99counties.org

In a remarkably tone-deaf move, the Omaha city council approved a budget Tuesday on a 4-3 vote that includes several new taxes.

Mayor Jim Suttle proposed a $313-million dollar budget that included an increase in the property tax by 4.4 cents. On Tuesday, the council reduced it to 2.335 cents.

The mayor also proposed a $23 increase in the wheel tax. The council reduced that to $15. To reach that level, council members cut spending in the public works and public parks departments.

The mayor had also proposed establishing a restaurant tax of 4%. After much debate, the council reduced that to 2.5%. This should be known as the waitress tip-reduction fee.

The council had considered a controversial occupation tax where anyone who works within the city, resident or not, would pay $8 a month through their employer. That was eliminated. However, the council approved a commuter transportation fee which is, in effect, the wheel tax. The fee, which is now $50 a year, would generate $8.5-million and be collected through employers.

The city of Omaha has just added a $50 tax on employment by calling it a “commuter transportation fee.” Fifty dollars if you have the audacity of working in Omaha and not living there.

Tags: iowa, nebraska

Sarah Palin could expect a lot of support in Iowa’s Republican caucuses if she launched a campaign for the 2012 presidential nomination, according to The Des Moines Register’s Iowa Poll.

But the rising national figure, who is scheduled to stop in Iowa next month on her national book tour, would also have to contend with a lot of doubts about her — unlike her potential rivals, the poll found.

The first public poll to test Palin’s favorabilty in the leadoff nominating state found 55
percent of all Iowans hold an unfavorable opinion of Palin a little more than a year after the last election. Only 37 percent feel favorably about her.

And those feelings are intense: The percentage of Iowans who view Palin very unfavorably is more than twice as large as the percentage who view her very favorably.

But more than two-thirds of Republicans like what they see, making her a credible candidate for the 2012 caucuses should she decide to run for president, strategists say.

Palin fares well against possible rivals

Sixty-eight percent of Iowa Republicans view Palin favorably. That’s close to the 70 percent who hold favorable views of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the 2008 caucuses, and it’s higher than the 66 percent who view former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich favorably. Palin’s number is also higher than that of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, runner-up in the 2008 caucuses, who is viewed favorably by 58 percent of the state’s Republicans.

Huckabee, Romney and Gingrich are considered 2012 presidential prospects.

“With those kind of numbers, if she were to become a candidate, while it’s not a sure thing, she would be starting out in a very good position,” said veteran Iowa GOP strategist David Roederer, who ran McCain’s 2008 Iowa campaign.

Tags: 2012, iowa, palin

The Obama administration has slammed a report from The Associated Press alleging the government had overstated by thousands the number of jobs it has created or saved with federal contracts under President Obama’s $787 billion recovery program. Below are details from a specific project based in Iowa.

All data below is from Recovery.gov

Recipent
COUNCIL BLUFFS, CITY OF (INC)

City
Council Bluffs

Award Description
This grant will be used to purchase equipment, training, and information and technology. These purchases will allow all agencies to continue to be progressive which will assist in officer retention and recruiting.

Award Amount
$541,500

Project Description
None
Job Creation Comments
N/A
Number of Jobs (Saved or Created) Claimed
0

Cost per job
Div by Zero Error!

Tags: arra, iowa, recovery

The Obama administration has slammed a report from The Associated Press alleging the government had overstated by thousands the number of jobs it has created or saved with federal contracts under President Obama’s $787 billion recovery program. Below are details from a specific project based in Iowa.

All data below is from Recovery.gov

Recipent
C3T, Inc

City
Iowa City

Award Description
Renovate Inpatient Medical/Surgical Ward 7 East

Award Amount
$1,912,000

Project Description
No work has begun.

Job Creation Comments
No jobs created.

Number of Jobs (Saved or Created) Claimed
7

Cost per job
Disregarding the “No jobs Created” comment. We’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and go with 7:
$273,142.86

Tags: arra, iowa, recovery

The Obama administration has slammed a report from The Associated Press alleging the government had overstated by thousands the number of jobs it has created or saved with federal contracts under President Obama’s $787 billion recovery program. Below are details from a specific project based in Iowa.

