A state legislative bill that would impact the Greene County School District seeks to extend the sunset date of the Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) funds.

It is the one-cent sales tax for school infrastructure and it is set to expire in 2029. The Iowa Legislature is looking to extend that sunset date another 20 years. District 24 Senator Jerry Behn says he voted to move it out of the education committee. However, he shares his opinion on the idea of extending the deadline another 20 years.

“As it currently sits if there’s ten years left and we add another 20 years, that would make it 30 years long. I don’t know if that’s appropriate or not. It might be better to just extend it another ten years and so we would have it 20 years out and that would still give us an opportunity to examine it in the future.”

The Greene County School District has an interest in the bill because they are relying on some of those funds to be used toward the $35.48 million project of a new high school, career academy, and renovation of the existing high school into a middle school. Behn says the bill is in the Senate Ways and Means Committee, which means it will remain eligible for consideration for the rest of this year’s legislative session.