(Des Moines, Iowa) – Officials with the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau report a Guthrie County woman, 54-year-old Jeannette Gerloff, of Yale, was charged with one count of Insurance Fraud – Presenting False Information (Class D Felony) and one count of Theft in the 2nd Degree (Class D Felony) following an investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau.

The charges against Gerloff stem from an investigation that began in October 2023. According to criminal complaints filed by the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau, Gerloff provided false statements to her insurer as part of and in support of a claim for payment on her renters insurance policy. Gerloff obtained $2,487.34 from her insurer which she otherwise would not have been entitled to.

On March 8, 2024, Gerloff was arrested. She was released on her own recognizance after making a court appearance.

Iowans with information about insurance fraud are encouraged to contact the Iowa Insurance Division’s Fraud Bureau at 515-654-6556.

Note: A criminal charge is merely an accusation, a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

(Radio Iowa) – The State Transportation Commission approved millions of dollars today (Tuesday) for economic development road projects. The D-O-T’s Deb Arp presented a request from the city of Des Moines and its airport authority to add more funding to its previous request for the new airport terminal.

“This application requests an additional amendment to the scope and grant award to provide additional roadway improvements for public access to the new terminal facility. Commercial vehicle lanes will be accessible to all public passengers and to facilitate the growth of ride sharing and ride hailing transportation network companies hotel shuttles, taxi services and public transit services,” she says. The money comes from the Rebuild Iowa’s Sound Economy or “RISE” funds.

“The total amended RISE eligible roadway costs would increase by over seven million to 19-million-663-thousand-391 dollars, ” Arp says. “And the city of Des Moines has requested three-million-513-thousand-350 dollars in additional Rise funds.” The design of the roadway is expected to be complete in April 2025 and construction completed by July 2026. The city of Mount Pleasant submitted a RISE application for a new roadway project.

“Requesting a grant to assist in construction of approximately one-thousand-33 feet of Eugene Way located in the west side of town. The proposed RISE roadway will provide access to three lots totaling more than 13 acres for light industrial purposes,” she says. Mount Pleasant was awarded half of the cost of the roadway project which is estimated to be around 487-thousand dollars, the city will provide the other half.

Sioux City was approved for an award to build a roadway along Highway 75 on the northeast side of the city for a water park.”The proposed rise roadway will support tourism and provide access to the proposed Siouxland Splash Waterslide Park development to be developed by Frontline Development L-L-C,” Arp says. She says the award is based on the benefits the water park will bring. “An economic impact study expects over 150-thousand visitors to be attracted annually by the third year of operation, 12-thousand-547 overnight visitors and the creation of 55 jobs,” Arp says.

A commissioner asked if the award was to benefit just one business as other projects benefiting a single entity had not been funded. Sioux City business development coordinator, Chris Meyers, told the commission the city purchased 43 acres at the site with the hopes of developing the area around the water park as well. “The waterpark phase one is developing ten acres of that. And the waterpark developer has an option on the remaining 30 acres specifically for the intention of expanding the waterpark. And they would like to in the next year or two put up a hotel on the site as well,” he says.

The Transportation Commission approved the request of more than one-point-two million dollars ($1,250,957) or 50 percent of the project. Design of the roadway is expected to be complete by July 2024, with construction completed by December.

By Sonya Sellmeyer, Consumer Advocacy Officer for the Iowa Insurance Division

Spring storms, characterized by heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, and even tornadoes, pose significant risks to homes and properties.  From water damage to wind-related destruction, these seasonal hazards can lead to substantial financial losses.  According to the Insurance Information Institute, natural catastrophe losses in the United States during 2023 topped $79.6 billion.

A fundamental step in preparing for spring storms is a review of your homeowners policy and initiating a conversation with your licensed insurance agent to scrutinize the coverage.  This review should encompass the types and amounts of coverage in place, verifying they align with the potential risks associated with spring storms, and ensuring an understanding of the policy terms, exclusions, and limitations.

For optimal protection, homeowners should explore additional coverage options beyond the basic replacement cost policy.  Annual inflation adjustment is one consideration to ensure coverage keeps pace with the rising costs of materials and labor.

Extended replacement cost is another valuable option to consider. This coverage goes beyond the limits specified in the policy, providing an extra layer of financial protection by extending the dwelling coverage by 10-50% of the cost of rebuilding your home.  In the wake of a severe storm, where rebuilding costs may surpass initial estimates, extended replacement cost coverage can be crucial.

Building code upgrades represent coverage that address the need to comply with materials. Spring storms often expose vulnerabilities in structures, prompting the need for repairs to meet current safety standards. This coverage ensures that the financial burden of these mandatory upgrades does not fall solely on the homeowner.

