IOWA CITY

Johnson County Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz urged the Iowa City Community School District to delay its action this week on the fate of Hills Elementary School.

“I do hope and strongly urge the board … listen,” Fixmer-Oraiz said during the Board of Supervisors’ formal session March 21. “What are other options?”

Fixmer-Oraiz joined two other county supervisors in questioning a budget-cutting decision by the ICCSD to close down the only school in Hills. The issue was not on the county supervisors’ formal agenda because the Board of Supervisors has no say in school board matters, but Fixmer-Oraiz, Supervisor Chair Rod Sullivan and Supervisor Lisa Green-Douglass talked about the possible closure in their closing comments of the formal session.

The ICCSD Board voted to close Hills Elementary at its meeting Tuesday night, effective with the finish of the current school year. Hills is the southern-most school in the Iowa City school district in Johnson County and is just two miles from the Washington County border.

“This is devastating to a small community,” Green-Douglass said. “I know that the Iowa City School Board’s decision was not an easy one to come to. Sometimes what happens at the state level forces the hand. … You have a certain amount of money.”

And that’s what the county supervisors agreed on. The trouble in Hills may actually have started in Des Moines.

“I can’t help but think that (Iowa Governor) Kim Reynolds, her whole private school funding, the bill that she had passed, this is one of the fears I have and many people have,” said Fixmer-Oraiz, who has met with several Hills residents and attended meetings.

“This is the fear, right? That we’re going to start closing rural schools.”

Said Sullivan: “I want to remind folks in that area that this potential closing is brought to you by the state representative, the state senator that represent that area. I would urge folks to keep that in mind as they go to the polls this year.”

Incentive Bonus

The Board approved a one-time retention incentive payment of $3,000 to Guillermo Morales, Executive Director of the Board, but Supervisor Royceann Porter was unhappy that the reasons for the payment were not disclosed publicly.

Porter voted against the payment.

The Board had met in closed session March 20 with Morales for an evaluation of his job performance, and the bonus, or retention payment of $3,000, was voted on the very next day.

“This should be discussed. The public needs to know why,” Porter said.

Supervisor Chair Rod Sullivan said the reasons for the payment were discussed in the closed session, but shouldn’t be made public.

“We discussed it in closed session and we should not have,” Porter said. “This should have been a public session. This should have been an open meeting for everybody to see. This is not his evaluation. So I don’t know what y’all trying to hide, y’all voting to give him money. Why?”

Morales volunteered to provide those reasons publicly at the March 21 formal session, but was shut down quickly by Sullivan due to confidentiality.

At a Feb. 28 work session, in an annual update on the Board’s staff, Morales criticized the Board for rejecting a Fiscal Year 2025 request for an additional staff member in his department.

Minimum Wage

The Board will vote Thursday on increasing Johnson County’s suggested minimum hourly rate to $12.64.

The rate is going up from $12.25 and is based, in part, on the Consumer Price Index. Iowa’s statewide minimum wage is $7.25 an hour and has not been raised in eight years. The county rate is unenforceable.

Tax Levy Hearing

The Board’s public hearing for the proposed property tax levies for Fiscal Year 2025 will be held at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 27.

Proposed property taxes are 5.99 countywide and 9.53 for rural. Both are down from the current year. The county’s taxable valuations have risen to $9.7 billion from $9.3 billion.

Board Action

The Board awarded L.L. Pelling, of North Liberty, with the annual roads seal coat program, at a cost of $727,670, and awarded Binns & Stevens, of Oskaloosa, with the annual dust control safety program, at a cost of $333,047.

The Board approved the five-year construction program and future projects list that was presented last week by Johnson County Secondary Roads.

Next meeting: The Board’s next formal session is at 9 a.m. March 28.