Thursday, March 27, 2025
Vol. 6, No. 32
PCMExplorer Local People. Local Stories.
HOP ON OVER
Monroe to hire out cemetery mowing services in 2025
Grab a pancake, go on a hunt and take in some art Saturday at PCM High School
No summer help to be hired by public works department this year
By Jamee A. Pierson PCM Explorer Spring has sprung and activities are abound to celebrate. Starting at 6:30 a.m. March 29 at the PCM High School, the pancakes will be flipping at the annual Kiwanis pancake breakfast, kicking off a fun day of activities. A community favorite, the Kiwanis pancake breakfast serves up a delicious meal and a fun time for conversation to start the day. Once bellies are full, families can head to the football field to take part in the PCM Key Club’s Easter Egg Hunt. Starting at 9:30 a.m., kids can search to their hearts desire for goodies includ-
By Jamee A. Pierson PCM Explorer
File Photo
ing candy and toys. The hunt will start with little ones and stagger through the final fifth grade group. Throughout the day community members can enjoy performances by students during the PCM Fine Arts Booster’s Fine Arts Showcasing. Starting
at 10 a.m., kids will show their talents by singing, playing instruments and performing pieces they have perfected throughout the year for various performances. Artwork will also be on display, showing off the many talents of PCM students.
The Monroe City Council decided to try a new strategy to tackle the continually growing grass at the cemetery. For 2025, the council approved Brian Pfeifer to mow and trim the cemetery starting in April and running through October for $29,750. “I will go out on a limb ... especially around Memorial Day, if it needs mowed twice, if there is a lot of rain, we will work out some sort of compensation,” mayor Doug Duinink said. “I am all about it looking nice, especially around Memorial Day. I am a vet and I help do the service out there. I take pride in that and I also take pride in our cemetery and I want it to look as nice as possible.” Pfeifer will be responsible for mowing the cemetery every week and trimming it every-other-week. There was also discussion on potentially still
hiring summer help for some mowing services. “My only thought on that, given the fact that we have city hall, three parks and Memorial Park, if they can get them done in a couple of days without part-time help, I would like to see a lot of street improvements this year,” Duinink said. “If we can do it, that’s great.” Council had some push back to the proposal due to the amount of funds it had decided to dedicate to hiring an outside firm to mow the cemetery. Public works director Marc Van Wyk assured the mayor and council his department can get the mowing done and make progress on street improvements. “We can do it as long as the street budget allows,” Van Wyk said. “We won’t need part-time help.” With Pfeifer being hired, the city agreed no summer help will be hired and the Iowa Prison Systems will not be used to help with mowing services.
JASPER COUNTY LEGISLATORS SAY THERE ARE WAY TOO MANY BILLS FILED THIS SESSION
Lawmakers stress both good and bad bills go through extensive vetting process By Christopher Braunschweig PCM Explorer
Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of articles covering the topics discussed at legislative gatherings hosted by the League of Women Voters of Jasper County. Sen. Ken Rozenboom said there have been way too many bills filed this session, and hardly any of them are good ideas. “There are over 900 House Files, nearly 1,000,” Rozenboom said during a recent legislative gathering hosted at the Newton Public Library by the League of Women Voters of Jasper County. “There are over 600 Senate Files. And then
there are study bills. And there aren’t that many good ideas, let me to you.” He said it again when he and his fellow lawmakers, Rep. Barb Kniff McCulla and Rep. Jon Dunwell, were questioned about a bill letting homeschools charge tuition and possibly be eligible for education savings accounts. He said it once more when they were asked about a bill penalizing use of genetic-based vaccine. Rozenboom admitted at the time he did not know much about House File 888, which would loosen restrictions on homeschooling and let parents teach other children and even charge tuition. Kim Didier, of
Newton, suggested this bill could allow homeschools to eventually apply for ESAs. In order to apply and participate in the ESA program, students must be enrolled in an accredited nonpublic schools. But homeschools do not need accreditation. “I’ll harken back to what I said a few moments ago: I don’t think there are that many good ideas, and this may be one of them,” Rozenboom said. “A lot of bills get filed for different reasons. Not all of them are for good reasons. Some of them are making a statement. Some of them are, whatever, somebody’s pet
Property tax document sent in mail only confuses an already complicated subject Jasper County leaders say budget year statements are confusing and misleading By Christopher Braunschweig PCM Explorer If the goal of the local government budget year statements released in the mail this past week was to confuse taxpayers, then it was an overwhelming success. Leaders from the City of Newton, Jasper County and Newton Community School District agree that informing their citizens of the upcoming public hearings for the proposed property taxation is a good thing, but they suggest the data included in the statement is confusing, misleading and overgeneralizing. For instance, Newton residents can be forgiven if they believe their taxes for city, county and school district are all increasing by 1214 percent, because it suggests as much on the back page of the document. Although it gives these figures as hypotheticals, it also sug-
A publication of est. 1851
gests property values are increasing by 10 percent. However, it is unlikely every resident’s assessed property value increased that dramatically or at all, unless they made significant changes or upgrades to their home in the past year or so. Newton City Administrator Matt Muckler said these 10 percent assessment increases are false assumptions for almost all residents. “The FY26 budget year is a non-assessment year,” Muckler told Newton News, noting that odd-numbered fiscal years are assessment years. “Unless property owners constructed an addition on their home or business, their property assessments will most likely not increase from FY25 to FY26.” For FY26, the City of Newton would only take in an additional 1.36 percent in property taxes compared TAXES | 3
BILLS | 3
Christopher Braunschweig/PCM Explorer Sen. Ken Rozenboom speaks with constituents during a legistlative gathering hosted by the League of Women Voters of Jasper County in the meeting room of the Newton Public Library.
IMPACT served almost 2,500 residents in Jasper County Annual report shows 25% of the county population can apply for assistance By Christopher Braunschweig PCM Explorer IMPACT Community Action Partnership is proud to know it served 2,484 Jasper County residents this past year, but representatives of the organization told the board of supervisors that still leaves about 6,671 other residents with an income below 185 percent of the federal poverty line who are eligible to receive services. Brandon Pollard, grants and donors coordinator at IMPACT, provided the county board of supervisors with an update of the work done in the community during the March
18 meeting. IMPACT is the Community Action Agency that serves Jasper, Boone, Marion, Polk and Boone Counties. “Our mission is to help folks that are experiencing poverty or have a low income and help them address their basic needs,” Pollard said. “In our last fiscal year, which would have run October 2023 to September 2024, we served 1,093 families (households) in Jasper County and just under 2,500 residents.” About 900 of those residents served were children and teens, and about 340 were people over the age of 65. Pollard said there are approximately 9,155
CONTACT US Newsroom: 641-792-3121, ext. 7 • Advertising: 641-792-3121, ext. 2 Subscriptions/Delivery: 641-792-5320 • Billing: 641-792-3121, ext. 6
Jasper County residents with an income below 185 percent of the federal poverty line, which is about 25 percent of the county’s total population. “Anyone up to 200 percent of the federal poverty line is definitely going to qualify for at least one of our services in all of our counties,” Pollard said. “…There are a lot more households that could benefit from our services that we’re currently not reaching. We’re always trying to do more to reach more families.” According to 2022-2023 data from National Center for Education Statistics, IMPACT | 8
Single Copy $1