Voters in the Perry Community School District (PCSD) gave a wide margin of approval Tuesday to an updated revenue purpose statement on the spending of a one-penny sales tax.
Turnout was very low for the school district special election on the Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) funds. Voters in the Dallas County portion of the PCSD favored the measure by a margin of 98 to 12. Six ballots were cast in the Boone County portion, with no votes opposing. Guthrie County tallies have not yet been released.
SAVE funds, more commonly known as the penny sales tax, are used by school districts across Iowa specifically to support school infrastructure and technology needs. Approval of the new revenue purpose statement sanctions the district to spend SAVE funds for the duration of the penny sales tax, which will expire in 2050.
For the PCSD, approval allows the local school board to move ahead with needed improvements to the Perry Middle School, which was built in 1960 and is overdue for mechanical upgrades.
The vote will not increase a current tax or impose a new tax. The SAVE penny sales tax will continue to be collected across the state regardless of whether this measure is approved. Approval will simply allow the PCSD to access future SAVE funds and use them for the Perry Middle School. It will not change the current sales tax rate.
