Benton schools voters approve capital improvements fund

Voters in the Benton Community School District on Tuesday approved creation of a new fund that will pay for safety and security enhancements, heating and cooling upgrades, renovations to classrooms and outdoor infrastructure improvements.

The fund — called the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy — will create more than $1 million in revenue annually.

Unofficial results show voters narrowly approved the new PPEL fund. A total of 1,515 votes were cast in Benton and Iowa counties. Of those, 833 voted yes, for 54.9 percent approval. The measure needed a simple majority of more than 50 percent approval to pass.

The fund creation comes a year after a multimillion dollar bond referendum in the district failed.

The district previously had a voter-approved PPEL, but it expired in 2010. It had been used to improve district facilities and transportation.

“Our school district at the time was being fiscally responsible to taxpayers, and we didn’t have any major projects planned at the time, so they let it expire,” Bieschke told The Gazette last month.

The Benton Community PPEL will be set through 2035 at a rate of $1.34 per $1,000 of taxable property value. But it is estimated the property tax levy will increase the overall rate 74 cents per $1,000 of taxable value.

For a $200,000 home, the estimated increase to school property taxes in the district is $65 a year, or a total of $966 a year for all school taxes.

Linn-Mar, Marion PPEL votes pass

The Linn-Mar and Marion school districts also asked voters Tuesday to consider extending the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy for an additional 10 years.

Voters in the two districts overwhelmingly supported extending the levy.

In the Linn-Mar district, 74.8 percent of the 2,842 votes were in favor of extending the levy.

In Marion, voters approved the measure by 79.7 percent. A total of 645 votes were cast.

Both school districts have had the funds in place for more than a decade. The PPEL will in Linn-Mar and Marion will be extended through 2035 at the existing rate of $1.34 per $1,000 of taxable property value.

Grace King of The Gazette contributed to this report.