FROM THE DESK OF THE SUPERINTENDENT
by Ed Hawks
March 26, 2008
APRIL 2008 DISTRICT DISPATCH
The passage of the School Infrastructure Local Option (SILO) Sales Tax Act during the 1998 Iowa Legislative Session provided a local sales tax for school infrastructure needs. The voter-approved local option sales and services tax may be set at a rate not to exceed 1.0% for no more than a ten-year period in an individual county on behalf of the school districts and portions of school districts within that county. In December of 2001 the voters in Pottawattamie County approved such a measure to be effective from July 1, 2002, through June 30, 2012. Following the passage of the local option sales and services tax in Pottawattamie County, the Underwood Community School District Board of Directors provided Underwood Community School District taxpayers property tax relief by no longer continuing the school district’s voted physical plant and equipment levy. The new middle school/elementary expansion project is utilizing $1,805,000.00 of local option sales tax funds to help pay for the new facility. This action has minimized the amount needed from bond issue proceeds which are funded by property tax.
Every county in Iowa has now approved such a tax. A proposal which has received a lot of discussion recently in the Iowa Legislature calls for making the school infrastructure sales and services tax a statewide “penny” tax. A statewide one percent sales tax would eventually eliminate the boundary issues regarding the distribution of the sales tax revenue generated. An issue which is being discussed in the legislature as I write this article is focused on the fact that the statewide per pupil amount is currently set by the Iowa Code at $575.00 per pupil. The most recent annual dollar amount for Underwood is running at approximately $728.00 per pupil. The statewide average is higher than $575.00 per pupil. It is more along the lines of $700.00 per pupil. The Iowa Legislature has been reviewing the per pupil amount and trying to establish a policy on how additional funds should be distributed. It will be interesting to see how everything turns out. One thing is for sure. This approach has been extremely beneficial in helping school districts across the state make significant infrastructure improvements without having the funding mechanism depend solely upon property tax. I hope it continues.
With spring in the air, the pace of progress is picking up on the new middle school/elementary expansion project. A lot of work has been completed recently in the areas of masonry, structural steel work, steel decking, insulation installation, miscellaneous roof carpentry, roofing, sheet metal flashing and trim work, metal fabrication work, mechanical systems installation, electrical work, and wall panel installation. In addition, the concession stand is nearing completion and will be ready for the youth baseball and softball seasons which will be here before we know it. Following the Fourth of July weekend this summer, work will begin on tearing out the existing elementary parking lot, expanding it, and putting down new asphalt. In addition, the City of Underwood will be redoing Third Street. Things will be a mess for awhile, but the long-term benefit will outweigh the short-term inconvenience by a large margin.
