ElectionThursday, November 5
Cedar Rapids voters approve a $60 million fire bond, and Kirkwood's $88 million bond passes with 70%.
The Good Day Cedar Rapids team
If you voted Tuesday, you helped pass two big bonds. Cedar Rapids voters overwhelmingly backed a $60 million fire department bond, with preliminary results showing nearly 75% approval by 10 p.m. It needed 60%. Fire Chief Brent Smith said the community’s endorsement “was amazing.” The money relocates two fire stations, rebuilds two others and renovates two more, and it adds a training facility and two new pieces of fire apparatus.
Kirkwood Community College’s $88 million bond passed with 70% of the vote, or 145,831 voters, with all precincts reporting across 18 counties. Polls in eastern Iowa were open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Kirkwood's bond passed with 70%, above the 60% it needed
70%Share of voters who backed Kirkwood's $88 million bond
Source: The Gazette
View as table
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Share of voters who backed Kirkwood's $88 million bond | 70% |
| Needed to pass | 60% |
- Kirkwood cost: $9.35 more a year per $100,000 assessed
- On a $500,000 home: $46.75 more a year for 15 years
- Kirkwood bond streak: fourth straight win since 2005
Kirkwood promised none of the money would pay salaries or run day-to-day operations. It all goes to facility upgrades, led by Jones Hall, the nearly 50-year-old building that houses the Department of Industrial Technologies and its 14 programs, including welding and plumbing.
Jones Hall would get $46 million of Kirkwood's $88 million
Kirkwood's bond issue, $88 million, by where it comes from and where it goes
Comes from
$88 million
Goes to
Comes from
- $88M Voter-approved bond 100%
$88 million
Goes to
- $46M Jones Hall 52%
- $22M Business and IT classrooms 25%
- $12M Health programs in Linn Hall 14%
- $4.5M Classrooms across campus 5%
- $3.5M Agricultural machinery shop 4%
Source: The Gazette
View as table
| Amount | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| From: Voter-approved bond | $88 million | 100% |
| To: Jones Hall | $46 million | 52% |
| To: Business and IT classrooms | $22 million | 25% |
| To: Health programs in Linn Hall | $12 million | 14% |
| To: Classrooms across campus | $4.5 million | 5% |
| To: Agricultural machinery shop | $3.5 million | 4% |
Sources: The Gazette, KGAN, KCRG