highland

Highland School District residents wishing to vote during the special election on the district’s Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) have until this Friday to register.

The School Board has set the PPEL voting date for March 2 and Washington County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections, Daniel L. Widmer, is reminding eligible electors who are not yet registered to do so on or before the February 19 deadline for pre-registration.

Highland Superintendent Ken Crawford says there will be no new taxes for the district and the current PPEL rate of $1 per $1,000 assessed valuation will not change. He says approval means about $325,000 for the district annually, “So this is a major levy that we have to have to maintain our facilities. We put in new middle school floors, new gym floors, we’ve bought vans and cars with this, desks, we repair our parking lots with this. It’s not exciting, but it keeps your school up and running.”

Crawford says that funding is vital to the operations of smaller school districts like Highland. The PPEL can be passed by a simple majority vote.

*Voter registration forms can be obtained at http://co.washington.ia.us, or from the Washington County Auditor’s Office.  Auditor’s office hours are weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on February 19.  Anyone having questions can call 319-653-7717.