughly $23 a year per $100,000 for 5A and $19 a year per $100,000 for 5B — about $150 and $123 a year respectively on the median home. Treat those as our arithmetic, clearly labeled, not district figures: actual mill mechanics can differ, and 5B's amount is CPI-indexed in later years while 5A's grows toward a statutory cap (see "Indexed to CPI").
The double-count to watch for. Tables circulating in neighborhood threads attribute the combined figure — $22.75 a month / $273 a year on a median home — to 5A alone, then add a separate 5B line on top, implying $450 a year or more. Whatever a table's provenance, the check is simple: if its per-measure lines sum to more than $3.50 a month per $100,000, it is double-counting the district's estimate. Both measures together cost a median-home owner about $273 a year, per the district — whether that is a little or a lot is the actual argument voters should be having.
What each measure funds, per the ballot language now posted on the district's page: 5A ($73M General Purpose MLO) — compensation for teachers, education support professionals, support staff and school leaders, plus career and technical education; 5B ($60M Debt Free Schools Act special mill) — maintenance, capital repair, technology, and safety and security, in a dedicated fund that cannot pay salaries. Both promise spending "reviewed by a board-appointed citizens' committee for accountability" with annual public reports — a promise with a history worth knowing (see The 2021 Recommendations).