MASON CITY – Voters in Mason City will decide Tuesday whether to tax property owners for another 10 years to support the school district.
Proponents who say “vote yes” claim the dollars will support students and services in the schools to improve their educations.
Others point to years of possible malfeasance ending in big payouts to ousted leadership and inflated salaries for some administrators. A rumored large gym facility may be constructed at the High School; some say this is not necessary.
Public Measures
April 3, 2018 Mason City Special School Election
Public Measure A Required to Approve – majority
Shall the Board of Directors of the Mason City Community School District, in the County of Cerro Gordo, State of Iowa, be authorized for a period of ten (10) years to continue to levy and impose an instructional support tax in an amount (after taking into consideration instructional support state aid) of not exceeding ten percent (10%) of the total of regular program district cost for the budget year and moneys received under Iowa Code section 257.14 as a budget adjustment in the budget year, and be authorized annually, in combination, as determined by the Board, to levy an instructional support property tax upon all the taxable property within the School District commencing with the levy of property taxes for collection in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020, and to impose an instructional support income surtax upon the state individual income tax of each individual income taxpayer resident in the School District on December 31 for each calendar year commencing with calendar year 2019, or each year thereafter, the percent of income surtax to be determined by the Board for each fiscal year, to be used for any general fund purpose?
Public Measure B Required to Approve – majority
Shall the Board of Directors of the Mason City Community School District, in the County of Cerro Gordo, State of Iowa, for the purpose of purchasing and improving grounds; constructing schoolhouses or buildings and opening roads to schoolhouses or buildings; purchasing of buildings; purchase, lease or lease-purchase of technology and equipment; paying debts contracted for the erection or construction of schoolhouses or buildings, not including interest on bonds; procuring or acquisition of libraries; repairing, remodeling, reconstructing, improving, or expanding the schoolhouses or buildings and additions to existing schoolhouses; expenditures for energy conservation; renting facilities under Chapter 28E; purchasing transportation equipment for transporting students; lease purchase option agreements for school buildings or equipment; purchasing equipment authorized by law; or for any purpose or purposes now or hereafter authorized by law, be authorized for a period of ten (10) years, to levy annually, a voter-approved physical plant and equipment property tax not to exceed Sixty-Seven Cents (.67) per One Thousand Dollars ($1,000) of the assessed valuation of the taxable property within the school district commencing with the levy for collection in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020, or each year thereafter?
This information was prepared in the office of the Cerro Gordo County Auditor.
Polls are open 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Vote Centers
Cerro Gordo County Courthouse – 220 N Washington Ave, Mason City
First Presbyterian Church – 100 S Pierce Ave, Mason City
Mason City School Admin Building – 1515 S Pennsylvania Ave, Mason City
First Covenant Church – 411 S Ohio Ave, Mason City
Rolling Acres CR Church – 340 19th Street SW, Mason City
An eligible voter in the Mason City Community School District can vote at any one of the above vote centers on Election Day.
Matt,
Time to address the serious administration/student issues at John Adams Middle School and Lincoln Intermediate! I know you’re aware of these, but the “tip of the iceberg” needs exposed soon!! Are you willing to take the next step? Thanks!
Concerned Parents, Teachers, Students, & the “Uninformed Public”
Send me an email and fill me in on the situation, please.
The theft and raping of Mason City taxpayers’ continues! Just another way the white collar criminals attack and steal from you (taxpayers). John Lee and his cronie friends will get it $$$ from you….one way or another.
Its not necessarily an issue with not having enough money. But an issue of using the money the school has appropriately. It seems the skimming off the top, and the administrative self pay raises, cut other departments short. Vote wisely.
Awwww ! Come on ! IT’S FOR THE KIDS ! – signed – FAT CAT !
Where was the local covage on kimt, globe. Nit is the only one talking about this. It just sound fishy to me. maybe councilman john lee a Mc school employee does not want the word out. to keep turn out down and his school system can rip off the mc tax payer again. and pay for something we do not need, with declining enrollment mc can not afford any more taxes. everyone vote no until we start getting jobs and our population start to grow, then the school can get more money.
Trust me, the fix is in. This deal will pass, no problem. Anything for the kids! Even the radio station is biased and can’t report on it fairly. No equal time to anyone who might oppose (FCC regulations?). It’s all “YES” … like before. And look where that got us.
Matt is right, the fix is in, as many people within the system have been pushed HARD to vote yes and not enough voters out there to overturn it.
Vote NO other then the huge gym that’s all they have earmarked any of the money for, afraid to tell us what they intend to use it for. I was by MCHS the other day and see we bought big M C letters to put on the east side of the gym and again on the south side of the gym along with GYMNASIUM now looking at the building who doesn’t know that’s the gym?? go to http://www.globegazette.com/mason city school salaries and look at the wages, that’s where the money is going. They are clever saying :No new taxes” which is not correct. the county just redid the worth of your home so your taxes are going up and this added tax will also go up cause the value of your home did. it may be to them its no new taxes but when it fails your tax will go down since that wont be added on them. as far as the building fund, high school was just rebuilt, Jefferson was rebuilt, Roosevelt was just rebuilt, Lincoln was just rebult, hoover was rebult, and harding was rebuilt, so what is money needed for in the building fund? So I for one will vote NO and NO
Vote Yes, it’s for the children
Yes, please vote yes. So we can educate and train the children and then they can instantly move away and never come back. We are doing a huge service to every other place in the country that these productive citizens end up. No reason for them to stay in MC right now. That’s thanks to all the failed leadership over the years that made MC a dead zone.
dead on correct
Why don’t they just steal another ‘rubber signature stamp” and mark the measures as passed, that’s what they did with bonus checks!!
Mason City is the ARMPIT of Iowa alongside Ft. Dodge
This comment further portrays your ignorance and why the majority don’t want you on the city council. So because people move away we shouldn’t educate our children well? What’s your solution? Keep them stupid so they all work minimum wage as adults? Ignorance.
What does the city council have to do with this school levy vote? Oh wait, a lot. Since the councils have TIF’ed the town into the gutter, thereby siphoning off dollars meant for the schools that instead go to the rich boy projects downtown. Now the school district thinks it needs these extra taxes to get by. So you’re right, your idiot elected council and mayors created this “problem” (there is no problem, the MC School District is well-supported by the taxpayers without the ISL and PPEL). Anyway, I’ll run for council again and again, maybe at-large next, so you will see me plenty more.
This has absolutely nothing to do with what I said. But cool. I’ll keep rallying against you every time you run. I’ve proven my circle is in the majority and if you run at large that just means I get to vote against you myself! You will never be elected unless you move on to a new community.
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I am going to vote no but it will pass because the people in Mason City don’t vote and they are not informed. Most people don’t even know there is a vote tomorrow.
VOTE NO VOTE NO VOTE NO VOTE NO again VOTE NO
Seems like these vores are always during bad weather, keeping many people from voting. After tne huge increase in my property taxes and the way I have seen them waste money, I will be voting NO on this!!!
I am sure the school board knew there was going to be a snow storm on this dau
Pretty dirty for the school district to only send out vote notices to parents of school children. Thereby, hoping the elderly, disabled and blue collar are not informed of voting. Integrity is so lacking nowadays.
as Matt said, the fix is in