Iowa schools are losing out on millions of dollars that the state is redirecting to property tax relief, putting some schools at risk of defaulting on bonds taken out to fund facility projects.
More than 100 Iowa school districts were put on a watch list by S&P Global — a financial information company that provides credit ratings to some Iowa school districts — to monitor their credit rating following the passage of property tax reform by the Iowa Legislature last month.
S&P Global anticipates a decline in debt services coverage — meaning a school district’s operating income is dropping relative to the debt it owes, making it harder to comfortably cover loan payments…