Sonya Sellmeyer, Consumer Advocacy Officer for the Iowa Insurance Division

Review the policy for the coverage of your home’s roof. Insurance companies may change the coverage allowed under your policy as the roof ages.  For example, the actual cash value of your roof declines as it ages, and this coverage may only cover a portion of your claim based on the roof’s age and condition.  Check your declarations page and policy for roof coverage information.

Damage caused by flooding is often a standard exclusion in home, renter, and property insurance policies.  Water and sewer backup coverage is different from flood insurance.  While some homeowners policies include these provisions, neither are automatically included as part of a regular homeowners policy and will need a special endorsement to provide coverage.

Read all letters and policy renewal information received from the insurance company, as these may contain policy and coverage changes.  Verify any changes in coverage for exterior surfaces such as siding, gutters, downspouts, soffit, fascia, and windows due to cosmetic versus functional damage.  Call your agent if you have questions on any coverage changes.

A spring check up of your homeowners policy, and a collaboration with your insurance agent is pivotal in ensuring that the right amount and types of coverage are in place to protect against the financial aftermath of spring storms.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House Ethics Committee has unanimously dismissed a complaint alleging Republican Representative Dean Fisher of Montour has violated House rules by voting to commit state funding to private schools and helping start a new school.

Fisher backed last year’s law that created state-funded Education Savings Accounts to cover private school tuition and other expenses. He’s board president of the Tama Toledo Christian School that’ll open next year.

“(Fisher) claims he held up his campaign promises to his constituents…and he claims the complaint is politically motivated and simply a difference of opinion on legislation signed into law,” Representative Anne Osmundson of Volga, House Ethics Committee chair, said during today’s meeting in explaining Fisher’s response to the complaint.

All six Republicans and Democrats on the ethics panel voted to dismiss the complaint.

“I am concerned about what the complainant has stated. It just gives me a bad feeling overall,” Representative Monica Kurth, a Democrat from Davenport, said. “However, I don’t think it rises to a point of being a violation of the ethics code.”

Representative Stanley Gustafson, a Republican from Cumming, is another member of the panel. “I don’t think that Dean Fisher’s personal interest was necessarily the driving force behind the effort to have vouchers for a private school,” Gustafson said.

House rules say members should abstain from voting on bills that are a conflict of interest due to personal gain, but teachers in the legislature, for example, routinely vote on state spending for schools because the bills have broad benefit.

Barbara Kalbaugh of Dexter filed the complaint against Fisher and spoke with reporters at the statehouse. “Fisher’s actions are self-dealing and self-servicing,” Kalbaugh said. “Some would say they’re corrupt and the House Ethics Committee is letting him get away with it and that’s shameful.”

Fisher released a written statement after the committee vote.

“This complaint was clearly just a politically-motivated attempt to smear me,” Fisher said. “It’s wrong to attempt to use the mechanisms of government to attack someone you simply disagree with on policy.”

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley predicts President Biden’s just-released budget for fiscal year 2025 will need to be rejected in order to, in Grassley’s words, “rescue future generations from even greater economic harm.”

“It’s dead on arrival, D-O-A,” Grassley says. “It’ll never get a majority vote. I just think that it’s an outline that we start with, and presidents propose and Congress disposes.”

Grassley, a Republican, calls the administration’s fiscal and regulatory record “irresponsible,” saying it’s “wreaked havoc on our economy.” Were it to be approved, he says the Biden budget would be sure to yield severe long-term consequences.

“Its contents can be summed up in a single word, let’s say two words: very, very costly,” Grassley says, “three words, I guess.”

Grassley says the president’s spending plan will bring trillions of dollars in tax hikes, saying Biden is planning to let the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expire next year.

Sen. Grassley (Radio Iowa photo)

“This would hike taxes for Americans who make less than $400,000 a year, a direct violation of the president’s pledge not to increase taxes on the middle class,” Grassley says. “In fact, you know, this would be the biggest tax increase in the history of the country.”

Grassley says the country needs to reverse course and address the ballooning national debt, though he says the Biden budget would drive up that debt by $16 trillion over the next decade.

“Somebody’s going to be asking me down the road here, ‘Grassley, what are you doing about the $50 trillion national debt we have?’” he says. “Well, we can’t let that happen, but it would happen if this president’s budget went into effect.”

According to Grassley, “thanks to Bidenomics, families will pay thousands of dollars more every year just to cover higher costs of living,” and he says the budget offers “crumbs” for the Pentagon by limiting defense spending so it won’t even keep up with inflation.