Latest news with #IPERS
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
County seeks to continue 28E for engineer
OTTUMWA — With budget season now over, the Wapello County Board of Supervisors will return to more regular business. The board is expected to renew a 28E agreement Tuesday with Appanoose County for shared use of engineer Brad Skinner, who will be paid 60% of a $172,411 salary by Wapello County starting July 1. The counties first entered into a 28E for the position last year after the resignation of Jeff Skalberg, and the county's subsequent inability to hire an engineer on its own. It's a difficult position to fill, leading to more counties entering into such an agreement across the state as graduating engineers tend to veer toward the private sector. Both counties will also be responsible for Skinner's benefits, including FICA, IPERS and workers' compensation. Part of Skinner's role also is to find a successor for Wapello County. Also during the meeting, the county will approve the five-year secondary roads program, which includes building a new road (172nd Avenue) as Canadian Pacific Kansas City railroad closed the crossing at 87th Street. There also are various bridge and culvert replacement projects on the docket in fiscal year 2026. The county also is expected to conclude the second reading of an EMS ordinance that will eventually create an advisory committee to assess the needs of the service in Wapello County. Also, there will be continued discussion about the county possibly taking over the utility costs on the Wabash pedestrian bridge, which the county owns. The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. in the third-floor courtroom/board room of the courthouse.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill expanding cancer coverage for firefighters, EMS goes to governor's desk
Legislation is headed to the governor's desk that would expand disability and death benefits for first responders from the current 14 cancers covered to all types of cancer. (Photo courtesy of the Des Moines Fire Department) Iowa House lawmakers unanimously passed a bill expanding cancer coverage for emergency responders in Iowa, sending it to the governor. House File 969 expands disability and death benefits for firefighters, emergency medical services responders and law enforcement officers from the current 14 cancers covered to all types of cancer. The bill also proposes changes to contribution rates for the Peace Officers' Retirement, Accident, and Disability System (PORS), the Municipal Fire and Police Retirement System of Iowa (411 System) and the Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System (IPERS) — the retirement programs for these public workers — in part to finance this expanded coverage. Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, celebrated the bill making it to Gov. Kim Reynolds after failing to advance in the Senate in previous sessions. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'Finally, after six subcommittees, six committee votes, and what will be our fourth and hopefully final floor vote, we are finally going to get this bill for cancer coverage, screening for first responders down to the governor's desk,' Kaufmann said. The bill passed the Senate earlier in April with an amendment making minor changes to contribution rates, and only one 'no' vote, from Sen. Jason Schultz, R-Schleswig. The final House vote was greeted with a standing ovation from lawmakers and supporters of the legislation in the gallery. Kaufmann thanked Sen. Scott Webster, R-Bettendorf, for leading the bill in the other chamber. 'I think it's important also to know that we, as a House body, can pass this bill as many times as we want, but without a senator being willing to take up and run with it, it wasn't going to happen,' he said. 'And so I would be remiss if I did not thank Senator Scott Webster, who took this bill on, didn't take no for an answer and got this back to us.' He also thanked Rep. Josh Turek, D-Council Bluffs, for his work to pass the bipartisan measure. Turek spoke in support of the measure, saying this expansion of coverage will help the state better care for its workers responding to emergencies throughout the state. 'This is what we are here to do, is to take care of our citizens, protect our citizens, and particularly our heroes,' Turek said. Some supporters, including firefighters, law enforcement officers and their families, sat in the gallery as the House passed the measure. Turek said he was 'grateful that this is the last time you have to come back.' Kaufmann also thanked emergency responders for their efforts to move the bill forward. 'For the folks that are up in the gallery — each and every day, at any given moment, you lay down your lives or are willing to, for all of us,' Kaufmann said. 'This is the least we can do, is finally get this across the finish line.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iowa bill lowering the retirement age for police officers advances in House subcommittee
DES MOINES, Iowa — Last year, the Iowa Legislature moved to changed the pension system for sheriffs and deputies, allowing more of their annual salary to be accessed through their pension. That law change took into account how long the individual had been in the service, increasing the pension threshold to 80% of annual salary if the person had served for 30 years. Iowa Senate passes bill to expand cancer coverage for first responders An Iowa House Ways & Means subcommittee advanced a bill unanimously that lowers the age police officers are able to retire at in the state to receive their pension, as long as they served for 22 years on the job. The bill states that the employees will have to pay 10% more into Iowa public employees' retirement system (IPERS), and the employer will pay 10% less of the required contribution rate. That percentage switch is what would allow for early retirement with full access to those benefits. Advocates for the bill said at the subcommittee that this early retirement incentive will help with police department recruitment. The bill is still in the early stages as there is less than a month left of the scheduled 110 days of the 91st General Assembly. Iowa News: Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Bar & Eatery begins remodel Iowa bill lowering the retirement age for police officers advances in House subcommittee Iowa Senate passes bill to expand cancer coverage for first responders Changes coming to Hy-Vee Market Grille locations See the pink full moon in Iowa Saturday Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scrutiny over assessor's office budget leads to reductions
