Thursday, April 6, 2023
Vol. 158, Issue 14
Decorah, Iowa 52101 www.decorahnewspapers.com
Dollar for dollar: What’s funded through city property taxes? By Kate Klimesh As budget discussions continue toward finalizing both city and county budgets, it is important to understand exactly what is funded through property tax dollars. Property taxes are levied by Winneshiek County, the City of Decorah, Winneshiek Medical Center, school districts and Northeast Iowa Community College. In this article, funding for the City of Decorah is highlighted to show how the property taxes paid by residents in Decorah support their city operations and services, and how that differs from business operations such as water, sewer, fiber internet and more. Revenues collected from the city are funded by property taxes from the following levies: the General Levy, the Special Revenue Levy, the Emergency Levy and the Debt Service Levy. Other revenues do include fees and fines collected by the city, as well as payments received for business-type operations. Numbers discussed in this article are for the 2023-24 fiscal year beginning July 1, as discussed during the Monday, April 3, public hearing held prior to the regularly scheduled Decorah City Council meeting. The approved budget authorizes city staff to spend the money allocated in the budget in the next fiscal year. The funds from the General Levy, currently at the maximum tax levy of $8.10/thousand of taxable valuation, cover a wide range of services provided to its residents: a portion of the costs
of general administration of the city (city staff wages), the cost of Public Safety services, like Police Department, Fire Department, Housing Inspections, Planning and Zoning activities and Information Technology services. In these departments, the General Levy covers expenses not met by fees and fines. Currently, the City of Decorah assesses $0.82801/thousand for liability, property and self-insurance costs in addition to the $8.10 general levy. Public Works also comes from the General Levy, which covers expenses such as the Library, Parks and Recreation, and can include additional cultural use levies if voters so authorize by majority vote on a referendum. Currently, the City of Decorah does not utilize any other levies to fund these items. The total cost of the General Levy services totals $8.92801/thousand. Special Revenue Levies cover city employee benefits across the board, including Police and Fire Department retirement accounts, FICA, IPERS, Health Insurance and other costs of benefits, budgeted at $1,725,603. This levy totals $4.20959/thousand for 2023-24. This levy also includes the Emergency Levy to cover any unmet expenses not otherwise funded for city operations, equal to $0.27/thousand – the current cap –for 2023-24 fiscal year. This is one of few times the
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Hoppy hunting
Decorah Parks and Recreation’s annual Easter Egg Hunt was held Sunday, April 2. The Easter Bunny even made an appearance. Ten month-old Elowyn Panos, pictured here, was not sure how she felt about her encounter with the famous cottontail. She is the daughter of Casey and Brittnee Panos of Decorah.
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Supervisors tackle public hearings, hear from citizens “If you don’t live on gravels, don’t be telling supervisors how to manage the roads.” By Kate Klimesh Public hearings were held at the April 3 Winneshiek County Supervisors meeting with the first focused on the Maximum Tax Levy proposed by the county for fiscal year 2023-24, proposing a maximum tax levy of $8.64/thousand of taxable valuation for county property taxes. This represents a 20-cent increase to the General Levy to $4.38/thousand, a 10-cent decrease to the Supplemental Levy to $2.31/thousand, and keeping rural levy rates consistent at $1.95/ thousand. No public comments were made, the maximum tax levy rate was approved unanimously. The Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on the 2023-24 budget April 24 at 11 a.m. The second public hearing regarding the vacation of a portion of right of way along 211th Ave. was held with no public comment. The resolution to vacate the right of way unanimously passed. It was noted it was not a lot of ground vacated, with
