Voters casting their ballots Tuesday during a Special Election for a Voter Approved Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (VPPEL) have said YES to a request by the Atlantic School District to have an income surtax blended with the property tax the District collects, to fund school infrastructure, equipment, repairs, purchases and improvements over $500 or for capital improvement projects.

Unofficial results from the Cass County Auditor’s Office show there were  351 Yes votes (61.63%) and 221 NO votes (38.64%). A simple majority was needed in order for Public Measure B to pass. The results will be canvassed during a meeting of the Cass County Board of Supervisors next Monday morning.

School officials had said in the months leading up to Tuesday’s vote, that if they would have been able to use an income surtax for the VPPEL in the past, it would’ve reduced the property tax by 60-cents per $1,000 of taxable valuation. Approval means patrons of the district will pay no more than 85-cents per thousand dollars of taxable property valuation each year annually (for up to 10-years), plus up to 20-percent of an Iowa Income Surtax for each individual income taxpayer in the district, with the amount of the surtax to be determined by the School Board each year. The total taxation cannot to exceed $1.34 per $1,000 of assessed property value in any one tax year.

The Income Surtax will begin December 31st for each calendar year, commencing with the 2017 calendar year, and the PPEL itself will begin with the levy of property taxes for collection in the fiscal year that begins July 1st, 2017. School Board Vice President Kristy Pellet said back in July, that the combined PPEL and Income Tax Surtax would essentially make it fairer, because more people would contribute to the PPEL, not just property owners.

A similar Measure placed before the voters last fall, failed.