A senior analyst in the legislative branch of state government is advising against over-reacting, but overall state tax revenues took a nose dive in September. Jeff Robinson, a financial analyst who works in the Legislative Services Agency, says “It’s too early to start looking at things as poor, but the next couple of months will tell us whether this is a new trend or if this was just one month of numerous bad things happening.”

Net state tax receipts in September were almost five percent below the revenue collected in September of last year. “September on the surface was a pretty poor month with declines in all of our major tax revenue sources,” Robinson says.
Consumer spending at the national level is going up, but Iowa sales and use tax collections were down nearly six percent in September.  “The expectation for the entire fiscal year is that it will be up five percent, so that’s a major cause of concern,” Robinson says. Personal income tax payments to the state were down almost three percent.

“One month doesn’t necessarily make a trend and a bad September really pulled down the growth for the year,” Robinson says. The current state fiscal year started July 1st. Cash receipts for the state increased a little less than one percent in the first quarter. That’s far below expectations. “Personal income tax at four percent growth…through the first three months is below the 6.8 percent growth that we’re expecting,” Robinson says. “The receipts in September were particularly poor.”

Robinson is keeping an eye on the relationship between state income tax payments and state sales and use tax receipts. The key question? Why is growth in what Iowans are earning — seen in the growth of income tax payments to the state — NOT translating into more spending, which can be tracked by monitoring the taxes Iowans pay when buying goods and services.

(Radio Iowa)

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

The office of Senator Chuck Grassley has announced the State’s senior Senator will hold town meetings in Adair County on Friday, October 9th, and in Monona County on Monday, October 12th, as part of his annual 99-county tour. Grassley has held a meeting in each of Iowa’s 99 counties at least once every year since he was first elected to the U.S. Senate.

These town meetings are open to the public. Grassley’s town meeting schedule for Friday, Oct. 9, and Monday, Oct. 12, 2015, is as follows:
Friday, Oct. 9, 2015: 8:30-9:30 a.m….Adair County Town Meeting at The Corner
(284 Public Square) in Greenfield;

Monday, Oct. 12th: 1:15-2:15 p.m….Monona County Town Meeting at the Mapleton Public Library (609 Courtright St.) in Mapleton.

New leaders were appointed today (Friday) for three of the state’s correctional facilities. The Iowa Board of Corrections today (on Friday) approved the appointment of Sheryl Dahm as Warden of the Clarinda Correctional Facility. She has spent more than two decades counseling prison inmates with substance abuse and mental health issues. The Clarinda facility houses around 800 offenders.

Iowa DOC Director Jerry Bartruff said “Many of those offenders are what we would classify as offenders with special needs…primarily defined as persons with some significant mental health issues or intellectual disabilities.” Dahm fills the vacancy created in Clarinda when Kris Weitzell) was appointed Warden of the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility.

Bartruff recommended William Sperfslage take over as Warden of the Anamosa State Penitentiary, where he got his start 36 years ago. The Anamosa State Pen houses up to 1,000 of the state’s “high risk” offenders, many of whom committed violent crimes. Sperfslage has served as acting warden of the facility for 6 months following the retirement of John Fayram.

Another longtime employee of the Iowa Department of Corrections is now the Warden of the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility. Jay Nelson was appointed to that position today (Friday).Nelson has worked in the office of Offender Services since 2013. Nelson is filling the vacancy created by the retirement of former Mount Pleasant Warden Ron Mullen.

(Radio Iowa)