Kirkwood equipment levy extension will be on September ballot

A 10-year extension of Kirkwood Community College's instructional equipment levy will go to voters during the regular school election in September.

The Kirkwood board of trustees Thursday voted to put the levy extension on the ballot in the numerous counties Kirkwood serves. It requires a simple majority vote to pass.

The 6-cent levy has been in place for 3o years, and the current levy runs through June 30, 2015. But Kirkwood officials are putting it on the 2013 school election ballot for renewal through 2025 because a legislative change to how board members are elected in Iowa means there will be no 2014 school election, Kirkwood President Mick Starcevich said.

The instructional equipment levy provides Kirkwood with about $1 million per year, to be used on equipment, which ranges from tractors to computers, Starcevich said. When equipment ages and needs to be replaced, revenue from this levy pays for that, he said.

"This equipment levy is super, super important for us," he said.

The levy is 6 cents per $1,000 in assessed valuation, which means it costs about $3 a year for the owner of a $100,000 house.

Also at Thursday's meeting, the Kirkwood board approved a total pay and benefits package increase of 4 percent for faculty and staff for 2013-14. The increase covers Kirkwood's nearly 860 employees.

The additional cost of the package increase for Kirkwood is $250,000, well below a normal year, Starcevich said. That's because the college cut $2 million in pay and benefits costs, through the reduction of positions via retirements, Starcevich said.