2 school districts to hold bond elections today

CEDAR RAPIDS — Voters in two Eastern Iowa school districts will decide Tuesday on bond issues that would finance construction projects and increase property taxes.

The College Community School District, which serves southwest Cedar Rapids and surrounding communities, will hold a bond referendum on $49.5 million in renovations. The project would include renovations at Prairie High School, Prairie Creek Intermediate School, Prairie Crest, Prairie Heights, and Prairie View elementary schools.

High school renovations would include new classrooms, music activity and office space, as well as a new entrance. The high school and elementary schools also would receive HVAC system work. The district also would build a new commons and cafeteria area at the high school and begin renovations at the intermediate school.

The renovations would initially increase property taxes in the district by about $2 per $1,000 of taxable value, Superintendent John Speer has said. Property taxes then would gradually decrease over the next 10 years.

More than 60 percent of voters must approve the referendum for the vote to pass.

In the Midland Community School District, east of Cedar Rapids, voters will decide on a $12.9 million project including an addition and remodeling, Superintendent Brian Rodenberg said.

The project would involve adding about 42,000 square feet to one of the district's buildings and remodeling another 10,000 square feet of that building.

The district would then demolish its other building, he said, which was built in 1914. The project also would include a new gymnasium.

The Wyoming district will hold two bond referendums, Rodenberg said — one to allow the School Board to go into debt, and another to allow it to increase property taxes by between $2.70 and $4.05 per $1,000 of taxable value.

Rodenberg said property taxes in the district would likely increase by $3.75 per $1,000 of taxable value. The bonds would be paid back over 10 years, he said.

The Midland votes also must be approved by more than 60 percent of voters.

West Branch votes

Also Tuesday, voters in the West Branch Community School District will decide whether to continue an instructional support levy that Superintendent Kevin Hatfield said would raise at least $400,000 next school year.

The tax provides support for the district's general fund, Hatfield said — including curriculum, program, and staffing costs. The vote is on whether to continue current tax levels, Hatfield said.

The Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board fined Hatfield $100 for a letter he sent electronically to parents asking for their support.

Hatfield said the letter was about school funding both at the state level and in terms of Tuesday's vote, and he said a line asking for parents' support was his mistake. He said he would pay the fine personally.