O’Brien County, Iowa — No fewer than six ballot questions need to be placed on various ballots in O’Brien County for the November General Election. No one ballot type will have more than a couple of questions, but county-wide, there will be six.
Citizens of Archer will be asked two questions. The first one is about taxes collected for a capital improvement plan. Question QJ, as it is called, asks, “Shall the City of Archer, Iowa, establish a capital improvement fund levy in an amount not to exceed sixty-seven and one-half cents per thousand dollars of taxable value per year for the purpose of accumulating monies for the financing of specified capital improvements or carrying out a specific capital improvement plan, pursuant to Section 384.7 of the Iowa Code?”
The second question for Archer voters, to be called “QK” is in regard to library revenue. It asks, “Shall the City of Archer, Iowa be authorized to levy, annually, a property tax of twenty-seven cents per $1,000 of assessed value for the purpose of increasing the annual operating budget of the Archer Public Library, with the collection of the levy commencing in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2020?”
Question “QL” is for citizens of Hartley, and basically asks the same question about library revenue. It asks, “Shall the City of Hartley, Iowa be authorized to levy, annually, a property tax of twenty-seven cents per $1,000 of assessed value for the purpose of increasing the annual operating budget of the Hartley Public Library, with the collection of the levy commencing in the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2020?”
Citizens of Sheldon will be asked two questions, both dealing with franchise agreements with MidAmerican Energy for gas and electric service. The first question, “QM,” asks, Shall Ordinance No. 019-3243, which establishes between the City of Sheldon, Iowa, and MidAmerican Energy Company a non-exclusive, 15-year natural gas franchise agreement without franchise fees, be approved? The second question, “QN,” asks, “Shall Ordinance No. 019-3244, which establishes between the City of Sheldon, Iowa, and MidAmerican Energy Company a non-exclusive, 15-year electric energy franchise agreement without franchise fees, be approved?”
Citizens of the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn school district will also have a question on their ballots. It is in regard to planned uses for the one-cent sales tax collected for schools, called “Secure an Advanced Vision for Education” or “SAVE.” Known as “Question QO,” it asks, “Shall the following revenue purpose statement be adopted? To adopt a revenue purpose statement to authorize the expenditure of revenues from the State of Iowa Secure an Advanced Vision for Education Fund received by the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Community School District.”
For further details about ballot questions, you can contact the city or school involved.
