While property owners within the Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD) might have noticed an increase in their tax rates for this year, it has nothing to do with the Reimagine Miller project.

MCSD Executive Director of Finance & Operations Randy Denham said the Marshall County Auditor/Recorder mailed out tax statements showing the increase before March 15, but was unsure of the exact date. He added that the large Miller Middle School project did not impact tax rates.

“The taxes related to the Miller project were realized when we created the current fiscal year 2026 budget last year,” Denham said. “The $2 increase in this year’s tax rate is due to the district needing to levy a cash reserve to fund special education and excess English Language Learner costs.”

Legally, the district is required to provide those services for students, he said. However, the state does not provide the full necessary costs, and school funding always lags by a year.

“Since these services have already been provided, as per the law, the district must fund them afterward,” he said. “Because these services are not funded through state dollars, we must levy property tax dollars to fund the services that have already been provided.”

The MCSD will hold another public hearing on the fiscal year 2027 certified budget at the April 20 school board meeting. Denham said that during the same meeting, the board will review and consider the tax rate again.

“The board will then pass the tax rate at $17.97, or they can lower the tax rate at that time, if they so choose,” he said. “Either way, the board must adopt the budget and tax rate at the April 20 meeting so that the certified budget can be submitted to the [Iowa] Department of Management and county auditor by the April 30 deadline.”

At a special April 6 board meeting, which was a public hearing on the property tax notice, the public was given the opportunity to speak. Two people approached the microphone.

Victor Ekvall told the board members that he is retired, and the tax increase would be a “pretty big hit,” especially with the cost of many items, such as food and gas, going up as well.

“I don’t have any issues with stuff going to the students, but the past couple years I (have) seen the school system buying up properties, tearing down houses for parking at Franklin Field,” he said. “To me, students are more necessary than areas to park cars.”

When he drives by the new Franklin Field, Ekvall said there are colleges that do not have complexes that good. He suggested the district takes a good look and finds ways to save money.

Also speaking was Kelly Smith and he asked at what point where people will be taxed too much to even live in their houses anymore.

“As a school board, what are you doing to try to save money to help fund these other programs instead of asking for money every year?” Smith asked. “We cannot keep doing this at the pace that we are. I understand your spending keeps going up and up, and when your spending goes up, it takes money away from us. . . . We’re looking to move, maybe, if we have to.”

He asked if the English Language Learner program was ever funded by the state or federal governments or if it’s new. Denham told him historically that it was funded through property tax dollars. However, during the last four years, the district received federal funding for it, but that is no longer available. Now, it is being shifted back to the property tax levy.

Superintendent Theron Schutte said the district is legally obligated to provide the services, but special education is a bigger financial cost. Before, the federal government would pay 40 percent of the cost but is only paying 15 to 20 percent, meaning the rest falls on property taxes.

“We don’t have the ability to say we’re not going to provide the services because we don’t have funding,” he said. “We’re bound by law to provide those services, and I would add that this tax rate is not as high as it’s been in the last 10 years. Although it is considerably higher than the last few years, as far as school-related taxes.”

Smith said he agreed with Ekvall, and added that the district should get back to the basics. The nice things would be great when times are good, but it’s hurting people who are trying to make a living and do not get annual wage raises or are on fixed incomes.

According to Denham, the district continuously monitors the budget throughout the year and runs several forecasting scenarios as new information becomes available.

“One of the immediate steps being taken is to reduce the budget by $2 million,” he said. “This equates to roughly two percent of our overall operating budget. The district made conscious efforts to make reductions that had as little impact on students and staff as possible. This meant we made reductions without cutting staff or programs for students.”

Denham assured the attendees that they will continue to monitor the district’s financial position to determine if additional cuts are necessary.

“Impacts on the overall tax rate factor into these decisions as well, while also ensuring we are tending to our students and staff,” he said. “If the district had not been proactive in taking steps to make budget reductions, the estimated tax increase would have been an additional $2, bringing the total rate up to around $19.97 from the current proposed $17.97.”

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Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.