Forum tonight on Iowa City school bond

The Gazette

Aug. 16, 2017 12:03 pm, Updated: Aug. 16, 2017 5:15 pm

IOWA CITY - The League of Women Voters of Johnson County host a forum concerning the Iowa City Community School District's $191.5 million school bond issue from 7 to 8 p.m. today in the Iowa City Council Chambers at City Hall, 410 E. Washington Street.

Gaylen Wobeter, past president of the League of Women Voters of Johnson County, will moderate the forum.

The panel includes school bond advocates, Kate Moreland and Mary Kate Pilcher Hayek, representing One Community. One Bond. Opponents of the bond issue are Mary Murphy and Martha Hampel representing Vote NO Sept. 12.

Members of the public who attend may submit questions written on cards.

The forum provides voters information about the general obligation bond referendum that proposes authorizing a property tax increase to fund facilities projects throughout the school district.

The bond would raise the district's total tax rate to an estimated $14.96 from $13.98 per $1,000 of taxable assessed value. For the owner of a $100,000 property, that would mean a $51 increase per year, according to the school district. The ballot question needs 60 percent of the vote to pass.

Voters head to the polls on Sept. 12.

Curt Moore posted signs advocating people to vote no for a school bond referendum that would fund improvements to Iowa City schools on his property along N. Dubuque St.. Photographed in Iowa City, Iowa, on Friday, June 23, 2017. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Natalia Espina (right) looks towards Julia Zalenski, both co-founders of Eastern Iowa Community Bond Project, as they answer questions at the Iowa City Public Library in Iowa City on Friday, May. 12, 2017. (Stephen Mally/The Gazette)