Knoxville School District announces lower levy

The Knoxville Community School District has released its Proposed Tax Notice for the Fiscal Year 2027 certified budget, marking the first required step in the annual public school budget certification process. 
All Iowa school districts must submit this notice to the Iowa Department of Management by 4:00 p.m. on March 5. Due to the timing of recent state legislation, the tax rate shown on the district’s Proposed Tax Notice does not yet reflect an important change that will ultimately lower the district’s property tax rate. 
On February 24, 2026, the Iowa Legislature enacted Senate File 2201. This legislation ensures that a school district’s budget guarantee amount for Fiscal Year 2027 will be funded through state aid rather than local property taxes. Because the law was passed shortly before the statutory filing deadline, the Iowa Department of Management did not have sufficient time to update the state’s certified budget system to reflect the change before districts were required to submit their Proposed Tax Notices. 
As a result, the Proposed Tax Notice currently lists a property tax rate of $17.60112. Once the certified budget system is updated to reflect the provisions of Senate File 2201, the district’s actual proposed tax rate will be $16.61367. 
If approved through the final budget certification process, this would represent a decrease of $0.29159 in the district’s property tax rate compared to the prior year. District officials emphasize that the higher rate appearing in the notice is a technical result of the state’s reporting timeline rather than an indication of the final tax rate being proposed by the district. Community members who have questions or would like additional information about the Proposed Tax Notice or the certified budget process are encouraged to contact Craig Mobley.
Phone: 641-842-6551 ext. 4 
Email: craig.mobley@kcsd.k12.ia.us 
The Knoxville Community School District remains committed to transparency in the budgeting process and will continue to provide updates as the state completes the necessary system adjustments related to Senate File 2201.