T-R PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER – Voters prepare to cast their ballots on the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) increase for the Gladbrook-Reinbeck Community School District at the Reinbeck Memorial Building on Tuesday. The measure passed with 61 percent support after failed bond referendums in 2022 and 2024.

A pair of local measures on the ballot passed by wide margins in special elections held Tuesday.

After previously rejecting the measure last November, voters in the unincorporated areas of Marshall County overwhelmingly voted to renew an initiative that will keep the revenue from the Local Option Sales and Service Tax (LOSST) within the county, with 50 percent going to roads and bridges and 50 percent going to property tax relief. It has been estimated that LOSST generates around $1.7 million for Marshall County annually.

Marshall County Supervisor Jarret Heil credited his fellow elected officials and department heads with getting the word out about the importance of the vote and reminding the public that LOSST was not a new tax, but rather a renewal of the existing tax already imposed on most transactions.

“Back in November, the ballot was full of races from president all the way down to legislative and county races. You had ballot initiatives for school bonds, and LOSST kind of just got lost on the ballot, I think,” he said. “And now, with the standalone ballot, the public can see what it actually was and make the decision on that, and the decision was easy. A no vote is a tax increase based on what has been established for decades, and a yes vote basically continues us on the path that we’ve been going with half of it for property tax relief, half for roads and bridges, and allows us just to continue to budget as we’ve been budgeting. It doesn’t mean we won’t have challenges going forward, but what it does is voters know that this is something that allows us to keep budgeting as is, and it allows us to keep taxes low.”

The sunset date has also been removed from the tax as part of the measure’s successful passage.

To the north, a strong majority of voters in the Gladbrook-Reinbeck school district approved a measure to double the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) from its current rate of $0.67 per $1,000 of valuation to $1.34, the maximum amount allowed under Iowa law. A total of 1,033 voters (61.1 percent) supported the ballot measure, while 657 (38.9 percent) opposed it.

The successful vote comes on the heels of failed bond referendums in 2022 and 2024, and the funds generated will be put toward improvements to the district’s two buildings in Reinbeck.