From the Gilbert Community School Newsletter

On Tuesday, October 1, an informational meeting regarding the proposed levy will be held at 7:00 p.m. in the media center at the secondary building. District residents are encouraged to attend and learn more about the one-cent local option sales tax for school infrastructure, and how the school district would use the proceeds over the ten year life of the levy.

The Story County Special Election for Local Option Sales Tax for schools will be held on Tuesday, October 8. The polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. As a countywide election, residents will vote at the precinct site used for general elections, not the site used for regular school board elections. Please contact the County Auditor's office for specific polling sites.
  

LOCAL OPTION TAX FOR SCHOOLS

In June, the Story County Board of Supervisors approved the resolution calling for an election in Story County on the one cent local option sales tax for school infrastructure. The resolution had previously been approved by the respective local school boards in the county. The special election will be held on Tuesday, October 8, 2002. The tax, if approved, would be for a ten year period starting July 1, 2003.

It has been estimated that based on Story County retail sales, the Gilbert School District would receive $686,417/year, or $6,864,170 over the ten year period. The funds would be used to help finance the construction of a middle school. Other infrastructure needs identified by prior facility committees include construction of an auditorium and replacement of the industrial education/agriculture education building at the junior-senior high school.

The district's architectural firm recently provided updated budgets for the projects listed above. Those budgets are as follows:

Legislation enacting the one cent local option sales tax for school infrastructure was approved by the Iowa legislature in 1998. Since that time 24 counties have approved the levy. Prior to enactment of the local option sales tax funding for construction of school facilities was limited to the use of property tax. The addition of the local option sales tax funding stream has lessened the dependence on property tax in the counties that have approved the measure.

The Gilbert Community School District's total tax levy rate is $17.90/1,000 of valuation for the current fiscal year. The district's levy rate is relatively high when compared to other districts in the state. That occurs given the fact that Gilbert is a growing district without a strong commercial tax base.

Absentee ballots are available for the October 8 election. Post cards requesting an absentee ballot are available at either the Story County Auditor's office or the superintendent's office.