Ask Mr. (School) Answer Person (Part 2): "What, exactly, are people voting on in the February 6th special election about the consolidation of the Decorah and North Winn school districts?" Propositions B & C

decorahnews.com recently posted a story on the ballot for the consolidation of Decorah and North Winneshiek Schools (http://www.decorahnews.com/news-stories/2018/01/18268.html).  In that article we covered only PROPOSITION A of the ballot that calls for the consolidation and details the board constituency for a new district. However, there is more on the ballot that is critical in understanding and implementing the consolidation process.

PROPOSITION B calls for changes in how the new school district would spend revenues from the State of Iowa.  The revision would allow state revenues to be directed toward property tax relief in the fiscal years ending in June of 2023, 2024, and 2025, with the last year coinciding with the end of payments of General Obligation Bonds for the Decorah High School remodeling project.

If voters approve the Decorah and North Winneshiek consolidation and Proposition B, the State of Iowa, as an incentive for school district reorganization, will also provide property tax relief for fiscal years ending 2020, 2021, 2022.

PROPOSITION C calls for voters to approve a PPEL (Physical Plant and Equipment Levy) assessment, not to exceed $1.34 per $1,000 assessed value. This is needed because the Decorah and North Winneshiek schools will become an entirely new entity in need of the PPEL assessment. Currently the current Decorah levy is $1.34 per $1,000 assessed value. Residents in the North Winneshiek School District currently do NOT pay a PPEL.  Decorah Superintendent Mike Haluska says the new district would have a difficult time providing even the most basic services like bus transportation and computers without the PPEL levy.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE PROPOSITIONS FAIL?

First, for a consolidation of districts to be a fully successful process, all three portions of the ballot would need to pass in both districts.

Failure to vote for consolidation would, in all likelihood, result in the State of Iowa determining that North Winneshiek is financially insolvent and implementing a forced dissolution plan.

The most significant issues arising from a ballot failure for North Winneshiek would be loss of local control and loss of the three years of tax incentives provided by the State of Iowa for districts that reorganize. If the state became involved in dissolving a school district, there would be no guarantee where students from a dissolved district would go to school. Also, there would also be no protection for the district teachers in any transition.

Sample ballots and election information may be accessed via the Winneshiek County Auditor's Office:

http://www.winneshiekcounty.org/departments/auditor/election-information/2018-special-school-consolidation-election