Northwest Iowa — This Tuesday is the day people are going to the polls to decide on city and school candidates and issues.
Many people are running unopposed in the four northwest Iowa counties for city council, mayor, and school board member positions, but several towns have actual races with more than one candidate as well.
For city council, there are contested races in the cities of George, Granville, Harris, Hartley, Hawarden, Hull, Inwood, Larchwood, Little Rock, Primghar, Rock Rapids, Rock Valley, and Sutherland.
There are contested mayoral races in Matlock and Paullina.
And there are contested school board member races in the Rock Valley, Sioux Center, South O’Brien, West Lyon, and West Sioux school districts.
There will also be several ballots with questions on them. Those in the city of Boyden will be asked whether the city should switch the use of the one-percent sales tax from property tax relief to capital improvements.
People in the Rock Valley and Central Lyon school districts will be asked if the districts should continue to collect the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy, also known as PPEL. (pronounced “pepple”).
People in several school districts will be asked about revenue purpose statements for the “state penny sales tax, ” also known as SAVE, for Secure an Advanced Vision for Education. According to O’Brien County Auditor Barb Rohwer, the revenue purpose statements have been common on ballots. Experts say that in 2019, the Iowa Legislature extended the one-cent sales tax through 2051. They say if Iowa districts want to use these funds for long-term facility planning beyond 2031, the Revenue Purpose Statement must be updated to align with the 2019 legislative changes. The question here is not whether to levy the tax, but what the revenue collected will be used for.
Districts with the revenue purpose statement questions are the Rock Valley, Sheldon, West Lyon, Central Lyon, and Sibley-Ocheyedan districts.
Polling places, for the most part, have stayed the same, especially since the last election, which was the 2020 General Election. In the past few years, polling places have changed for Rock Valley, Orange City, Sheldon, Hartley, Sutherland, Melvin, “Osceola 1,” and “Osceola 2.”
Rock Valley voters now vote at the Parkview Event Center. Orange City voters vote at the Prairie Winds Event Center. Sheldon voters vote at the Crossroads Pavilion Event Center. Hartley voters now vote at the community building. Sutherland voters now vote at the RL Johannsen Center. Melvin voters will vote at the Melvin Legion Hall. Osceola 1 will be going to the Sibley Senior Center, and Osceola 2 will be going to Sibley Senior Center.
If you’d like to find out where you vote, you can enter your information at sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterreg/pollingplace/search.aspx, and it will tell you where to vote. According to the Iowa Secretary of State’s site, for all elections, the polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.
Find your sample ballot for the election here:
Lyon County Ballots
O’Brien County Ballots
Osceola County Ballots
Sioux County Ballots
