The Audubon Community School District’s Board of Education met during a special session Wednesday evening, to hold a public hearing with regard to the Fiscal Year 2020 Budget. Superintendent Brett Gibbs said there were no public comments, and given the current situation, that’s not unexpected. He said about a dozen years ago, before he became Superintendent, the tax levies were around $15 or $16 per thousand dollars valuation, and that drew the public. Since then, the tax asking has come down to around $11 or $12/$1,000…which is essentially a “non-issue” with the district patrons.

The levy for the 2019-20 Budget went down nearly 6-cents, to $11.68/$1,000. Gibbs said that’s attributable to two main factors: The District Valuation went up by $8-million, and there was an increase in enrollment, along with more State aid. Gibbs said people may not understand that the district has very little control over the levy because of how it’s set up in Iowa. He said workshops are held where the budget levy is developed through a formula. The State tells each district how much they can spend. The only levies the district has control over is the Management Levy and Early Retirement, but those don’t amount to a whole lot.

In other business, the Audubon School Board, Wednesday, approved the FY2019-20 Bargaining Agreement with Audubon Education Association. He says they settled at 3.27%. Earlier in the week, the Teachers Association moved quickly to approve the offer. Contracts will be issued soon and voted on during the Audubon School Board’s regular meeting 7-p.m. Monday, April 15th. During that meeting, the Board will act on approving salary increases for staff who are NOT represented by a Collective Bargaining Unit.