All data below is from Recovery.gov

Recipent
BNSF RAILWAY COMPANY

City
Burlington

Award Description
Note that this is not a federal award contract, grant, or loan; thus the above reporting information section is not applicable to this report. The recovery funds reported herein are reimbursement of the federal share of the expenses accrued by Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway Company for altering BNSF Bridge over the Upper Mississippi River in Burlington, Iowa under the provisions of Truman-Hobbs Act.

The existing bridge was declared by the Coast Guard to be unreasonably obstruction to navigation. The Coast Guard issued Order to Alter to BNSF requiring BNSF to replace the swing span of the existing bridge with a new lift span that provides wider navigation opening necessary in order to render navigation through and under the bridge reasonably free, easy, and unobstructed. The alteration of the draw span is conducted by BNSF personnel and through contracts between BNSF and contractors / consultants. All construction activities, expenditures, and contracts executed under this project are monitored by the Coast Guard.

The project received $36,445,756 through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that leveraged $26,778,889 of previously obligated funds appropriated to the project and created $63,224,645 (amount of award) simulative [sic] impact on construction industry. Prior of receiving the recovery funds, $1,200,000 was spent from the previously obligated funds to complete the design of the bridge.

Award Amount  (ARRA Received)
$63,224,645          ($305,610.34)

Project Description
For 3rd quarter 2009 – Contractor has mobilized to site, mussel relocation work is complete, all permits are in hand, drilling core samples at the new drilled shaft foundation locations in under way, review of RFIs and shop drawings, ordering some of the construction material.

Job Creation Comments
4 FTE created, 6 FTE retained. Three of the jobs were operating engineers and the last new job was a carpenter position.

Number of Jobs (Saved or Created) Claimed
10

Cost Per Job

Using the $36,445,756 figure from the award description: $3.6 Million per job

Tags: arra, iowa, jobs, recovery

The first same-sex marriage in Polk County under a Iowa Supreme Court order issued this morning could take place within the hour.

Melisa Keeton and Shelley Wolfe were the first same-sex couple with a license in hand at the Polk County administration building, and Judge Karen Romano granted the Des Moines couple a waiver to the three-day waiting period about 8:40 a.m.

After a bit of rumbling from some county recorders last week, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller issued this statement:

“We expect duly-elected county recorders to comply with the Iowa Constitution as interpreted unanimously by the Iowa Supreme Court, the highest court in Iowa,” Miller said in a statement to the Iowa Independent. “Our country lives by and thrives by the rule of law, and the rule of law means we all follow the law as interpreted by our courts — not by ourselves. We don’t each get to decide what the law is; that would lead to chaos. We must live by and follow what the courts decide.”

“Recorders do not have discretion or power to ignore the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling,” Miller said, adding: “If necessary, we will explore legal actions to enforce and implement the Court’s ruling, working with the Iowa Department of Public Health and county attorneys.”

To help celebrate this historic moment in tolerance and enlightened thinking, the DM Register posted a story about how the “religious backers of gay marriage” are celebrating.

“Marriage is a fundamental right for all people, not just straight people,” said the Rev. Matt Mardis-LeCroy of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ.

“What happens in Iowa is not just about Iowa,” he said. “Future generations will look back at this place, at this time, as the point when the tide started to turn.”

The Rev. Mark Davis, pastor at Heartland Presbyterian Church in Clive, said he will not marry same-sex couples because his church does not recognize gay marriage. Nonetheless, he voiced his support for “all of God’s children” to marry.

“We can all be a part of this beautiful sunrise,” Davis said. “I am in a denomination that will not allow me to marry same-sex couples, but I think same-sex marriage is a wonderful gift that has been too long denied.”

A number of the religious leaders who spoke said legalizing gay marriage will help reinforce the meaning of marriage.

“We’ve made a mess of marriage,” said Mardis-LeCroy. “Tomorrow you will show the whole world what marriage is meant to be. It starts tomorrow, right here.”

