School board hears from taxpayers

FORT MADISON – As the season of public hearings on property tax levies comes to a close, the Fort Madison school board fielded a couple comments from taxpayers Wednesday night during a special meeting.
The meeting is a public hearing required by Iowa code so taxpayers in governmental districts can hear where the districts proposed tax levy for the next fiscal year is being set.
Andrew Johnson of rural Lee County told the board that taxes have to stop going up in Lee County.
“We’re taxed to death. I don’t care what it’s for, I don’t want my taxes going up. Period. That’s my statement,” Johnson said.
His wife Amber was also in attendance and told the board her assessment went up 22.5% in the latest mailings that came out. She said the tax rate should be going down if assessments are climbing that much.
Board superintendent Josh Wykert told the couple that the district’s budget was formulary and the rates were set by state-mandated formulas and the increased assessed value of the district would drive the formula, as it does for all public school districts in the state.
District Business Manager Sandy Elmore went through a budget synopsis following the public hearing and said the district would have expenses close to $36 million next year.
Elmore said she was assuming a 2% allowable growth from the state. She said 2.25% is also still being discussed in the state legislature.
The district has three funds that have property tax components to them and those include the general fund, the management fund, and the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy or PPEL. The PPEL fund has a $1.67/1,000 levy attached to it. The first 33 cents is a board approved PPEL, and the remaining $1.34 was a voter approved PPEL.
The general fund is a mandated formula dependent upon student count and the district cost per pupil, which is also set by the state. That fund has state aid and levies and some federal grants and interest. The expenses are any costs that aren’t identified in other funds and is limited by cost per pupil, which is established by the Iowa legislature. That dollar amount has not currently been set. Elmore said she was estimating at 2%.
The management fund pays property and casualty insurance, workers compensation insurance, early retirement benefits, unemployment benefits, and arbitration. Elmore said the district has no levies for early retirement, unemployment, or arbitration expenses because they typically do not incur expenses for those categories.
“Really, all your levying in this fund is coverage for our buses and employees and any property liability and things of that nature,” she said.
The PPEL fund is basically for physical improvements to the district.
There are four other funds that do not have property taxes in them. Those are SAVE, or sales tax fund, that pays for capital improvements; the student activity fund; nutrition fund; and the debt service fund.
“In a lot of school districts, the debt service fund has a property tax piece, but our district does not. We recognized it because we transfer some of the sales tax fund into the debt service to pay for the bonds and construction (on the new facility improvements),” Elmore said.
The district also has an Instruction Support Levy in place that is composed 2/3 of property tax and 1/3 of income surtax.
Amber Johnson asked how much the district has lost with the state’s voucher program. Elmore said with the additional students, she couldn’t see where the district had lost any money. She also asked how many students left the district, but Elmore couldn’t provide that answer.
Andrew Johnson said tax increases always seems to be someone else’s problem.
“It’s the number of students, or a health department, or a fire department, or books. And it’s the county’s fault or the school board’s fault or the state’s fault. From a taxpayer, this is unsustainable. We cannot keep paying it,” he said.
“As a taxpayer, there needs to be substantial reform at the state level and they’re going to do it. They’re about to do it. The taxpayers have had enough.”
The budget has to be published and submitted by April 30. Another public hearing has been set for April 23 at the Central Office.