Read Their Lips: No New Urbandale School Taxes

The Urbandale School Board, for the third consecutive year, will not raise its tax levy on Urbandale residents. 

In fact, Urbandale residents may see their property tax bills go down a bit because taxable property values in the metro area have gone down.

On Monday night, the board approved a tax levy of $17.64 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. Once it sends that budget to the state to meet the April 15 deadline, it cannot raise its tax levy.

The district hasn't finalized all the details of its budget. In fact, it hasn't agreed on a contract with its teachers union for next year, said Shelly Clifford, director of business services for the school district. 

Contract negotiations have just begun. The union asked for an 8 percent increase, said Clifford. A second negotiation meeting is scheduled for Wednesday.