(HIAWATHA, The Gazette) — Hiawatha voters on Nov. 7 will weigh in on a $1.2 million bond that would add 13,500 square feet to the Hiawatha Public Library.
Already budgeted into the city’s capital fund, the bond will not raise residents’ taxes.
And city and library officials say its approval should help them raise the remaining fund for the $4.1 million project.
Jeaneal Weeks, the Hiawatha library director, said fundraising efforts have raised about $730,000 toward the goal of $2 million in donations.
Approval of the bond, she said, would open the door to more donations and grant opportunities, she said.
Though the city already has budgeted the $1.2 million into the next year’s capital improvement fund, public projects larger than $700,000 must be approved by voters, per Iowa law.
Because it’s a bond proposal, the measure needs 60 percent approval to pass.
The city also has allocated $1 million in local-option sales tax funds toward the project.
The library, at 150 W. Willman St., will host a satellite voting site from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 24.