Finance Committee Meeting
04/10/2026- 02:00 PM
Mt. Pleasant CSD- District Office
1010 East Washington Street, Suite 102
AGENDA
The meeting is open to the public and patrons are welcome
Henry County Supervisors
100 East Washington St. Ste. 202
Mt Pleasant, IA 52641
Email: supervisors@henrycountyiowa.us
Chad White, Chairman Marc Lindeen, Member Steven Detrick, Vice-Chair
319-385-0759 319-385-0760 319-385-0761________
CANVASS of VOTES
Special Election, City of Salem
Tuesday, April 14, 2026
Board of Supervisors
1 :00 p.m.
The New London City Council will hold a public hearing next week on its proposed property tax levy for the upcoming fiscal year.
The hearing is scheduled for April 13th at 6:00 p.m. at the City Office on West Main Street. Residents will have the opportunity to voice support or concerns before the levy is finalized.
According to the proposal, the city’s regular property tax rate would decrease slightly, dropping from about 13.11 to 12.56 per $1,000 of taxable value.
For homeowners, that translates to a small reduction. A home valued at around $100,000 would see city property taxes drop from approximately $622 to $615 per year — a decrease of about seven dollars.
However, the picture looks different for commercial property owners. Taxes on a $300,000 commercial property are projected to increase by more than six percent, rising from about $2,703 to $2,874 annually.
Despite the lower tax rate, the city’s overall taxable valuation has increased, meaning total property tax revenue is expected to remain relatively stable.
City officials cite rising wage costs and higher liability insurance expenses as the primary reasons behind the levy adjustments.
The proposed levy does not include debt service taxes, and most categories remain unchanged, though shifts in employee-related expenses and insurance costs are reflected in the proposal.
Residents who wish to comment on the proposed levy are encouraged to attend the public hearing before the city moves forward with its final budget process.
High School Track and Field
The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team established two meet and school records at the Demon Relays in Washington last night, as the team of Taylor Williamson, Delaney Anderson, Kynlee White, and Avery Fedler took the sprint medley with a time of 1 minute and 49 seconds, while Fedler then claimed the 1500-meter run with a mark of 4 minutes and 46 seconds. The Panthers also won the 4×100 meter relay.
The Washington girls’ team claimed the team victory with 114 points, while Mt. Pleasant finished in 2nd place. Emma Horak won the 800-meter run for the Demons.
WACO’s victories came in the 4×800 meter relay with a time of 10 minutes and 15 seconds, which was nearly 30 seconds faster than second place, and the distance medley relay.
The Panther boys’ team finished in 3rd place as a team with Fairfield claiming 5th place, while the hosts took 2nd place with 88 points. Silas Hulett of Mt. Pleasant won the 3200-meter with a mark of 9 minutes and 59 seconds. Fairfield’s Eli Zillman took the high jump with a leap of 6 feet and 7.5 inches. Lastly, Washington’s Greyson Hartman swept the throwing events with launches of 64 feet and 11.5 inches in the shot put and 177 feet and 4 inches in the discus.
West Burlington/Notre Dame hosted their Co-Ed relays last night and Mediapolis swept the team titles with the boys’ team beating the hosts by 11 points and the girls’ team claiming 55 more points than second place.
Henry Luttenegger was a highlight for the boys’ team as he claimed the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes, while the girls’ team won the distance medley, shuttle hurdle, 4×400, and 4×800 meter relays.
The Danville girls’ team had Delaney Newberry win the 200-meter dash and Alaina Gourley claim the 800-meter run. The boys’ team saw victories in the sprint medley and 4×400 meter relays.
The New London girls’ team had their lone victory in the 400-meter hurdles with Allison Gillip turning in a time of 1 minute and 16 seconds. The New London boys’ team claimed the 4×100 and 4×200 meter relays with the team of Brigham Porter, London Franklin, Cale Westerbeck, and Gavin Strawhacker.
Winfield-Mt. Union’s Quin Smith swept the girls’ high jump and long jump, while the boys’ team had Colin Anderson win the shot put with a toss of 42 feet and 8.75 inches and Cruz Hagmeier glided to the win in the 110-meter hurdles.
Lastly, the Falcons showed off their speed in the 100-meter dashes as Landry Haberichter won the boys’ heat with a mark of 10.7 seconds and Kaylee Webb nabbed the girls’ heat with a time of 13.4 seconds.
