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Voluntary transfers help balance enrollment Goal for K-4 Newton schools is 275 students By Jason W. Brooks Newton Daily News
Abigail Pelzer/Daily News The Meyers family, Megan and Mike and daughters Macy and Molly pose in front of their new custom-built home near the Fountain Hills development in Newton. The Meyers qualified for the city’s $10,000 cash incentive and welcome package, which helped them make the decision to build a new home in the community.
Newton housing on the upswing
Housing initiative boasts high activity in third year
ing activity,” said Bryan Friedman, the city’s director of finance and development. “You can attribute that to a lot of different factors in the local, state and national economy, but still it was not something anyone was happy with to have no new single family homes being constructed.” Three years later, city leaders are evaluating the housing program’s successes and eyeing new opportunities on the horizon.
By Abigail Pelzer Newton Daily News
Identifying the Need Commissioned by local stakeholders, the Community Housing Assessment Team report was conducted by renown planner, Martin Shukert, and issued in December 2011. His assessment and recommendation of Newton’s housing efforts later became a component of the city’s comprehensive plan. The report revealed a demand for new housing and pointed toward a population decline should that demand not be met. Among desires were single family homes, apartments, townhomes and senior housing. “We needed new product to draw people to our community — bigger places for growing
In 2011, city leaders were hearing plenty about Newton’s housing woes. While residents, real estate professionals and employers were bringing forth their concerns, it also marked the first year the city didn’t issue any new home construction permits. So when a community housing assessment conducted the same year identified a need to aggressively address housing, Newton City Council took note. By the fall of 2013, the Newton Housing Initiative program was established and later funded with a $3.65 million bond. “We reached a dearth of hous-
families and places for people to downsize. That churn in the market wasn’t happening,” Friedman said. Meanwhile, the report was very positive about the great potential for housing growth. “It gave some specific steps to take — and that plan didn’t just sit on the shelf, it spurred action in the subsequent years,” Friedman said. The Newton Housing Initiative’s goals are twofold: To protect and preserve existing neighborhoods and help grow the housing stock in the community. Dangerous & Dilapidated Program The Dangerous & Dilapidated (D&D) program, which demolishes nuisance properties and encourages new development, was established in Newton in the late 1980s. While successful in removing about 60 properties, by the time the city’s housing initiative was being developed it had grown stagnant. The housing initiative earmarked $1.1 million for D&D efforts which results in addressing 54 properties. HOUSING | 10A
Healthiest State Walk
Jamee A. Pierson/Daily News With the noon bell, walkers took off from Skiff Medical Center to participate in Healthiest State Initiative annual walk. Several community businesses and organizations took part in the walk, which is a part Iowa’s continued efforts to the be healthiest state in the nation.
In the area of revenue, expenditures and debt, the city of Newton Financial Tre n d Report found the city has remained stable in all areas for the last Umsted several years. The city has seen two
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Jason W. Brooks/Daily News Aurora Heights Elementary School students line up before the first day of classes in August. The Newton Community School District had an unexpectedly high number of kindergartners at Emerson Hough Elementary school this year, leading administration to find parents who wanted to voluntarily transfer their children to other district K-4 schools.
positive trends in the revenue sector, with an increase in property tax revenue and tax revenue from local option sales tax and the hotel/ motel tax. Revenues Per Capita “Operating revenues are those revenues derived from the general and special revenue funds,” city senior analyst Natalie Umsted said. Often when examining per capita revenue, changes are shown relative to changes in the population size. For ex-
ample, if per capita revenues are declining, it may be a warning sign that the city may be unable to maintain existing service levels in the future. Newton saw a decline in revenue per capita between the years 2008 and 2009 from approximately $395,000 to under $360,000, but has since stabilized in the past five years with an increase starting in 2014. In 2016, revenues per capita reached approximately $390,000. FINANCIAL | 3A
FEATURE
WHERE IT’S AT 75 CENTS
TRANSFERS | 3A
City maintaining steady revenue, expenditures and debt By Jamee A. Pierson Newton Daily News
Astrograph......................5B Calendar..........................5A Classifieds......................4B
Even with a stated goal of 275 students, the Newton Community School District had trouble gaining balance in its four newly configured K-4 elementary schools. An unexpectedly high number of kindergartners at Emerson Hough Elementary School led to district administration asking if any parents wanted to voluntarily transfer their children to other Newton schools. At the Sept. 12 Newton Community School District Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Bob Callaghan gave an enrollment report that included a recap of successful efforts to balance
kindergarten enrollment at the four K-4 elementary schools. Five families volunteered to have their children attend Aurora Heights instead of Emerson Hough, which had an unexpectedly high number of kindergartners this year. Those five families, Callaghan said, will keep their five kindergartners — and nine total students from those families — at Aurora Heights for the duration of those students’ K-4 years. “We felt it was a good resolution,” Callaghan said. “Everyone is excited about the opportunity. The effort to level the kindergarten enrollments at Emerson Hough and the other K-4 schools was a success.” Emerson Hough kindergarten parents received a letter by regular mail this summer, pointing out voluntary transfers to other campuses might be honored to alleviate an imbalance.
Comics & Puzzles...........6A Dear Abby........................6A Local News......................2A
Obituaries.......................5A Opinion............................4A State News......................7A
Oatmeal any time of the day
Food provides many health benefits / 2A
Volume No. 115 No. 98 2 sections 18 pages
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