California public schools on a borrowing binge.

CalWatch: Schools and universities from the smallest unified school district to the top-tier university systems in the state issued more bonds in 2015 than they had in any year since the boom times of 2005, before the Great Recession. The result is a spate of new buildings, enhanced facilities and an overall expansion of the education complex.

A CalWatchdog analysis of data for the year shows 465 securities issuances from education entities. Some were refunding issuances — refinancing existing bonds — but the majority were general obligation bonds, which rely on taxation for repayment.

Most of the issuances came from school districts, charter schools and education districts, while 64 were directly tied to a single community college district or public university system.

A driving factor in the boost in issuances is the increase in real estate values in much of the state, said Kevin Carlin, a San Diego-based public interest attorney with a public works construction background.

“There is a limit in bond measure (regulations) that says you can’t issue more than a certain percentage of assessed value in a district. So once you get maxed out on the value limit, you have to wait for those limits to go up.”

The voter-approved bonds are part of a continued spending surge on education in the state.

Land prices drop during a recession and much of these bonds will be underwater. These bonds are paid for with property taxes, which get adjusted down when ho e prices decline.  This will not end well.