half-acres to two adjacent property owners, a third to another owner and even less to another. Winneshiek County Engineer Lee Bjerke noted, “We just don’t need the width we had there anymore.” Bjerke then reported on road matters and stated both the 175th Street “Golf Course Road” project by Calmar and demolition work on bridge 237 would begin this week. He noted the Golf Course work would start on the west end with Bjerke hopes for an August completion of the Golf Course Road project, weather permitting. Bjerke also reported that Mitchell County may be interested in the historic Fort Atkinson bridge which is slated to be removed. The supervisors and Bjerke will discuss options and details over upcoming weeks with the interested parties before making a final determination. Like many other supplies, Bjerke noted gravel prices look to be increasing from a high of $12.94/ton to new reports of $15/ton in neighbor-
ing counties. “No matter what you do, you can’t catch up. Road funding has gone up 47 percent in 20 years, the feds helped out 61 percent more in that time, but gravel went up 258 percent. That’s the reality of it.” Public comments The supervisors heard from resident Claire Askelson, who was requesting more rock and attention to gravel roads than ditches as his son had a vehicle accident in February due to a long-standing severe gully on a gravel road near their home. “If you don’t live on gravels, don’t be telling supervisors how to manage the roads,” Askelson stated. Public comment was also heard from Shirley Vermace, who summarized various sources of support and statements of economy and beneficial outcomes of the county having an Integrative Roadside Vegetative Management Program. Vermace blamed Supervisors Vick, Kelsay and
Langreck’s actions for Cory Meyer’s voluntary termination as the county’s Roadside Manager earlier this year. She also reported that Winneshiek County had a top-tier IRVMP prior to this year, an amazing feat considering its short tenure of five years in operation. Lastly, comments were heard from Jodi Enos-Berlage on a multi-year proposal for the lease of the approximately 10 acres on East Ridge Road owned by the county. It had been planted as seed plot for native plants for the IRVMP last year. Enos-Berlage proposed an 11-year lease to put the ground into CRP and allow the native plantings to continue to grow and stabilize the soil. Supervisors will apply to have ground in CRP but must prepare a lease and post public notice for bids on any lease longer than three years. The issue will be addressed at the April 10 supervisors’ meeting held at 9:30 a.m., at the Courthouse Annex building.
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Teacher salary talks under way
By Roz Weis
Women’s Weekend Out 2023 The 21st annual Women’s Weekend Out brought shoppers to Decorah March 31-April 2. A full calendar of events included retail bargains throughout town. Pictured here all dressed up for Women’s Weekend Out at Donlon’s in downtown Decorah were, from left: Braunwyn Darrington, Nicole Darrington, Tammy Ihde and Jodi Brincks. (Driftless Multimedia photo by Roz Weis)
It’s the time of year when talks start about teacher pay in Decorah. Educators in Decorah are proposing a 4.92% increase in compensation as negotiations begin for the 2023-24 school year. Contract negotiations began Tuesday between the Decorah Education Association (DEA) and the Decorah Community School District (DCSD). The DEA proposal for the 2023-24 master agreement was outlined by Steve Peterson, faculty member at Decorah Middle School. The proposal suggests a $600 increase in teacher salary supplement base, a $600 increase in generator base and an increase in the shadow base pay to $38,000 (from the current $36,500 base). Also proposed was an increase in the District allocation for health insurance to $674 to cover the increased cost of the lowest-cost single insurance plan. Taken together, Peterson said the changes would increase District costs approximately 4.92% over last year.
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An increase in paid holidays from 3 to 6 days per academic year also was recommended, to bring the District in line with other school districts. The DEA proposal suggested creating a joint recruitment and retention ad hoc committee to develop a multi-year plan to recruit and retain teachers in a difficult labor market. In his remarks Tuesday afternoon, Peterson stated, “It’s been a tough year for public education. Whether the issue is school vouchers, book bans, legislation that would add days of busywork uploading course materials to databases or legislation that attacks our most vulnerable students over what kind of healthcare they can receive and where they can go to the bathroom … it’s hard being an educator in Iowa.” Peterson continued, “In the past months, we outlined to the board how Decorah’s days of work, benefits and wages compare to other school
Teacher salary talks
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