(Spirit Lake)– Voters in the Spirit Lake Community School District will be asked to approve not one, but two special levies in an election December 9th.
The school board earlier this month voted to put a Physical Plant and Equipment Levy on the ballot at a rate of one dollar per thousand dollars of valuation for seven years. Meeting in special session Tuesday evening, they voted unanimously to add another measure, the Public Education and Recreation Levy, or PERL, to the ballot. It would be at a rate of 13.5 cents per one thousand dollars of valuation and would be in effect until voters petition for a special election and its voted off.
The PERL would generate an estimated 83-thousand dollars a year that would be used to maintain the Sami Center, to pay the center’s Technical Director, and to maintain playgrounds.
Among those addressing the board Tuesday was Jo Megill, who expressed concern over running the two levies on the same ballot. Megill said she’s worried any opposition over the PERL could carry over and jeopardize passage of the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy, or PPEL. That levy, in the amount of $1.00 per thousand dollars of valuation, would be in effect for seven years if passed by voters.
There was also discussion Tuesday evening over the status of negotiations with Alliant Energy when it comes to putting up a new wind turbine. The PPEL would allocate two million dollars for that project. But several in the crowd said the board should get assurrances from Alliant before allocating the funding in the PPEL. School officials say based on negotiations they’ve had so far with Alliant, that they’re confident they’ll be able to successfully negotiate an agreement.
