When in the voting booth this November, voters in the Mid-Prairie School District will see Public Measure VG on their ballot. If passed, this measure adopts a Revenue Purpose Statement specifying the use of revenues the Mid-Prairie School District will receive from the State of Iowa to secure an Advanced Vision for Education Fund. Currently, there is a one penny tax that is collected on all sales and those monies are distributed to districts throughout the state based on student population. To be able to spend those funds from the state, a revenue purpose statement must be in place. The previous sales tax law was set to expire in 2029. In last year’s legislative session, lawmakers extended the sales tax law to 2051. Mid-Prairie Superintendent Mark Schneider spoke with KCII news about why the district is acting on it now. “Currently, there is one penny that is collected on all sales. That penny is distributed to Iowa school districts by the student population. In order to be able to spend those funds, there has to be a revenue purpose statement in place. The statement that we are putting in front of the Mid-Prairie voters in November looks very similar to the current statement. It will cover the years from 2029 to 2051. By having this in place, it provides the Mid-Prairie School Board with more flexibility for funding long term projects. Something similar was done in 2011 when the district borrowed against future sales tax revenue to install the geothermal system and other renovations at the High School.”

Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th.