The Eastern Iowa Track Festival will run tomorrow, April 11th, at Iowa City West High School with Columbus, Danville, Mediapolis, Van Buren County, Washington along with the WACO, Wapello, and New London boys’ teams and Mt. Pleasant girls’ team.
The Fairfield boys’ team will hold a track meet on Tuesday, April 14th, with Mt. Pleasant, Central Lee, and Van Buren County making the trip.
High School Soccer
The Mediapolis girls’ team clobbered Wapello last night, 10-0. Camryn Bailey netted four goals in the victory.
The Mediapolis girls’ team will take on West Branch on Monday, April 13th, at 6:30 pm at home, while the boys’ team will host Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union on Tuesday, April 14th, at 7 pm.
Wapello will hit the road to compete against Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union tonight with the girls’ teams playing first at 5 pm.
The Mediapolis and Danville boys’ teams could not find the back of the net in a 0-0 tie last night. The Bears will travel to WACO on Tuesday at 5 pm.
The Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union girls’ team lost to Mid-Prairie last night, 3-0, while the boys’ team finished with a 0-0 tie against the Golden Hawks.
Mt. Pleasant traded victories with Keokuk last night with the girls’ team falling 7-1 and the boys’ team pulverizing the Chiefs, 13-0. Dylan White was unstoppable, scoring six goals and adding an assist to his stat line. The Panthers will face off against Fairfield on Monday with the boys’ playing at home at 4:30 pm and the girls’ team competing on the road at 5 pm.
Fairfield split their night against Burlington with the girls’ team losing 4-0 and the boys’ team shutting out the Grayhounds, 3-0. Cormac Van Pelt scored twice in the boys’ game.
Washington was swept by Fort Madison last night with the girls’ falling, 6-1, and the boys’ team losing a tight one, 2-1.
The Central Lee boys’ team will face off against Sigourney-Keota tonight at 5 pm at home, while the girls’ team will travel to Washington at the same time.
The Burlington Notre Dame boys’ team will close out their road stand tonight against WACO at 5 pm, while the girls’ team will host Monmouth-Roseville tonight at the same time.
High School Golf
The Southeast Conference met up last night and the Washington boys’ team claimed another team victory in Fort Madison with a score of 149, while the Fort Madison girls’ team tied with Mt. Pleasant with both teams posting a 194.
In the boys’ standings, Rajan Roth of Washington led the field with a round of 32 with Fairfield’s Andrew Myers finishing as the runner-up with a score of 37. Alek Barton and Owen Dolf of Mt. Pleasant, who claimed 3rd place as a team behind Fairfield, each turned in a card of 40, which was tied for the 5th best score of the round.
On the girls’ side, Fairfield’s Ellanor Bentler took the individual crown, shooting 2-over for the day, but the Trojans finished in 4th as a team. Washington’s third place finish was led by Adalyn Long and Elizabeth Hora, who each shot 8-over par for 4th place. Mt. Pleasant’s finish atop the standings was aided by three Panthers claiming a spot in the top 10, as Ashlynn Beauchamp took 6th place with a round of 9-over par.
The Southeast Conference will compete against one another on Monday, April 13th, with the girls’ teams going to Fort Madison and the boys’ teams traveling to Washington.
Mediapolis swept Central Lee last night with the girls’ team logging a score of 216-277, while the boys’ team snuck out with a narrow five-stroke victory, 161-166. On the girls’ side, Kate Wischmeier led Mediapolis with a score of 51–the best score of the course, while Lily Smith finished in 3rd place for Central Lee with a card of 54. Brock Spears and Ephram Hallgren each shot a 39 for Mediapolis to share the gold, while Caleb Larson and Carter Jones each carded a 40 to finish as the runners-up for the Hawks.
The Mediapolis boys’ team will compete in the Golden Hawk Invitational on Tuesday, April 14th.
The Central Lee boys’ team will participate in the Lee County Invitational today.
High School Boys’ Tennis
Mt. Pleasant shutout Fort Madison, 9-0, last night. Max Heater and Carter Gehling did not allow their opponent to win a set in their singles matches.
Fairfield defeated Burlington last night, 6-3. The Trojans will travel to Mt. Pleasant on Monday, April 13th.
Southeastern Community College
The baseball team clobbered Carl Sandburg College yesterday, 16-0. The Blackhawks will stay at home to face off against Indian Hills Community College in a doubleheader, tomorrow, April 11th.
The softball team will stay on the road for a doubleheader with Illinois Central College on Monday, April 13th.
College Baseball and Softball
The Iowa baseball team will travel to USC tonight with first pitch at 9 pm.
