A special election will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 8 for voters within the Central Community School District to renew the Voted Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL).
The previous PPEL expired on June 30, 2026. The proposed renewal would be a 10-year continuation of the previous rate of $0.67 per $1,000 assessed property valuation beginning with the 2027-28 school year. Approval of the measure would not increase the school’s existing property tax rate.
“The big thing and big message that we’ve really been trying to share is this is not an increase of property taxes,” Central Superintendent Micah Gearhart said. “This is really a continuation and would not be an increase.”
PPEL revenues are limited in use and are restricted to maintaining and improving infrastructure, technology, transportation and equipment. Funds from PPEL cannot be used for salaries or general fund expenses.
As the district has been finalizing its five-year facilities plan to provide a safe, reliable and well-maintained learning environment for students, facility maintenance priorities have been identified, including HVAC improvements to classrooms on the riverside portion of the building and maintaining the district’s planned transportation replacement schedule.
When the school underwent its 2018 renovation, much of the building’s HVAC equipment, infrastructure and programming was updated. However, approximately 10 classrooms on the riverside portion of the building were not included in those improvements.
“When they did the remodel back in 2018, they updated a lot of the HVAC programming, the equipment and infrastructure, but there were 10 rooms that didn’t get updated during that time,” Gearhart said. “So one of the things would be to use some of these funds to be able to help out with the HVAC improvements.”
The affected rooms include a sixth-grade classroom; social studies classrooms; the art and Spanish classrooms; and the third- through fifth-grade classrooms on the main floor.
The 10 classrooms continue to rely on univentilator units originally installed in 1959. Potential upgrades would improve energy efficiency, indoor air quality and classroom climate control. An engineer estimated bringing the system up to current industry standards would require an approximately $1.1 million investment, although the district is continuing to explore more cost-efficient alternatives.
“We had an engineer that has come in and given us an estimate of bringing us up to industry standard, and that’s about a $1.1 million investment,” Gearhart said. “We are looking at some different options with that.”
The district is also looking ahead to its transportation needs and anticipates purchasing another bus within the next five years as mileage on its existing fleet continues to increase.
“Unfortunately, buses are anywhere between $150,000 and $180,000 as of right now. I would imagine in a few years it’ll be a little more than that.” Gearhart said.
Other facility needs district officials are keeping an eye on include a deteriorating retaining wall at the preschool, continued building and classroom updates and unexpected repairs that can arise as the district maintains its facilities.
PPEL has previously helped Central address both planned improvements and unexpected expenses. Recent uses have included replacing laptops for students in grades 8-12, purchasing iPads as part of the district’s device replacement cycle, repairing the gym floor and addressing unexpected repairs.
“This last year, we had two of our conditioning units that went down. We were able to repair those out of that categorical fund. As well as a section of our roof that needed to be addressed,” said Gearhart.
Because PPEL is designated specifically for physical plant and equipment expenses, Gearhart said having those funds available also allows the district’s general fund to go further. While PPEL cannot pay salaries or other general expenses, the general fund can be used for both, meaning facility costs that have to be absorbed by the general fund can leave fewer dollars available for staffing, curriculum and educational opportunities.
“When you don’t have funds and you need to do something, where does it come from? It comes out of the general fund then,” Gearhart said. “The general fund is where our staffing comes from. You can use the general fund for a lot of things, whereas the PPEL is very categorical.”
Gearhart pointed to curriculum purchases and concurrent enrollment opportunities through Northeast Iowa Community College as examples of programming supported through the general fund.
“It definitely allows us to focus in and creates a place where kids want to come,” he said of PPEL. “Over the next 10 years, it allows us to then start some long-term planning and to continue with updates of the building and make sure that we are creating classrooms that are keeping up with what students need.”
Clayton County will hold the special election for the Central Community School District on Tuesday, Sept. 8. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., with voting for the special election taking place at the Clayton County Office Building, 600 Gunder Road. In-person absentee voting ahead of Election Day can be done in the Clayton County Auditor’s Office through Sept. 4 during normal office hours, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
