On Tuesday, September 9, residents of the Carlisle Community School District will consider renewing our voted Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) for an additional 10 years and a district Revenue Purpose Statement. This vote is asking for a continuation of current status and will not raise taxes now or in the future.
We are one of the more than 85% of Iowa school districts that rely on a voted PPEL for critical financial support. Per state law, funds generated by this levy can only be used for infrastructure and equipment repairs, purchases, and improvements.
In the recent fiscal year, our voted PPEL was the source of more than $650,000. Over the past five years, we have used these funds to:
Enhancing education and activity facilities
Safety and security improvements
Roof replacements and repairs
Upgrades to HVAC systems
Replacing school buses
Building and grounds maintenance
Emergency repairs
Expanding technology for students
Purchasing sports equipment
Purchasing musical instruments
Cameras and Door locks
Maintenance equipment
Portable classroom
Principal and interest on debt
Classroom furniture
Staff computers
Electrical updates
Roof replacements
Parking lot replacement and resurfacing
Playground equipment
This is only a partial list, but it reflects the variety of needs PPEL funds can resolve.
A Revenue Purpose Statement guides how school districts can spend the annual distribution of statewide one-cent sales tax revenue provided by Iowa’s Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) fund. If approved, the statement will offer CCSD the flexibility to use SAVE funds in a manner most effective for the district. In the most recent fiscal year, SAVE funds allocated to CCSD were approximately $2,600,000.
Currently, our voted PPEL has a rate of $1.34 per $1,000 of taxable property value (not assessed value). The measure on the September ballot seeks permission to maintain that rate through 2036, meaning a renewed PPEL WILL NOT raise property taxes.
For district residents who might want to vote before election day, the deadline to request a mailed absentee ballot from your county auditor’s office is August 25. In-person absentee voting will also be available beginning August 20 until September 8. There will be an in-person absentee voting opportunity on September 5, from 1pm-7pm at Carlisle High School.
For those who expect to vote on election day, the polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. You can find more information through the Iowa Secretary of State’s website, at
https://sos.iowa.gov/elections-voting
VPPEL Ballot Language:
Shall the Board of Directors of the Carlisle Community School District, in the Counties of Warren and Polk, State of Iowa, be authorized to levy an annual voter-approved physical plant and equipment property tax levy in an amount not exceeding one dollar and thirty-four cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation of the taxable property within the School District for a period of ten years, commencing with the levy of property taxes to be made for collection in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, to be used for any or all of the following purposes: for the purchase of grounds; improvement of grounds; construction of schoolhouses or buildings and opening roads to schoolhouses or buildings; purchase, lease or lease purchase of a single unit of equipment or technology as authorized by law; payment of debts contracted for the erection or construction of schoolhouses or buildings, not including interest on bonds; procuring or acquisition of library facilities; repairing, remodeling, reconstructing, improving, or expanding the schoolhouses or buildings and additions to existing schoolhouses; expenditures for energy conservation; rental of facilities under chapter 28E; purchase of transportation equipment for transporting students; purchase of buildings or lease-purchase option agreements for school buildings; equipment purchases for recreational purposes; payments to a municipality or other entity as required under section 403.19, subsection 2 (as amended); demolition, clean up and other costs if such costs are necessitated by a disaster as defined by and authorized by law; and any other purpose authorized by law now or in future to be paid from the levy?
Revenue Purpose Statement Language:
Money received by the Carlisle Community School District from the State of Iowa Secure an Advanced Vision for Education Fund may be spent for any one or more of the following purposes:
* Property tax relief, including debt service levies, regular physical plant and equipment property tax levy, voter-approved physical plant and equipment income surtax and property tax levy, public education and recreation property tax levy and schoolhouse tax levy.
* For any authorized school infrastructure under Iowa law which includes without limitation the following: (a) school safety and security infrastructure, information technology infrastructure, and athletic facility infrastructure for the school district as defined and provided in Iowa Code 423F.3; (b) payment or retirement of outstanding revenue indebtedness or general obligation indebtedness issued for school infrastructure purposes; (c) purchasing, constructing, furnishing, equipping, reconstructing, repairing, improving, remodeling, or demolition of schoolhouses, gymnasium, stadiums, fieldhouses, or school bus garage; (d) procuring a site, or purchasing land to add to a site already owned, or procuring and improving a site for an athletic field, or improving a site already owned for an athletic field; and (e) improving buildings or sites for the purpose of accessing digital telecommunications over multiple channels, often referred to as broadband.
* For activities and expenditures listed in Iowa Code section 298.3 and section 300.2, including without limitation the following: (a) energy conservation measures and improvements, including payments under financing agreements; (b) purchase, lease, or the lease-purchase of equipment or technology as authorized by law, including transportation, computer, and recreational equipment and to repair transportation equipment for transporting students; (c) purchase, lease, or lease-purchase school buildings; (d) to provide funds to make payments to a municipality or other entity as required under Iowa Code Section 403.19(2); and (e) to provide funds for demolition, cleanup, and other costs if such costs are necessitated by, and incurred within two years of, a disaster.
* To share or rent buildings or facilities, including a joint infrastructure project for which buildings or facilities are constructed or leased for the purpose of offering classes under a district-to-community college sharing agreement or concurrent enrollment program.
* To provide funds to purchase land as part of start-up costs for new student construction program or if the sale of the previous student construction was insufficient to purchase land, and to purchase construction materials and supplies for a student-constructed building or shed intended to be retained by and used by the school district.
* For any other purposes authorized by law now or in the future and designated by the Carlisle Community School District.