Glenwood School Board Approves Budget Guarantee To Offset State Funding Shortfall

Action taken last week by the Glenwood Board Of Education will allow the Glenwood Community School District to collect additional property taxes to make up for an anticipated shortfall in Supplemental State Aid (SSA) and the loss of funding caused by a decline in the district’s certified enrollment.

The school board voted unanimously in favor of a budget guarantee resolution for the fiscal year 2026 at its regular meeting  Monday, Feb. 10.

Iowa code allows local school school districts to go on budget guarantee and collect additional property taxes at the local level to make up for a shortfall in state financial support.

In October, Glenwood learned its enrollment had declined by 94 students, which means an estimated loss of about $735,000 in state funding. The SSA determines how much new spending a school district will  have. The Senate has approved a 2 percent increase while the House is pushing for 2.5 percent. Either way, Glenwood expects to experience a funding shortfall.

School funding in Iowa is formula-based.

GCSD Finance Director Tim Reinert said the legislature’s final decision on SSA will help determine how much additional tax dollar revenue the district will need to collect for FY 2026.

The more state dollars the district receives, the less the district will need to collect locally.

Reinert said the district has an idea of the  amount of additional dollars that will be collected by the district but doesn’t want to share a specific number with the public until state funding is finalized.

Reinert stressed the budget guarantee resolution is for the 2026 fiscal year only.

“This is just for one year. Next year, it may or may not happen to us again,” he said. “It depends on what happens with certified enrollment. A decline doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to go on budget guarantee. If it’s close, like 10 students or something like that, we wouldn’t be in that situation.”

Reinert and school board members noted that Glenwood will be one of many school districts going on budget guarantee for FY 26.

Reinert said he’s heard that as of now, roughy 190 of 325 Iowa school districts will be on budget guarantee for the 2026 fiscal year.