SAVE delay limits Cedar Rapids school construction action

CEDAR RAPIDS - In developing its master facility plan, the Cedar Rapids Community School District banked on the extension of a state penny sales tax to fund the destruction and rebuilding of 13 of its elementary schools.

But extension of the tax, known as SAVE and used for school infrastructure and construction needs, failed to pass both chambers of the Iowa Statehouse during the legislative session that ended two weeks ago.

Without the tax extension, SAVE's 2029 sunset provision, education leaders say, will continue to limit their ability to issue bonds against the tax.

For Cedar Rapids schools, a complete failure to extend the tax would derail its facilities plan entirely.

But Superintendent Brad Buck said Friday he still is optimistic legislators will prioritize the tax extension during their session next year. Action that soon would allow the plan to remain on schedule, he said.

'I'm optimistic …

we can stay on track,” he said. 'I'm also optimistic this is a statewide issue, so far and away the majority of districts are working on this. It remains a discussion point not just for us, but statewide.”

A 20-year extension of the tax would provide more than $16 billion of funding for projects and property tax relief to schools across the state.

Representatives in the Iowa House approved a bill that would have moved the tax's sunset from 2029 to 2050, by a 95-3 margin, in the waning days of the 2018 session. But the Senate did not take up the measure.

In Cedar Rapids, school officials hope to fund a $224.2 million facilities plan using the SAVE tax. The plan, which found unanimous support from school board members but considerable community dissent when it was approved in January, would impact each of the school district's 21 elementary schools.

Ten schools would be demolished and replaced with new, larger facilities - Arthur, Cleveland, Coolidge, Erskine, Harrison, Hoover, Jackson, Pierce, Wright and Johnson. All these schools, except Johnson, would have a capacity for 600 students.

Grant, Hiawatha and Viola Gibson elementaries would be renovated under the plan, and the remaining eight elementary schools - Garfield, Grant Wood, Kenwood, Madison, Nixon, Taylor, Truman and Van Buren - would be closed.

Without an immediate funding source, Buck said the district and school board are weighing how and when to begin facilities work.

The first schools slated to be rebuilt are Coolidge Elementary, 6225 First Ave. SW, and Jackson Elementary, 1300 38th St. NW. Coolidge is set to open in fall 2021 and Jackson in fall 2022.

The timelines for those schools could be pushed back or otherwise changed, depending on funding, Buck said, though no decisions have yet been made.

'Some things could be shifted, some things could be compressed, depending on what they (the board) would like to do,” he said. '...

Over the next few months, we'll need to circle back to this conversation.”

While work to prepare for new facilities, such as hiring an architect, can continue, the district cannot afford to begin construction on any schools without an extension of the SAVE tax first, Buck added.

'If there's no SAVE extension, we don't have the funds to do even those two schools,” he said, referring to Coolidge and Jackson schools. 'The SAVE extension is critical to the whole thing. If, for some reason, SAVE weren't to pass in 2019, at some point we would have to talk about a bond referendum.”

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