School District Expects Lower Tax Rate, Even With Budget Guarantee
The Glenwood Community School District expects its property tax rate for the 2025-2026 fiscal year to decrease despite passage of a “budget guarantee” by the board of education, according to Glenwood Community School District Superintendent Nicole Kooiker.
The school board passed the budget guarantee resolution on a unanimous vote at its regular meeting Feb. 10. In a written statement to The Opinion-Tribune Monday, Kooiker said the school district wanted to “provide clarification of what the budget guarantee represents.”
“The budget guarantee is a unique feature of the Iowa School Finance Formula that adjusts a school district’s regular program costs to 101 percent of the prior year level in years when funding decrease caused by declining enrollment exceeds the state supplemental aid percent of growth which is the funding increase,” she said. “This means the district is losing more dollars from loss of enrollment than it is gaining by the state supplemental state aid that will be coming to the district in the upcoming year. Having the board approve this budget guarantee gives us the opportunity to have access to additional funding for the difference in enrollment dollars so that the district can have funding stability even with fluctuating enrollment.”
A 94-student decline in the district’s certified enrollment last fall was projected to result in a reduction of about $735,000 in State Supplemental Aid (SSA) funding. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Senate have proposed SSA rate of 2% for the upcoming fiscal year, while the Iowa House Of Representatives has proposed 2.25%. Regardless of the rate, the SSA isn’t expected to generate enough new revenue to offset the financial hit the school district is taking from its decline in enrollment. Kooiker said the district is working on measures to cut costs and bring more students into the district.
“The district is not relying on the budget guarantee to address the loss of students and the loss of funds,” she said. “The district is working on finalizing a plan for the reduction of $750,000 of expenses from the general fund and working on ways to bring students back to the district. We are being fiscally responsible and making cuts and reductions where needed so taxes do not need to increase for constituents.”
In addition to her statement, Kooiker also shared the following “Top 10” list of the ways the school district is reducing taxes and addressing the enrollment loss.
1. Proposed Property Tax Rate Decrease. The property tax rate for the 2025-2026 school year is projected to decrease from $14.50 per $1,000 of taxable valuation (2024-2025 rate). The exact decrease depends on the finalization of State Supplemental Aid (SSA) at the state level. We expect the tax rate to be lower than $13.50 per $1,000 of taxable valuation, which would result in savings of at least $1.00 per $1,000 of taxable valuation for taxpayers.
2. Tax Rate Comparison with Other Districts. Glenwood is targeting a tax rate that will fall between the 50th and 60th percentile of school districts statewide.
3. Early Repayment of High School Bond. We are repaying the outstanding high school general obligation bond four years early, which will reduce the related debt service levy to zero, further lowering the property tax rate.
4.Comprehensive Budget Review. We are conducting an in-depth review of all general fund expenses and have identified $750,000 in reductions, largely due to the loss of 94 students for the 2024-2025 school year. These reductions will be made prior to the start of the upcoming fiscal year on July 1, 2025.
5. Special Education Deficit Reduction. We’re working on improving revenue through Medicaid billing and ensuring that services for students in their Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) are properly coded. We’re also focused on serving as many students as possible within the Glenwood district.
6. Launching a New Virtual School. A new virtual school will be available for students starting in the 2025-2026 school year. This will help retain resident students and reduce the number of students enrolling in outside virtual programs.
7. Facility Projects Funded Without Taxpayer Dollars. Current facility projects are being funded facility projects are being funded through SAVE fund reserves, the Iowa Workforce Development 2024 Childcare Business Incentive Grant ($1,443,235), and Kid’s Place Champions Committee fundraising ($1 million). We are committed to staying within this budget.
8. Maintaining Financial Responsi-bility. We are working diligently to reduce tax rates while maintaining the resources needed for successful educational outcomes for all students. These efforts balance fiscal responsibility with our educational mission to develop in all students the knowledge and competencies required of responsible citizens in a global society.
9. Community Involvement. We welcome your questions and feedback. Please reach out to Superintendent Kooiker with any of your budget reduction questions.
10. Commitment to Glenwood’s Future. We are confident that these actions will achieve long-term financial stability while maintaining a strong educational environment for our students.