1% sales tax paying for school construction

Posted 4/26/23

Anyone driving on H Avenue north of the Mid-Prairie Middle School will notice that the soccer field for youngsters between the East Elementary and Middle School has been replaced with a fenced off …

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1% sales tax paying for school construction

Posted

Anyone driving on H Avenue north of the Mid-Prairie Middle School will notice that the soccer field for youngsters between the East Elementary and Middle School has been replaced with a fenced off area serving as a staging area for construction on the two schools.

The youth soccer practice is now on the Middle School football field.

Many people have been asking me how the school additions are being financed since the bond issue in March 2022 failed. The M-P School district sold $12.78 million in revenue bonds which will be paid for by revenue from the 1% sales tax funds the district receives from the state. 

The projects include:

Softball field lights replacement (student safety), $255,000, which is 95%+ completed.

Middle School and East Elementary additions and renovations (educational space), $10,850,000. This project will not be completed until August 2024.

High School Track replacement (student safety), $615,000.

The above projects total $11,720,000.  The bond sales terms require the district to hold $1,110,000 in reserve until the last payment.  The closing costs paid at the time the bonds issued were about $580,000, and a portion of those were paid with additional funds paid by the buyers of the bonds as well as $40,000 of bond funds.

Other projects:

The High School baseball field project at the High school is being paid for mostly through private fundraising and a Washington County Riverboat Foundation Grant.  The M-P District is contributing $20,000. It could be close to $400,000 to $500,000 in value.

The wrestling room was hoped to be a part of the revenue bond funding, but construction prices and the bids received on the three other projects used all the revenue bond funds available. That project is delayed until additional funding can be secured. 

The construction on the Middle School and East Elementary will increase the traffic on H Avenue. Construction workers have been notified to access the construction site using 14th Street and H Avenue.  Construction workers are not to use 6th Street in front of East Elementary.

People driving and walking on H Avenue will need to take caution during the construction period spread over the next two years. 

Senator visits

Both Senators Joni Ernst and Charles Grassley took advantage of their Easter break to visit more counties, including Washington County, on their respective quests to visit all 99 Iowa counties.

City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh filled Senator Ernst in on Pleasantview improvements, the city’s Student Built housing projects, and the Southtown development as Dan Nisly drove the Kalona Chamber Byways Bus around town.  Sen. Ernst concluded her visit here with a reception at Slabach Construction. 

The 15 ft. x 13 ft.  US flag that Slabach Construction had for that reception has been donated to the Kalona Fire Department. You will probably see it at future Pancake Days.

After taking questions from some 60 employees of Gingerich Well & Pump, Senator Charles Grassley stopped by Yotty’s Ice Cream for an ice cream cone before leaving town.