Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press …

The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday, will hold the first of two work sessions on the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget. The first session will come on the heels of Wednesday’s regular council meeting, which takes place at the Atlantic Senior Center, beginning at 5:30-p.m. The next budget work session will be held Feb. 11th. The Council is slated to adopt the preliminary budget during their meeting on Feb. 19th, and hold a Public Hearing prior to adoption of the Budget during their regular session, on March 12th.

In a nearly one-inch thick FY 2015 Budget Report, City Administrator Doug Harris said the proposed budgets for all operating funds amounts to $9.373-million, which is a decrease of $481,863 or 4.9%, from the total estimated expenditures in FY 2014. Even though the budget is lower than last year, the tax rate for the City is going up. Harris said the rate would be $18 per $1,000 of assessed taxable value, which is an increase of 32-cents or 1.8%, over the last Fiscal Year. Of the six tax-levying funds available to the City, only two are responsible for the increase in taxes: The Employee Benefit Fund (EBF) and Debt Service Fund (DSF).

Harris says the EBF is up 18-cents per thousand, or 4.36%, while the DSF is up nearly 14-cents per thousand, or 2.9%. The biggest dollar increase in the EBF is for Health Insurance Premiums, which Harris says are up 14.9%. Fewer Workers Compensation claims have brought the City a $4,00 savings, and brought all other non-health insurance costs down to a net increase of just one-half percent.In increase in the DSF according to Harris, reflects a change in accounting for equipment purchases, the expenses for which were double-counted under the old system when debt payments and capital expenses for capital equipment purchases were charged to the fund. The current Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) does not call for issuing any more general obligation bonds in 2014.

The largest tax levy fund is capped by the State at 8.1-mils, or $8.10 per $1,000 taxable value. Property tax assessment legislation passed by the State last year will continue to contribute upward pressure on property tax rates, according to Harris, and the resulting gradual shift of the tax burden onto residential tax payers.

The new legislation rolls back the assessed values of commercial and industrial properties, and reclassifies multiplex apartment buildings from commercial to residential. The change in assessment practices, Harris says, will constrict tax revenue in the City’s General Operating Fund, and increase taxes on residential tax payers for the five other funds supported by property taxes.

One person suffered minor injuries during a rollover accident early this (Tuesday) morning on Interstate 80, in Cass County. According to dispatch reports from the Cass County Communications Center, the accident happened at around 2:14-a.m. on I-80 eastbound, about a mile east of the Walnut exit (Exit 47). One person in the vehicle suffered a head laceration. Medivac Ambulance tiered with Walnut Rescue in response to the accident.

Roads in the area were partially-to-completely covered with snow at the time. No other information is currently available.

Three southwest Iowa fire departments were called to combat a trailer home fire Monday night in Hancock. The Daily NonPareil reports the Hancock, Oakland and Avoca volunteer fire departments were called about 5:42 p.m. to 126 N. Scott for a report of a furnace fire.

Various photos taken at the scene showed thick grey smoke emitting from the home as firefighters worked to contain the blaze. The damage was extensive. No other details, including a cause of the fire, are currently available.

The Atlantic Police Department is warning area residents of a mail scam. Authorities say on Monday (Feb/ 3rd), officers were informed that an Atlantic resident received a letter in the mail in reference to them winning $650,000 through the “Publishers Clearing House.” The letter asks them resident to call a number and use a reference number to claim their prize. The letter was sent through standard mail and did not include a return address.

The scam letter (Atlantic P-D photo)

Officers looked on the PCH website, which stated that anyone winning a prize over $500 would be notified by personal contact from the company or notified through certified mail. Police also called the number listed on the letter multiple times and were unable to make contact with anyone. If you or anyone you know receive a letter similar to this through standard mail, please treat it as a scam.