Referendum story clarification

In the February 25 edition of the Tribune Press Reporter in an article with the headline “Informational meetings on referendum to be held in March,” it was reported that “if the first question is voted yes on, members of the District will see no tax increase. If the second question is voted yes on, there will be no tax impact. And if both questions are voted ‘yes’ on, the taxpayers will see a slight change for the 2015-16 school tax bill.”

An anonymous “letter to the editor” from a concerned citizen indicates that there may be some confusion about the referendum questions.

If residents in the school district approve Question No. 1, there will be no increase in the property tax levy for debt service over what they are paying in 2014-2015, and there will be no projected tax increase over the 20 years of the general obligation bonds for the projects included in the first question because the school district recently paid off an existing debt.

If Question No. 1 and Question No. 2 are approved by residents in the school district, beginning in 2015-2016, taxpayers will see a projected increase in their property taxes of $83 per $100,000 of property value for the projects included in Question No. 2.

If only Question No. 2 is approved, taxpayers also will see no increase in the property tax levy for debt service.

Tim Johnson, Glenwood City school district administrator, said that certain projects were put into Question No. 1 so that taxpayers would have a “no tax increase” option, but that the projects in Question No. 1 and 2 are designed to work together and that school officials would prefer that Question No. 2 not be approved in insolation from Question No. 1.