Supervisors hear property tax concerns

by Bob Beach

During public comment time at the regular meeting of the Allamakee County Board of Supervisors Monday, August 13, Frank Gaines of Lansing said that he noticed a 126% increase in the operating budget of the County Assessor listed on his property tax bill and asked if he could expect to see a 126% increase in services offered by that office. County Assessor Ann Burckart said that while there was an increase of three or four percent in her operating budget, the 126% increase shown on tax statements reflects a state-mandated combination of the Special Appraiser fund and the Assessment Expense fund into a single fund; what had previously been assessed under two separate levies is now assessed under a single levy.
Also during public comment time, Mary Schulte of Waukon expressed her continuing displeasure over what she called the “taking of 152 by 25 feet” of her property after a survey showed that what she thought was her back property line for 30 years was in fact 25 feet forward and her front property line was in the center of the street, not at the curb. She asked the Board to refund the taxes she had paid on the property for the past 30 years. County Assessor Ann Burckart said that an abatement for Schulte’s 2011 property taxes is being processed in light of the corrected property lines, but not for any of the prior years, during which no one had been aware of the error.
During regular business, Supervisor Burke said that he had spoken with two of the Winneshiek County Supervisors regarding the existing 28E agreement between the counties to share Central Point of Coordination (CPC) expenses for mental health and developmental disabilities services. Burke said that under the current agreement, expenses are split 50/50, but the state-mandated regionalization of services indicates that levies should be assessed on a per-capita basis. Since Winneshiek County has a larger population than Allamakee County by a 21,000 to 14,000 margin, Burke reasoned that the division of expenses should be modified to a 60/40 split, saving Allamakee County approximately $12,000 over the next year and a half. Burke said that the Winneshiek County Supervisors agreed that it would be “fair and right” to modify the agreement. Chairman Larry Schellhammer and Supervisor Sherry Strub agreed that such a modification would be worth pursuing.
The Board also met with Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission (UERPC) Director Rachelle Howe, who updated the Board on UERPC’s involvement in programs that benefit Allamakee County and northeast Iowa. Howe said that UERPC helps to develop partnerships between businesses and service providers, sponsors workshops for business owners, manages loan programs and administers various programs and grants to provide low-income housing, workforce services and improvements to transportation and infrastructure. Howe said she feels it is important to make the public aware of the many services UERPC provides to the community, noting that “some of these programs are changing people’s lives.”
Following its regular business, the Board travelled with County Engineer Brian Ridenour to view ongoing and proposed road and bridge construction projects.