Iowa Central’s bond issue fails

Staff report
Iowa Central Community College can now feel Greene County Schools’ pain.

A majority of voters in the college’s nine-county service area, which includes Greene County, voted Tuesday to support a $29.5 million bond issue in a special election.

Just not enough of them voted Yes.

With some absentee ballots still uncounted, the issue is failing with a Yes vote of 58.5 percent, according to unofficial results Wednesday from the Webster County Auditor’s Office.

That’s short of the 60-percent “super-majority” required to pass a school bond issue in Iowa — echoing the fate of Greene County Schools’ $19.4 million bond issue in September.

According to the Webster County Auditor’s Office, 2,832 Yes votes were cast Tuesday across the nine counties to 1,998 No votes.

In Greene County, Iowa Central’s bond issue failed outright in the Greene County Community School District (100 votes Yes to 142 votes No), but passed in the Paton-Churdan Community School District (34 votes Yes to 13 votes No).

In the Greene County district, voter turnout was just 4 percent.

Had the bond passed, the owner of a $100,000 home would have paid about $12.50 per year.

The average 500-acre farm, taxed on the productivity formula, would have paid about $120 per year.

Fort Dodge-based Iowa Central hoped to use the bond to upgrade and modernize its facilities throughout its service area, including the creation of a career academy to benefit students in its southwest region that includes Greene County.

Unlike the Regents universities — Iowa State University, the University of Northern Iowa and the University of Iowa — that receive millions of dollars from the state treasury every year for building and renovation projects, community colleges rely on local property taxes, tuition, fees and philanthropy for infrastructure.

A total of 205 Greene County students are enrolled at Iowa Central, a number that doesn’t include dual-credit high school students.

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