School district’s property tax levy hearing prompts questions of cost savings

When given the chance to oppose or speak in favor of the proposed tax rate for the Newton Community School District, the dozen or so residents who attended the public hearing this past week had little to say about the levy itself but more so asked how often the school is under budget or finds cost savings.

However, a great deal of time was committed to administrators explaining the confusing mailers sent out to residents. Newton News had previously reported that school, city, county and state leaders overwhelmingly think the statements were misleading, giving residents the impression they will be paying much more.

Tim Bloom, director of business services, told public hearing attendees that the school district’s levy rate of $15.86 is the same as it was the year before. For almost a decade the district has maintained a fairly consistent levy. Bloom noted that the mailers show a 10 percent increase to property values, which isn’t likely for every household.

“If Mr. (Jon) Dunwell (representative of House District 38) was here he’d tell you he wish it would show your actual house and what you currently pay in tax, and then what your next year tax would be,” he said. “But that’s currently not in the law as it’s currently written. So that’s what they’re in the process of amending.”

As a result, the mailer suggests residents will see a 12 percent to 14 percent increase to their property taxes. But this is not the case. Included in the mailer is a link to a property tax estimator. If residents input their property values and the tax rates from last year and this year, they get a better idea of what they will pay.

Of course, the estimator does not factor in a number of exemptions, like the 65 and older exemption and military exemption passed by the Iowa Legislature. Even so, the estimator more often shows a manageable increase in property taxes. But, again, some might even see a reduction thanks to exemptions.

Bloom also explained the school district’s proposed tax rate is the maximum it can levy property owners. The school district can lower it, but it can’t raise it.

When asked how often the school comes in under budget, Bloom said Newton did so as early as this year. Last year, the district planned on overspending its budget, but this year it didn’t overspend and had $400,000 left over. The district tries to spend the maximum allowed, but other factors are at play.

“With our special needs kids, some of them cost exuberant amounts of money,” Bloom said, noting the neighboring Pella school district also has a large special ed deficit. “So we’re trying to keep our special ed deficit — we always overspend — but we’re trying to keep that held in check and try to keep that around $500,000.”

Some attendees wanted to know if the school district had looked for any kind of cost savings investments like solar power systems on buildings. Bloom said the district, in general, is always looking for cost savings, such as switching to LED lights. But solar projects have not fared well with the district thus far.

“We’ve talked with other companies about this in the past, but we haven’t moved forward with some of that yet,” Bloom said. “We’ll take this into consideration.”

Others wanted to know what the breakdown of school property taxes received by city and rural residents. Bloom said there was no way to know. The individual who asked said it always seems like rural landowners are paying more for the school; the return, he added, is somewhat questionable.

“I do see that we pay a large portion,” Bloom said. “We live out in the country, too, so I know we pay a higher percentage than the city does.”