By Mari Radtke
March 1 was the date of the special election for voters to approve readopting the Plant, Property and Equipment Levy (PPEL). Schools have 2 potential PPEL levies, one is board approved and set at a lower rate. A second PPEL can be adopted or refused by the voters of a district. That levy comes up for a vote each 10 years. The voter elected PPEL in South O’Brien has been in place for more than 25 years.
Iowa law allows a district to place the levy as high as $1.34 per $1000 of assessed property valuation. Historically, South O’Brien has met its budget needs by holding the levy rate to approximately $1.00 per $1000 of valuation. Superintendent Wade Riley noted at the regular monthly board meeting on February 28 that property values in the district increased over the past 5 years. The rising values is largely due to the wind turbine assessment schedule.
It came up for vote again this year. It passed with overwhelming success by the voters. More than 85% of the voters favored maintaining the tax. Out of a possible 2,998 registered voters in the district a total of 212 votes were cast. Only 30 voters resisted the tax with their vote.