The Atlantic City Council will meet in a regular session 5:30-p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 5th), in their chambers at City Hall. On their agenda is action on an Order to close select streets on June 13th, from 7-a.m. To 11:30-p.m., for the SHIFT ATL Block party. The affected streets include: Chestnut, from 7th to 6th, and 6th Street from Chestnut to Poplar. The event will include a beer garden, live music and smoke-off competition, with the proceeds benefiting SHIFT ATL accomplish their Atlantic revitalization initiatives.

The Council will also hear a report from Parks and Recreation Department Director Bryant Rasmussen and key accomplishments of the department in 2019, along with outlining goals for 2020. They will then act on a Resolution setting Feb. 19th at the date for a Public Hearing on approving “Fiscal Year 2021 Maximum Property Tax Dollars.”

City Administrator John Lund says the Iowa Department of Management requires the City of publish in the newspaper and the City’s website as well as any social media page, the Maximum Tax Levy & Rate. Lund says “While it appears [in looking at the numbers] the City is going wild, asking for a year-to-year increase of 5.62%…the devil is in the details.” He says “The total tax rate will also include voted general fund levy, debt service levy, and capital improvement reserve levy.”

The City’s debt service levy of $4.23, according to Lund, is completely hidden in the published notice. It accounts for slightly more than $1.07-million the City will tax, as compared to the more than $1.04-million in the previous year. Lund says “On the property tax statements, the City will show an increase of 2.71%, NOT the 4.67% shown on the public notice.” “Over the long term,” he says, “the City is expected to see less and less in dollar increases from property taxes due to the structural limits outlined in the State Code, and the declining taxable value realized from the multi-residential rollback.”

Lund said also, that while 2.71% is the increase in dollars generated, it will not reflect the impact on the property taxes levied against individual properties. “There is no way to know,” he says, “what the impact will be in year-to-year impact on taxpayers. However, when other authorities set their levies, a taxpayer can calculate the changes in their property taxes using the formula:

(Assessed Value) x (Property Class Rollback = Taxable Value

(Taxable Value) x (Combined Levy of all Taxing Authorities) /1,000 = (Gross Taxes Due)

(Gross Taxes Due) – (Applicable Tax Credits) = (Net Taxes Due).

Lund said also, he’s forecast a less than one-percent increase in the FY 2022 budget. After the Council sets the date for a public hearing on the FY21 Maximum Property Tax Dollars, they will act on a Resolution setting the date for a Public Hearing “On a proposal to enter into a General Obligation Solid Waste Management Loan Agreement and to Borrow Money [in a principal amount] not to exceed $90,000.

The Cass County Landfill has instituted a per-capita fee of $12 per resident, to be assessed annually. The amount the City pays is $85,344, payable in four equal payments over the course of the fiscal year. The final action item on the Council’s agenda, is a Resolution “Establishing the Allocation of Revenues from the City of Marne through Compensation for Specified Activities” (with regard to time and work performed by the Atlantic City Clerk and her Assistant). Marne pays Atlantic $5,000 per year for those services. The Resolution would set a schedule for how those funds are dispersed.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A survey report suggests the economy continues to grow in nine Midwest and Plains states. The Mid-America Business Conditions index jumped to 57.2 in January from 50.6 in December. The survey was conducted before much of the bad news was reported about the coronavirus outbreak that originated in China. Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says the outbreak could harm the regional economy in the weeks ahead. The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota. Survey organizers say any index score above 50 suggests growth. A score below that suggests decline.

(Radio Iowa) — The fast-spreading outbreak of the coronavirus overseas is evidently causing gasoline prices to fall in Iowa. Rose White at Triple-A-Iowa says the illness that has sickened at least 10-thousand people and killed more than 200 has forced China to restrict the travel of tens of millions of people.  “With the temporary reduction in some transportation services in China, the reduced demand for products appears to be impacting the global market prices,” White says. “China is the second-largest oil consuming nation.”

The actions by the Chinese government trying to halt the spread of the disease are having a significant impact on the global demand for oil. “Crude oil prices have dropped substantially during the past month,” White says. “In the U.S. trading market, crude has fallen from $64 a barrel down to $51, just during the past month.” In turn, gasoline prices across the U-S have been dropping, too. They’ve fallen a dime a gallon in the past month, from two-58 to two-48. “In Iowa, the state average is 20-cents lower than the national average, currently at $2.28 a gallon,” White says. “Prices have dropped 9-cents a gallon in Iowa during the past month.”

The motor club says the state’s cheapest gas is in Cedar Rapids at two-22 a gallon, while it’s the most expensive in Dubuque at two-34.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa caucuses are small local meetings where neighbors and strangers stand up to show their support for a particular candidate, and to persuade others to join them. They’re also the first opportunity for Democrats to express their preferences in what’s been a long and tumultuous primary. Iowa’s 41 pledged national delegates are awarded based on the results. The winner of the caucuses may also get a boost in fundraising, media attention and momentum in the following primaries. A bad performance could also doom a candidate.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The voting in the Iowa caucuses is finally starting. The candidates have been racing around the state all weekend trying to fire up voters and make a last appeal to people struggling to make a final decision about who to support in the crowded field. Campaigns and voters acknowledged a palpable sense of unpredictability and anxiety as Democrats begin choosing which candidate to send on to a November face-off with President Donald Trump. Four candidates are locked in a fight for victory in Iowa and others are in position to pull off surprisingly strong finishes.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Roughly one month after the federal government announced a new crackdown to keep e-cigarettes away from children, state lawmakers in Iowa and Nebraska are forging ahead with similar proposals of their own. Both states are considering new laws to raise the minimum age for vaping to 21 years old in addition to other measures to try to restrict the product. An Iowa Senate Subcommittee advanced the measure earlier this month to raise that state’s legal age from 18 to eliminate the conflict with federal law. In Nebraska, a legislative committee will review its own bill on Tuesday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A small, yet critical battle is going on within the big Democratic presidential field. Several candidates are jockeying to secure the backing of their party’s establishment wing. Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar are fighting for the political and financial support of the party’s leading donors, elected officials and pragmatists who are eager to unify behind a moderate alternative to the leading liberals Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. The first answers will come Monday in the Iowa caucuses. That’s when voters will begin sorting out the fight between progressive candidates and their more moderate rivals.