Apr. 5—Three weeks ago the Jasper County Conference Board demanded the county assessor scrap her entire FY26 budget and restart from scratch after concerns were raised about the office's supposedly high reserve funds, staff raises, the amount of deputies needed in the office and whether line items were "spitballed." By the following week, the conference board — which is comprised of town mayors, county supervisors and a representative from the school boards in Jasper County — met again with the county assessor to review her new budget, which was reduced by about $20,000. The meeting was over rather quickly. However, the previous meeting on March 18 was much longer, and it was because Baxter Mayor Doug Bishop and Supervisor Brandon Talsma wanted the assessor to explain items in her budget. When they asked for specifics, she couldn't answer. When they asked for estimates, she couldn't answer. "It seems like we're spitballing a lot of these numbers," Bishop said, noting line items like FICA, IPERS and health insurance were rounded to $25,000 and $31,000 and $90,000, respectively. He suggested every department in the county is notified of these amounts — to the penny — by the auditor's office staff. County Assessor Stacey Von Dielingen said whatever doesn't get spent, it gets offset for next year's budget. Bishop had his doubts. He saw no offset from this year to the next year, except for software and maintenance. Talsma grew aggravated with her not knowing estimates for reserves and other line items. Bishop later pointed out that he knew a rough estimate of her reserves balance, which he estimated to be above $200,000. To him, it is "crazy" to see a reserve balance that high when the assessor's office budget is around $653,000. It is common practice for taxing entities to have at least 25 percent reserves. Going by these estimates, the assessor's office would have 30 percent of its budget in reserve; 25 percent reserves amounts to about $163,000. Frustrations only continued. Bishop scrutinized line items for mileage reimbursements and continued education trainings, and he disagreed with her going against county policy and staying in Des Moines hotels for trainings. He said Von Dielingen spent $2,888 on hotels in Des Moines over the past two years. Pushing back, Von Dielingen said her office operates autonomously from the county and does not have to adhere to those policies. She defended staying in Des Moines, saying she gets anxious driving in rush hour traffic in the mornings and can study better by herself in a hotel room. Von Dielingen wished they had talked to her and asked her questions ahead of time so that she could be better prepared to give a response. Bishop noted he did not get the packet of budget information until that very morning, and that it is also his job as a conference board member to hold her accountable. "I'll be honest with you, I was a bit chafed when I saw the deputy assessor's pay up there, because I think everyone here had a full understanding of where we are at," Bishop said of a deputy assessor's salary, which had been bumped up from $63,829 to $73,787, despite the board thinking it would be much less. Earlier on in the meeting, the Jasper County Conference Board voted to correct that. Von Dielingen apologized and said it wasn't specified originally in a motion at a past meeting. Bishop said the members of the conference board have an obligation to their taxpayers to point out these discrepancies. "I refuse to sit here and be made to feel bad because I'm asking questions," he said. "I think I have a statutory duty to sit here and ask these questions." Von Dielingen added, "You're asking for me to give you figures I can't give you because you haven't asked me ahead of time. So I don't have the budget in front of me and the figures that I have done from my budget because you didn't ask me ahead of time to prepare them, or I would have had those for you." While Bishop was not accusing the county assessor of any wrongdoing or being deceitful, he did not believe the budget was a true reflection of the numbers. He made a motion for the county assessor to start again from scratch and hold another public hearing on the final budget. It received unanimous support. Von Dielingen later commented on the March 18 meeting in a statement: "There was a unique situation with the budget this year following the first meeting that was discussed at the public hearing, and in looking at that change there were several other line items that board members had a question about." Which was when the board decided to set another meeting to allow the assessor's office to provide updated figures and to lower the budget in those areas the conference board mentioned. Von Dielingen said it was a unique situation because the budget was already approved. Since the changes to the budget only resulted in a decrease, the conference board was able to approve the newly amended budget on March 25. Von Dielingen said the Jasper County Assessor's Office strives to set an efficient budget each year and still provide taxpayers with the best service possible. "With changes possible at the state level there is no way to know this year what effect this could have on the office's budgeting ability going forward," Von Dielingen said in her statement to Newton News. "But we will continue to work keeping our levy well below the limit allowed by law."
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Yahoo
County to enter 28E for VA director
OTTUMWA — The Wapello County Board of Supervisors during Tuesday's meeting is expected to approve a 28E agreement with Jefferson County to share a veterans affairs director. The counties will be sharing Jefferson County VA Director Raymond Chambers, who will continue to receive his salary and benefits from Jefferson County, but will take in an hourly wage and IPERS, but no other benefits, from Wapello County. The agreement did not indicate what rate Chambers would be paid by Wapello County, but the agreement comes after the veterans affairs commission fired Rachel Dolley as its veterans services officer last month for "incompetency and misconduct," which was laid out in a resolution and approved by the supervisors. Dolley was fired despite three veterans coming to her defense and saying she was overworked and that there was a toxic work environment at the VA office. When discussing the firing to the supervisors, VA board chair Rick Hindsley did not offer many details, but said there were "boxes of files for 2024 under her desk, which is a gross violation of HIPPA." "Numerous other VSOs offered to help her, and she turned them down," he said. "We've never said she didn't help some veterans. And the ones she's helped, she's done a good job from what we understand. But there's a lot more she didn't help that she could have, and that's where the problem is." The supervisors in Jefferson County have already approved the agreement, so it is simply waiting for the Wapello County to do the same. The duration of the agreement is either 90 days, or until Wapello County fills that position. The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. in the third-floor courtroom/board room of the courthouse.
