I really wish they’d break up these initiatives into line items, but there are probably reasons to do them all together too. My biggest gripe is that I wasn’t a fan of turf. We have enough data at this point to be relatively certain that turf is attributed to more injuries than grass (16%). I think the health and safety of children is more important than the aesthetics and convenience of turf.

I also didn’t quite understand the math, and I have a degree in that, so I suspect there’s something else going on, or the reporter is wrong.

“The bond, if approved, would have raised the Cedar Rapids school property tax rate from $14.67 to $17.37 per $1,000 of taxable value. For an owner with a home assessed at $200,000, the property tax increase would be $282 a year, or $23.50 a month.”

That would have been more like $540/yr for a $200,000 house, right? That’s $2.70 per $1,000 taxable value. $2.70 * 200 = $540. My only thought is that taxable value vs assessed value isn’t the same thing, but I couldn’t find anything to verify that.

Regardless, I was a no vote, and I’m a little ashamed to admit that. Either price tag seemed like too much with the recent increase to our property tax, how much MORE we already pay in property tax than the rest of Iowa or the rest of the country, and all the recent inflation without wage increases to match it. It seemed like too much to commit to, and if I’m given the opportunity to prevent a little more bleeding at almost any cost, I will. This referendum didn’t seem entirely necessary, but I hope they find a way to trim some fat and resubmit it to a future ballot.