A town in eastern Iowa with just over 100 residents may become the next Iowa city to disappear from the map. Center Junction Mayor Sandy Ricklefs told KCRG-TV that the city council will meet January 5 to vote on a resolution of discontinuance. “It’s just, plainly, that the bills are coming in and we just can’t do it anymore,” Ricklefs said. Center Junction is located in Jones County. According to Ricklefs, tax collections are not keeping up with expenses for law enforcement, library services and emergency management.

“I’ve been mayor for many, many years and it’s been real tight pinching for a while. It’s not that anybody has done anything or anybody has spent any big money because we just don’t do that here,” Ricklefs said.

The administrator of Iowa’s City Development Board, which oversees changes in incorporation, reports — in recent years — Iowa has been averaging the loss of about one town per year. In the case of Center Junction, the city council took an informal poll of residents earlier this month about the possibility of disbanding and nearly everyone favored the move, according to Mayor Ricklefs.

(Radio Iowa)