Iowa City schools budget lowers tax rate, calls for hiring teachers

The Iowa City school board Tuesday night unanimously approved a budget that includes a decrease in the property tax rate and allows for the hiring of 55 teachers.

Superintendent Stephen Murley said the board voted 7-0 for a budget that sets the tax rate at $14.07 per $1,000 of taxable value for the year that starts July 1, down from this year's $14.59.

Homeowners will pay more in property taxes, however, because the state-set rollback, which is the percentage of a residential property's value that is taxed, is increasing from 48.53 percent to 50.75 percent.

The owner of a $100,000 home in the school district will pay $714.08 in school taxes next year, up from $708.08 this year.

Commercial property does not get a rollback, although some state lawmakers want to change that, so those owners will pay less in school taxes if the current system holds.

The district's maximum budget authority, which is what it's allowed to spend, will be $129.9 million next school year.

The 55 teachers to be hired are not all new positions. Of that number, 38 will replace retirees and 17 will replace long-term substitutes hired in January to reduce large class sizes, Murley said.