(Spirit Lake)– In a meeting lasting nearly three hours Monday, the Spirit Lake school board voted unanimously to set December 9th as the date for an election on a Physical Plant and Equipment Levy.
The proposal is being scaled back somewhat in hopes of making it more palatable to voters. Instead of the $1.34 per one thousand dollars of valuation for 10 years that was originally proposed a month or so ago, voters will decide on a measure amounting to one dollar per one thousand dollars of valuation for seven years.
Interim Superintendent Doug Latham said it would still allow for the replacement of the small wind turbine with a larger one; technology upgrades; updating the district’s bus fleet and to install new bleachers and track at the football field. It would NOT include the construction of a kitchen at the Middle School, nor would it include artificial turf for the football field.
In addition to the PPEL, voters may decide another issue as well December 9th. They may also be asked to approve a PERL levy, or Public Education Recreation Levy. It would amount to 13.5 cents per one thousand dollars of valuation. Latham says it would generate an estimated 83-thousand dollars a year that would be used to cover operating expenses at the Sami Center, as well as playground maintenance and equipment.
The board will consider whether or not to add the PERL to the December 9th ballot at a special meeting Tuesday, October 28th.
