Perry Community School District Superintendent Lynn Ubben stopped by the Hotel Pattee Tuesday to visit with the Perry Kiwanis during their weekly lunch meeting. Ubben discussed the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) up for a vote that day.
PPEL is a tax that is placed on the assessed valuation of taxable property in the Perry school district. The levy rate is $1 per $1,000 of assessed value. Ubben stated that in some districts it is as high as $1.34 per $1,000, the limit allowed by state law.
This levy lasts 10 years, and then voters must choose to renew it. It was first passed by Perry voters in 1986 and was renewed in 1996, 2006 and now 2016.
Ubben said that PPEL is not a new tax but is important to the district, bringing in $3 million to $4 million in funding every 10 years. Before the Iowa legislature passed the PPEL funding, all physical plant and equipment expenses were paid from the general fund.
Monies are used for improvements in buildings and equipment. Ubben discussed some of the items the money has been used for during the past 10 years.
Ubben’s list was long: school buses and vehicles, middle school and high school boiler replacements, heat pump replacements, roof repairs, lockers, sidewalks, mowers, tractor, floor scrubbers, phone system, bleachers, risers for performing arts and music, snow plow, middle school roof replacement, high school library shelving, band instruments, chrome books, laptops, computer equipment and presentation systems, restroom upgrades, copier purchase and leases, TLC Room furniture and shelving, athletic complex and track improvements, playground equipment and summer carpet replacement rotation.
There is continually need to upgrade and replace equipment in the current three buildings, Ubben said. She said a school bus costs about $95,000 to replace. The school tries to replace one bus each year. A boiler costs $50,000 to $60,000 to replace. The high school has replaces two of these recently.
One new project coming out of PPEL is the new security system, Ubben said.
She said this levy is often confused with the statewide penny, which is a 1 percent sales tax that goes to the schools for new construction. Construction can be bonded based on the anticipated amount of the statewide penny. The new Perry High School and Perry Performing Arts Center were funded this way.
Welcoming Ubben was 19-year Perry Kiwanis member Larry Saemisch. The Perry Kiwanis Club will not meet Tuesday, Dec. 13. The annual Christmas Party will be held Monday evening, Dec. 12.