The Iowa State softball team will host #19 Oklahoma State today with first pitch at 4 pm.
The Iowa softball team will look to get back in the win column tonight against Georgia Tech at 5 pm at home.
This Day in Sports History
1947 – Jackie Robinson becomes the first Black player of the 20th century to sign an MLB contract; Brooklyn GM, Branch Rickey announces Dodgers had bought Robinson’s contract from Montreal Royals.
1964 – Demolition begins in Upper Manhattan, New York City on the Polo Grounds sports stadium (home to MLB Giants, 1891-1957, Mets, 1962-63, and NFL Jets, 1960-63) to clear the way for a housing project.
1979 – J. R. Richard of the Houston Astros pitches a complete game but sets an MLB record by throwing six wild pitches in a 2-1 win over the LA Dodgers at the Astrodome.
The latest weekly fishing report shows improving conditions across several southeast Iowa lakes, with trout and bass among the most active species.
At Big Hollow Lake near Des Moines, water temperatures are around 50 degrees and falling slightly after recent cold rains. Largemouth bass activity is rated fair, with anglers finding success on warmer, sunny days along open shorelines where the sun warms the water.
At the Jefferson County Park New Pond, trout fishing remains good. Anglers are having the best luck using a bobber and bait such as corn, PowerBait, or worms. A valid fishing license and trout fee are required.
Lake Darling near Washington is seeing fair action for both black crappie and largemouth bass. Crappies are being caught in shallow water around brush piles and rocky shorelines, while bass are moving into the shallows on sunny days before returning to deeper water during cooler weather.
Wilson Lake in Lee County is reporting excellent rainbow trout fishing. Anglers are finding trout near cedar trees close to shore and in sheltered corners of the lake.
At Lake Sugema in Van Buren County, largemouth bass fishing is rated good along rip-rapped shorelines using plastics or spinnerbaits, while channel catfish activity remains slow, with cut bait or dead minnows recommended.
Anglers are reminded that a valid fishing license and trout fee are required when fishing for trout in stocked lakes.
On April 9th the Mount Pleasant Community School District held a special meeting at the Mt. Pleasant High School media center to discuss the fiscal year of 2027 for grounds and buildings projects and proposed phase 2 General Fund budget reduction, the proposal of possible closure of the Salem elementary school. The fiscal years plan and equipment spending plan and the districts office plan update.
In front of roughly three dozen concerned citizens of the Mt. Pleasant/Salem area the Mount Pleasant Community School District committee discussed the years’ projects that included playground upgrades and repairs to all elementary schools, such as new equipment and safety implements, such as rubberized mulch and new swings due to complaints from the community. A new twelve passenger van to add to the school’s fleet of commuter vans and upgrading 18 different elementary school rooms over the next three years with the estimated total coming up to $1.26 million for all proposed projects, which all can be found on the MPCSD website. Part of these projects will be funded by the Construction Fund A.K.A the One Cent Tax which is estimated to bring $2.4 million for the ‘27 fiscal year.
Next discussed was the 2026 fiscal year budget and deficit, with an estimated district revenue budget of $24.88 million dollars the expected expenditures going to surpass the district budget by $1.4 million at $25.92 million which is a 104% of the total years budget. The school board is looking to cut the expenditures by 1.8% over the next two years to help reduce spending to a total of 818 thousand dollars. One of the proposed items was the closure of Salem Elementary. While the decision is one of the proposed items, no decision has been made and there or no plans to close the school for the 2026\27 school year. While Salem elementary is ranked in the top ten of grade schools out of the over 900 in the state of Iowa it has a total student body of 87 students from the Salem area and parts of Mt. Pleasant and open enrollment.
Other options were to cut one section of classes to each grade and increase class size from an average of15-20 students per classroom to 20-25. Cutting up to four teacher positions and already eliminating the social worker positions are other options that have been viewed by the board.
While moving the schools to ‘Grade Alike’ (same grades in the building) test scores for the district have gone up moving Mt. Pleasant to a commendable grade with the state education board it hasn’t fully translated to higher enrollment for the district with 75+ children being signed into Harlen elementary’s kindergarten round-up and only five for Salem.
One way brought up to help reduce cost was the idea of putting up solar panels across the school district to reduce the cost of utilities such as turning the old Mapleleaf practice field into a solar farm or parking awnings at the high school. Which was supported by the committed but also brought on concerns of repairs and renovations to current infrastructure to support such a project.
The school bored will meet for its regular meeting on Monday April 13th to further discuss possible budget options.
