(Atlantic, Iowa) –  Atlantic Mayor Grace Garrett, Council Members Elaine Otte, Emily Kennedy, Jim Behrens, and Mike McDermott, along with Atlantic Police Chief Devin Hogue and City Clerk/Treasurer Barb Barrick, attended Local Leaders Day 2024 on March 6th. Barrick says the local contingent joined local leaders from across the State in Des Moines, to connect with legislators, discuss legislative priorities, and share their stories. Speakers representing the cities of Cedar Rapids, Atlantic, Bettendorf, and Seymour joined Monte Wyatt of AddingZEROS and Scott Raecker of the Robert D. and Billie Ray Center at Drake University to converse on how cities can best support Iowans and plan for the future.

Barrick says “We can say that Iowa’s cities delivered. With more than 120 city officials in attendance from every part of the state, local leaders came together to speak about their needs in a difficult time. What we heard were concerns about how Iowa can serve and support its cities, from communities of 500 people to 200,000.” Mayor Garrett said “We, as elected officials on a city level, see our constituents on a daily basis thereby being the closest level of government to them. We will strive to continue to provide the best services for those citizens while remaining good stewards of their property tax dollars.”

The resounding message from city officials, according to Barrick, was the need for the state to: (1) provide fiscal predictability so cities can make longer-term plans to serve their citizens; (2) support efficient governance by allowing space for collaboration and innovation; and (3) protect the freedoms to align local decisions with local democracy.

Iowa League of Cities’ Facebook photo of the March 6th gathering in Des Moines.

The Iowa League of Cities is the oldest, continuously operating municipal league in the country. Founded in 1898, the League is a not-for-profit organization that advocates for issues affecting cities throughout Iowa. The City of Atlantic is a member of the Iowa League of Cities.

(Atlantic, Iowa) – [updated] Cass County Auditor Kathy Somers says property owners across Iowa will soon receive a new statement in the mail regarding potential property taxes and public hearing dates for cities, schools, and the county.

The purpose of the new statement is to make taxpayers aware of the time and place of public hearings where they may voice concerns over the proposed levy rates before the budgets are approved. The city, school and county levies may be lowered after the hearings, but not increased.

Previously, this information was shared with the public by publishing maximum levy notices in the newspaper, but a change to Iowa Code 24.2A now requires county auditors to mail the statements to all property taxpayers. The proposed rates will be for taxes to be paid in September, 2024 and March, 2025.

The statement will include information about the impact of the proposed property tax rates on both a $100,000 residential property and a $100,000 commercial property. The actual impact of the tax rates on an individual’s property could be different than the examples in the statement, which do not include a change in the assessed value, but do include changes to the assessment limitation (rollback), which has reduced from 54.6501% to 46.3428% on residential property commercial property up to $150,000 in value.

The statement is not a property tax bill. Taxpayers owning property in more than one tax district may receive multiple statements.

Questions regarding the statements may be directed to the school district, county or city contact information included on the statement.

(Guthrie Center, Iowa) – [Corrects date of the accident to TUESDAY] A woman backing her  SUV out of a parking stall at the Guthrie Center Casey’s Store, Tuesday evening, struck a man standing next to his motorcycle at the fuel pumps. The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office reports 51-year-old Dennis Ludwig, Jr., of Guthrie Center, complained of pain, but was not transported to the hospital, following the accident that happened at around 6:45-p.m., Tuesday. Ludwig had his back to the SUV when he was struck.

The driver of the 2020 GMC Acadia SUV that struck Ludwig, was identified as 40-year-old Tara Lynn Reed, of Guthrie Center. There was no property damage, and no citations were issued.

DES MOINES, Iowa [WHO-TV]— An Iowa Senate subcommittee advanced a bill through on Tuesday that would set pregnancy and fetal development curriculum, but not without changes. The Iowa House passed through House File 2617 at the end of February. And just a couple of weeks later the Iowa Senate is amending the legislation. The original bill required health education curriculum to include “a high-quality, computer generated rendering or animation, comparable to Meet Baby Olivia video developed by live action”.

The amendment would remove only the portion comparing a video to Meet Baby Olivia. But there will be some type of video that shows pregnancy from conception until birth. Several different lobbyists were grateful that the reference to the video was taken out. But there was concern from educational groups that this bill is too specific, and it doesn’t give school districts enough flexibility. School boards and curriculum committees will take direction from lawmakers, set the standards and then each school district decides how to meet the standard.

The bill with the amendment will need to make it through the Iowa Senate education committee to be safe from this session’s second funnel deadline on Friday.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) – Family now knows the U.S. military has identified a soldier from World War II from Dubuque. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced Tuesday they identified U.S. Army Pfc. Raymond U. Schlamp, who was 28 and from Dubuque. He was accounted for on March 21, 2022.

DPAA says Schlamp was part of the Company G, 2nd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division. They say he was killed as his Company was given the order to withdraw from the area known as the “Horseshoe Woods” near Dornot, France. They had been trying to secure the area at the time. In 1945, the War Department issued a “Finding of Death” because people could not find his remains. In 1947, a search could not find remains, and in 1951, he was declared “non-recoverable.”

DPAA historians found the remains from an unknown person could be associated with Schlamp or other soldiers. They were buried at Lorraine American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Limey, France. The remains were disinterred in June 2021. With the use of anthropological and dental analysis, along with DNA analysis, scientists were able to identify Schlamp.

Currently Schlamp’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Epinal American Cemetery in Dinoze, France. A rosette marker will now be placed next to his name to indicate he’s been accounted for. A date and time have yet to be determined for his burial.

DES MOINES, Iowa (Gray Television Iowa Capitol Bureau) – It’s getting harder to make ends meet in Iowa, according to a report by the nonpartisan group Common Good Iowa. Wages are growing in Iowa, yet more families are struggling. Common Good Iowa’s report finds that 17.5% of Iowa families find it hard to meet even the most basic of needs.

Sean Finn, a policy analyst for Common Good Iowa, says “We’re seeing that the inflation of the past few years has really counteracted the wage growth of those years and families are really in a pinch when it comes to affording their basic needs.”  Finn says half of single parents in Iowa don’t make enough to cover a bare-bones budget. To meet that, a parent would have to make $24.64 per hour. For a family of four, both parents would have to make at least $19.55 per hour. “Clearly, we see that’s far above the minimum wage for the state of $7.25, which needs to be updated,” Finn said.