WAUKEE, Iowa — The Waukee Community School District said it’s lost roughly $2.3 million in revenue this fiscal year due to what it called a property valuation error regarding the Apple data center.

According to an email obtained by WHO 13 that was sent to the district’s families by Superintendent Brad Buck, the loss in revenue is due to unknown changes in the valuation of the Apple data center.

The email states that the data center was originally valued at $192 million by Dallas County and that figure was used to determine the district’s total valuation for the budget. However, Superintendent Buck says in the email that in 2017 the City of Waukee and Apple entered into an agreement that included a High Impact Jobs Credit, a 20-year property tax abatement, that lowers the data center’s valuation to $60 million.

Superintendent Buck said the district, which based its budget on property tax assessments, was not made aware of this change, and thus the 2025-26 budget and tax rate was approved based on the $192 million valuation, not the $60 million.

Buck goes on to say that on Oct. 2 officials with the county notified the district that Apple had received a statement that didn’t reflect the valuation adjustment and that the county had decided to correct the valuation immediately, leading to the approximate $2.3 million loss in property tax revenue for the district this school year.

As a result, Buck said that the district is working with legal, financial, and governmental partners to determine next steps. Buck said that the revenue loss will not result in staff layoffs.

“Situations like this remind us of the strength of our community,” Buck said in the email. “We recognize this is an unexpected and complex challenge, but our commitment to our students, staff, and families remains unwavering. Our top priority is maintaining the high-quality education, facilities, and people that make Waukee CSD exceptional. We are approaching this situation with transparency and care, keeping what’s best for our students at the center of every decision.”