Supervisor Stutsman called the Johnson County Board of Supervisors to order at ISAC State Headquarters, 701 East Court Avenue, Des Moines, at 8:30 a.m. Members present were: Pat Harney and Sally Stutsman; absent: Mike Lehman, Terrence Neuzil, and Carol Thompson.

8:30 a.m. – The County-A-Day program for Johnson County began in a meeting with ISAC staff at the state headquarter for the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) at 701 East Court Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa. ISAC Intern Nathan Treloar, greeted Johnson County Supervisors Sally Stutsman and Pat Harney, Recorder Kim Painter, Conservation Director Harry Graves and County Auditor Tom Slockett.

Washington County Supervisors Bob Stout, Larry Delong, Jack Dillon, and Washington County Engineer Bob Bauer comprised another county contingent.

ISAC Executive Director William R. Peterson and Fiscal Policy Analyst Christina Plocher opened the meeting with a discussion of the fiscal impact from proposed property tax limitation legislation in Senate File (SF) 226 in Senate Ways and Means Committee and House File (HF) 537 in House Ways and Means Committee.

ISAC had collaborated in the creation of HF148 and Senate Study Bill (SSB) 1068. This legislation essentially placed the limitation proposals into a pilot study to better determine the impact prior to enactment.

Senate legislation to commission a study on the subject at Iowa State University and House legislation to create a commission to study local taxes was also discussed.

Peterson said the proposed legislation was constantly changing in ways that affect the impact and outcome of the measures. He said there is disagreement as to how the potential increases are to be calculated. He mentioned that Farm Bureau was active in promoting tax limitation legislation and asked how active Farm Bureau was at the local level.

Supervisor Stutsman said that two members of the public spoke at Johnson County’s budget hearing and one was concerned about salary increases and another was a member of the Farm Bureau.

Washington County officials said that all the members of the public who attended their public hearing were members of the Farm Bureau. While they hadn’t increased expenditure dollars in their proposed budget, the previous year they had increased for the transportation of prisoners. The rural fund levy had been increased fifty cents per thousand. The Farm Bureau was concerned in particular with the size of ending fund balances in Washington County.

Stutsman expressed support for local control of county government and hoped that legislation wouldn’t lead to a one-size-fits-all imposition on counties.

Peterson indicated that Farm Bureau had contributed to many of the campaigns of legislators who were supporting tax limitation legislation. He felt that the legislation didn’t give credit to local officials for the good job they were doing under difficult circumstances.

Bob Stout said that Farm Bureau has traditionally supported local control and that seemed to contrast with some of the legislation being supported at the state level.

Johnson County Supervisor Harney said that the Johnson County Farm Bureau had indicated support for the Board of Supervisors and had urged them to keep up the good job.

Peterson indicated that many counties had indicated that Farm Bureau members attended a few meetings but weren’t present at most meetings to view and understand the complexity of the problems and decisions at hand.

Jack Dillon said that a lot of young people were getting involved with the Washington County Farm Bureau.

Painter indicated that she felt the public appreciated detailed explanations of how counties are managing their money.

Slockett suggested that providing details about balances and encumbrances for specific capital expenditures and capital projects is reassuring to the public.

Peterson said the ISAC proposal included the creation of a Financial Management Plan which would show citizens with information about how county dollars are being used and provide recognition for the planning that had taken place.

Ed Raber from the Washington County Development Group joined the meeting.

Cris Plocher gave a county financial overview discussing the desirability of avoiding tax spikes, carefully managing fund balances, and the importance of approach and the details of property tax relief and how it is applied.

9:15 a.m. - Attending legislative session and committee meetings at the State Capital. At a meeting in a basement hallway of the State Capital ISAC Director of Intergovernmental Affairs John Easter began by expressing the opinion that legislation of some type would pass on property tax limitations. He felt that impact of SF226 would be dramatic and drastic for a number of counties. He promoted ISAC alternatives for voluntary pilot program limitations and further study, and the need to recognize the impact of unfunded mandates by the legislature on counties. ISAC proposed allowing a twenty-seven cents per thousand tax levy for the purpose of providing necessary tax dollars to pay for unfunded mandates. Easter felt that this levy was a good compromise addressing the concerns of the Farm Bureau and ISAC, but it had been scuttled and the discussion had returned to that of the earlier proposed legislation.

The ISAC proposal consisted of:

• A mandated County Financial Plan.
• A limitation of 25% on unincumbered fund balances.
• General Obligation Bonds to be paid for by areas less than countywide.
• Strong unfunded mandate protection.
• Formation of a commission to study income, property, and sales taxes in Iowa.

The goal of ISAC was to put together legislation that could be supported by someone who couldn’t support the complicated Farm Bureau plan but could support this one.

ISAC Public Policy Analyst Robert Mulqueen discussed:

• An Auditor’s Cleanup Bill designed to make non-controversial routine changes in election law.
• A Recorder bill to centralize electronic images of property records statewide.
• HF143 regarding and county and city role in annexations, city services, and voluntary vs. involuntary annexations
• HF273 legislation, a land use measure said to be bipartisan and well thought out.
• A bottle and can recycling measure adding a penny adjustment in inflation to go to the redeemers after many years.
• Additional discussion about property tax limitation bills and the ISAC alternative.

Johnson County Supervisor Terrence Neuzil joined the group at 10:01 a.m.

• Legislation addressing whether Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) revenue to counties should be placed in the General Fund or the Rural Services Fund.

10:30 a.m. State Representative Vicki Lensing discussed the following legislation:

• Bottle Bill
• Covenant Marriage
• Annexations
• ISAC/ Farm Bureau property tax limitation
• School sales tax inequities
• Elections
• Clerk of Court
• Recorder liens

11:30 a.m. Various committee meetings including the House Local Government Committee meeting regarding election and voter registration legislation.

12:00 Noon – A luncheon meeting was arranged by Senator Joe Bolkcom with Johnson County Legislators at Latin King, 2200 Hubbell Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa. Senators Bolkcom and Dvorsky and State Representative Lensing joined in informal discussions about legislative matters. Johnson County Supervisors Sally Stutsman, Terrance Neuzil, Pat Harney, Recorder Kim Painter, and Conservation Director Harry Graves were in attendance. Additionally, Washington County Supervisors Bob Stout, Larry Delong, and Jack Dillon, County Engineer Bob Bauer, and Economic Development Group member Ed Raber took part in the meeting.

1:00 p.m. Legislative sessions and committee meetings including the Senate Local Government Committee meeting regarding the ICN and "intellectual property" and elections legislation regarding defining a voting mark by code.

Adjourned at 3:00 p.m.

Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor

By Casie Parkins, Recording Secretary