Members in the communities inside the Panorama Community School District (CSD) may have noticed some petitions making the rounds.

Superintendent Kasey Huebner says that these petitions are to have the School Board include a $19.6 million school bond on November’s ballot to address some important needs and issues within the district. The petitions will first be gathered and presented to the Panorama School Board, then the Guthrie County Auditor’s Office, and finally be placed on the ballot to be voted upon in November. A 60 percent approval of full time voting residents in the Panorama CSD is required for the bond issue to pass.

Huebner shares that some may have questions on how this bond will be funded, and tells Raccoon Valley Radio that was a topic in the July School Board meeting, where he discussed how the bond could affect the property tax rate.

“We talked about the tax rate comparison, how our tax rate is the third lowest in the West Central Activities Conference right now. Our tax rate is the lowest in school history, as we had some debt retired. So we’re in a good position to continue to invest into our school and our facilities. So we talked about that and talked about the long-term impact of investing into our school, investing into some maintenance, investing into expanding our middle school gym and some of our CTE programs.”

Huebner mentions that projects that would be addressed would include securing entryways for the elementary and secondary school buildings, repairing the roofs, HVAC systems and restrooms at both buildings, and providing an accessible playground surface for all children at the elementary. He adds that other included projects under the bond would include renovations for the commons, kitchen and other student spaces at the secondary building, and an expansion of the middle school gymnasium to offer more space for classes, athletics and communal use. A list of places where petitions can be found and signed is included below, along with a breakdown of how the property tax rate would change.

The total projected debt service tax rate implication for this potential project would be $1.96 per
$1,000 taxable property value. Panorama’s average total property tax rate over the last 18 years is $13.10. With an approved bond, the projected levy rate would be approximately $12.40.

Petition locations in:
Panora: Panorama District Office (secondary building), Panora Fiber, NAPA Auto Parts, T&K Designs, Iowa Trust Bank, Guthrie County State Bank and Bryton Insurance
Yale: Farmers State Bank
Jamaica: Jamaica Public Library
Bagley: Bagley Public Library
Linden: Linden Public Library