• Your property taxes will go up from where they currently are, but not significantly so. Your rate will still be much lower than neighboring districts and others our size. We currently have a levy of $10.29 per thousand of “taxable value”, and this would increase the levy to around $11.29. That is still significantly below neighboring districts who range from $14.90 to $16.55 or districts of similar size who we compete against that range from $16.97 to $18.64. The amount of increase for a $300,000 would be approximately $134 per year, or $11 per month. 
• Prior to having the High School bond levy fall off in 2014, the school’s levy was always around $14. We are asking that the community consider allowing us to return to a rate that is still considerably lower than what the school used to have. 
• “Taxable Value” is around 46% of the “Assessed Value” of your house. 
• As valuations go up, the levy will come down as we are only able to levy for $30 million. If valuations go up, it doesn’t take as much of a levy to get the $30 million. 
• Even though the levy is a 20-year levy, that length of time is with zero projected growth. Our projected growth will allow us to have the levy paid off in 5-6 years based on a conservative growth estimate. 

In the fall of 2023, the community voted on a $90million bond and expanding the levy by $3.60 per $1,000 of taxable valuation. Although the majority of voters voted in favor of the bond (51.4%) the bond measure failed to garner the 60% supermajority needed to pass. 

The district currently receives annual revenue from the voted PPEL and the Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE)/$.01 sales tax. These dollars are used for upkeep, maintenance, and smaller renovations and additions. We will use these funds to ensure a plan is in place to upkeep the buildings and any renovations from the bond through the expected life of the work that is being done.

Neither of the two properties that were sold in the last few years by the district were in excess of 30 acres, which is the recommended size of land needed for the size of elementary school and early childhood center that we are looking to build in the future. This area includes the attendance center, daycare, parking lots, playgrounds, green space and driveways. 

• We will have no choice but to try to pass it again. However, the legislature just passed a bill in the spring of 2023 that only allows us to try for a bond once a year in November. Because of this, we will have to try again in November of 2025. Until that time, we may have to forgo Chromebook purchases, safety improvements, and bus purchases and other instructional expenditures to tackle large infrastructure items. 
• Each year with inflation, you can expect the request to be higher than what it currently is, as construction costs are expected to continue to increase up to 8% each year. 

The High School Auditorium and Operations buildings were items that were included on the last 20-year plan, created by the school and community members in 1998, that started with the High School being built. They didn’t have the funds at the time to build the Auditorium and Operations buildings so they saved and planned for 15 years after the completion of the High School to be able to complete those projects. It’s now time for the next 20-year plan, and it starts with infrastructure improvements.

• Those projects were done in partnership with outside organizations. 
  • Field Turf: Iowa Western paid for 20% of the turf. The school’s portion of the field turf was paid for using money that was leftover after the Auditorium project came in under budget. The previous field turf was installed in 2012 with a lifespan of 8-10 years. That field lasted 11 years and was a safety issue due to holes in the turf. 
  • Scoreboard: Iowa Western paid for 20% of the scoreboard. The LC Booster Club gave a down-payment of $100,000 and will be paying off the remainder of the scoreboard over the next few years through ad sales. While the school fronted the money, once reimbursed, not $1 of the scoreboard will have come from the school. 

No, this is strictly focused on our educational attendance centers (schools). We will make the current old athletic building inhabitable by replacing siding, insulation, and HVAC. There is no new athletic building planned with this bond.

The only options available to school districts, by state law, to pay for infrastructure needs are donations, grants, state instructional funding, 1-Cent Sales Tax money (SAVE), or community-approved levies (PPEL/Bonds). Grants are very limited and selective, and based on our generally low free-and-reduced lunch population we do not qualify for anything that would make a dent in our current facility needs. The state-provided funds, SAVE, and the PPEL money that we have available each year goes to pay for the educational needs of our students. A General Obligation Bond is the only avenue available to pursue that solves our needs without significantly impacting student instruction.

The first thing we will do is finalize our timeline of projects. To ensure that all these items don’t come up for renewal at the same time again, we will spread projects out over a 4-year cycle, focusing on items that are most pressing. In the summer of 2025, you can most likely expect to see a lane being added at Titan Hill to solve the traffic flow, HVAC and roofs being replaced at our school buildings, and a new parking lot at the high school.