Tags: courts, gay marriage, iowa

Here are some events happening in communities around the state in the next week.  Get out and do something.  In no particular order:

Clarinda, IA
The Clarinda 16th Annual Lighted Christmas Parade will be Friday, Nov. 28, beginning at 6 p.m. on the downtown square. Co-sponsored by the Clarinda Kiwanis Club and the Clarinda Chamber

Walnut, IA

Walnut, “Iowa’s Antique City“, has a country Christmas atmosphere during the annual Christmas Antique Walk. This event is sponsored by the Walnut Merchants Association and is held every year during Thanksgiving weekend.

Ft. Madison

Parade of Lights. This community’s history dates back to the early 1800s, and comes alive at an accurate reconstruction of the first military fort on the upper Mississippi. Authentically dressed interpreters demonstrate the daily tasks of soldiers and their families.

Davenport

Quad Citites Arts Festival of Trees. Spectacular holiday event includes holiday trees, Hearth & Home decor, and a gingerbread village; Isabel Bloom and Christopher Radko exclusives; the largest helium-filled balloon parade in the country, featuring 20 huge character balloons.

Find more Iowa tourism attractions at traveliowa.com

Tags: iowa, tourism

A tale of two smoking bans.  This from the Muscatine Journal:

Compliance with the state’s public smoking ban forced Wilton bar owner Brian Froehlich to lay off all his employees and run his establishment single-handedly for about two weeks, Froehlich said during testimony at a hearing on Thursday.

Froehlich’s establishment, Fro’s Pub ’n Grub, could lose its liquor license for alleged smoking ban violations after the Iowa Attorney General’s Office filed a complaint in August that law enforcement officials had observed patrons smoking in the bar and the presence of ashtrays on tables.

Froehlich said during the hearing at the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division that his business went into a freefall after he started telling customers to go outside to smoke around Labor Day, which led to his decision on Nov. 3 to let go around a dozen employees and work almost around the clock by himself to keep the business running. He said he started to allow patrons to smoke in the bar after dismissing his employees because he claimed the intent of the ban was to protect workers from secondhand smoke.

“I have no employees to protect. I’m exempt,” he said during his testimony.

Judge Margaret LaMarche says that she would have a ruling within 30 days after written arguments are presented in December.

Froehlich is among several plaintiffs seeking to overturn the public smoking ban on the grounds that it puts unconstitutional restrictions on business owners. No court date has been set for the lawsuit.

The smoking ban has been said to have hurt businesses that previously allowed smoking as well as bars that were already smoke free.  Iowa Department of Revenues public information officer has said the ban appears to have no effect on cigarette sales and that the ban was intended to protect employees from second hand smoke, although he admits that there is no way to measure that impact.  Of course, the former employees from shuttered businesses should feel very well protected from second hand smoke.  The silver lining in this cloud is that those out of work will find a smoke free environment at the unemployment office as well.

The smoking ban has been a savior for one industry: casinos.  According to the Las Vegas Review Journal smoking bans are hurting casino profits in Colorado and Illinois.  But Iowa’s unexplainable casino exemption has insulated Iowa casinos from this trend.  This makes the Iowa Smoke Free Air Act the biggest gift to Iowa casinos since the legislature pulled the rug from under the Iowa Lottery’s Touchplay program, a move that cost the state over $5 million in legal settlements in addition to the approximate $120 million annual revenue.  Regardless of one’s stand on gambling in Iowa, the handling of the Touchplay program was an unmitigated disaster.

On a related note, Iowa’s First Lady, Mari Culver, has admitted violating the state clean air act by smoking in a state-owned vehicle while in the presence of a state trooper.  According to the Register:

Culver’s admission came a day after a Des Moines Register reporter noticed her openly smoking in a Chevrolet Tahoe that the state provides to her family. The black sport-utility vehicle was stopped at a stoplight in downtown Des Moines about 8:45 a.m. Culver was sitting in the passenger seat with the window rolled down and a cigarette in her hand. A state trooper was driving. Numerous pedestrians and motorists passed by the scene.

No word yet on whether the first lady will be issued a $50 citation.

Update: $50 citation issued and paid on Friday according to Omaha World Herald.

Tags: cedar, iowa, muscatine, polk, smoking ban