Lake City residents pose questions about SCC building project

If South Central Calhoun School District residents approve a $1.34 levy in April, the tax rate homeowners and landowners would pay would still be about $2 lower than the average state property tax levy for schools, and lower than what they were paying before Southern Cal and Rockwell City/Lytton schools combined several years ago.
That was part of the message SCC Superintendent Jeff Kruse shared with Lake City Betterment Association members and community members Nov. 14 in Lake City.
“We’re trying to be as (fiscally) conservative as possible,” Kruse said, explaining how the board has kept the levy low, capitalizing on a $1 property tax levy break provided by the state when the two districts combined. “Sometimes I wonder if we’re shortchanging our students. SCC is in the minority. We’re one of only 20 percent (of Iowa schools) that don’t have a voter-approved (Physical Plant and Equipment Levy).”
The school board earlier this month approved asking voters for cast their ballots on the levy, which will raise about $5 million over the next 10 years. The money will pay for expanded space for student services and a new gym at SCC Elementary School, and for locker room improvements at SCC High School. Community members at last week’s meeting reflected on their own experiences in the locker rooms, dating back to the 1970s. Several said they didn’t think much had been done to improve the lockers since their own high school days, decades ago.
Read more in the Nov. 22 edition.