Editors note: The public hearing for the proposed tax rate will be held on March 23 at 6 p.m. in the High School Library.
IKM-Manning Superintendent, Dr. Angela Huseman, explains the sudden increase for the district’s proposed property tax rate for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027. Huseman says that the required notice that gets sent to taxpayers may be confusing to understand, but it shows the district is proposing a maximum tax rate of $13.01828 per $1,000 of assessed taxable valuation, which will levy a maximum total of $6,812,761. From last year, that is an increase of around $2.30, which levies an additional $1.36 million. Huseman says when planning out budgets, district’s look at spending authority and cash reserves.
Spending authority is viewed as a credit card limit, the state gives the district the permission to spend that money for students, which Huseman says is approximately $8,148 per student. However, that spending authority does not mean the district has that cash available, and Huseman says just like everywhere else, schools are also hit with inflation.
The district then has to adjust the levy to build back up the cash reserves for funding that needs to be utilized to pay for the programs. When it comes to the property tax rate, Huseman says the district can really only control so much, as the rest is set by the state.
Of the tax rate, $11.14 is going to the general fund, with the cash reserve levy only contributing $3.16 of that amount, at most. Huseman wants to clarify that the 25.59 percent increase seen on the notice is specifically for residential properties with an assessed valuation of $100,000 that increased by ten percent and it does not apply to everyone. It will all depend on specific assessed valuation of resident’s home, with the approximately 46.34 percent rollback rate. Historically, IKM-Manning has remained on the lower end for property rates compared to surrounding areas, with the lowest for FY26 being Ar-We-Va at $9.50 and Underwood the largest at $15.45. Anyone with additional questions is welcome to contact Huseman by email at ahuseman@ikm-manning.k12.ia.us or call the central office at 712-655-3771. Additional information regarding school finances and a tax rate calculator can be found included below.
School Finance Basics | Iowa School Finance
