2018 Dubuque County State Legislative PrioritiesDUBUQUE COUNTY LEGISLATIVE
PRIORITIES - 2018 SESSION
Commercial Property Tax Backfill - Counties consistently try to find efficiencies in how they spend
taxpayer resources. From 2013 to 2016 the county budgets in the UCC have increased about 1.6%, while
the state's budget during the same period has increased by 18%. The state made a commitment to backfill
the revenue loss that was a result of the reduction in the commercial and industrial property tax rates. In
addition, the changes in the multi residential rates will take effect in FY17 (and is not backfilled) which
will have an additional adverse effect on local revenues. We expect the State to make sure it continues to
follow through on its promise to backfill the property tax loss.
Mental Health Funding -We respectfully request that the legislature follow through on the
recommendation of SF 504 and appoint an interim study committee to address the issues of mental health
funding. These issues are simply too important to wait until we have another funding crisis. While regions
work through the process of complying with the directives of SF 504, the legislature should keep its
promise and discuss permanent funding solutions. In addition, we still strongly oppose any transfer of
additional responsibilities from the state to regions without the commitment to provide additional
resources. Without this commitment, the state would be placing an additional burden on local property
taxes.
Water Quality - We support the funding of the Iowa Water and Land Legacy fund established by
constitutional amendment. We also oppose any change to the current formula of allocation, encouraging
the legislature to find new funding to address the water quality issues that affect Iowa's waterways. We
would also ask the legislature to look closely at local partnerships that have been established and are
having an effect. These efforts, including watershed management authorities, should be given the
resources they need to make sure the work they are doing can continue. We believe that any solution that
is considered should include a shared financial burden between both urban and rural partners.
Iowa Public Employees Retirement System: Iowa has the most solvent and well funded public
retirement systems in the United States. It has maintained that status with conservative investment
policies and conservative growth projection. IPERS is an important and effective recruiting tool to help
government agencies attract talented workers. We would encourage the legislature to carefully consider
before any changes are made to the current system.
Opioid Epidemic - The UCC recognizes the spread of opioid -related abuse and deaths, including abuse
and deaths related to the use of heroin and abuse of prescription drugs, and the effects this abuse has on
communities. The UCC encourages the General Assembly to seek measures that mitigate and curb the
abuse of opioids and other injection -drugs. We would like the legislature to make the Iowa Prescription
Management program a key part of any strategy they employ to reduce the use of the abuse of
prescription drugs. We also encourage the legislature to restore funding for drug courts.
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Additional Issues
Tax Credits: Tax credits play a major role in rebuilding communities. While we understand that these
programs should be used judiciously, we believe that the current programs work (such as the Historic Tax
Credits, the Endow Iowa tax credits, and the renewable energy tax credits), and any policy that proposes
to change the way these credits currently work should be carefully balanced against the economic/tourist
value if implemented.
Tax Increment Financing: We understand that this is an important tool (and one of the few left) to local
governments to encourage economic development. Should changes be considered, we ask that the
legislature make counties more active partners in the use of TIFs.
Medicaid reimbursement to County owned facilities: Counties that still have county hospitals are not
receiving the state set rate for RCF services. MCO's are paying the lower negotiated rate (80%). The
counties in the UCC that are providing these services did not negotiate this rate and in the absence of a
negotiated rate the MCO's should be required to pay the state rate. We acknowledge that the costs of the
previous system was unsustainable and needed to be addressed but that the current system of managed
care has not been successful and must the legislature should consider addressing the sustainability issues
and returning to the previous system.
Early Childhood Iowa: The Urban County Coalition urges the Legislature to enhance effectiveness of
Early Childhood Iowa funds by removing the categorical restrictions on their use allowing ECI Governance
Boards to address the unique local needs of at -risk families as documented in their Community Plans.
Restore Full funding for De -categorization: Funding for the Decat Boards is appropriated via 1.)
Legislative Allocation 2.) Transfer of Child Welfare funds from the DHS Service Area Manager 3.)
Transfer of funds from the Chief Juvenile Court Officer. In FY16 the Decat Boards did not receive the
roughly $5 million Transfer of DHS Child Welfare funds. This resulted in a nearly 80% decrease in
funding for some Decat Boards and the elimination of many critical programs that help prevent children
and family involvement in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems. The Urban County Coalition
urges the Legislature to shift the primary funding for Decategorization away from Child Welfare
Transfers to a comparable increase in annual legislative allocation to allow for improved fiscal planning.
Unfunded and Underfunded Mandates - We encourage the Legislature to act to reduce the instances of
cost shifting identified and eliminate the burdens these place on property tax payers. The two areas that
have the largest impact on local property taxes are colocation of state offices (DHS) and courthouse
maintenance and security, but there are many others.
Housing State Offices at Local Taxpayer Expense — Currently some counties are forced to house
a variety of state agencies (DHS and the Courts, for example) and receive little or no
reimbursement from the State. In addition, counties are forced to pay for expenses such as
postage and office supplies at local taxpayer's expense. We request that the State no longer
require that counties subsidize the local office expenses of state agencies. We would encourage
the legislature to pay particular attention to the document storage requirements of the
Department of Human Services,
• Courthouse Security and expenses- Like the housing of state agencies, local taxpayers are
bearing the entire burden of upgrading, modifying, or even replacing aging courthouses. There
is a court expense added to virtually every criminal or civil action but none of this money goes
to pay actual courthouse expenses. We would request that the state allocate a portion of these
funds to counties for courthouse maintenance and security. This is also an area where the state
imposes costs on Local governments by not moving the agencies to a paperless document storage
program like it has other state agencies.
Paper Document Storage — Publishing Costs — Reduce publishing costs to local governments to
publish meeting, and legal notices on-line and require only a summary to be published in Local
print outlets. Additionally, allow counties to publish in only one newspaper. We would also
encourage the legislature to provide a more clear definition of proceedings.
Emergency Management Agency Funding — The current funding formula does not adequately address
the needs of the urban counties in Iowa. Eliminate the funding cap on urban counties. We also encourage
the State to pass through 80% of the federal funding it receives to counties.
REAP - We encourage the Legislature and the Governor to fully fund the program at the 20 million
dollar level.
Trail Funding - We believe that these funds should be focused on identifying and addressing the issues
of trail connectivity across our state.
County Bonding - We believe that in matters of public finance, counties should be treated in the same
manner as cities. We support allowing counties the same flexibility in bonding for certain projects that the
cities currently enjoy. We also ask that the limit be raised to a consistent level with cities, currently five
million dollars. In addition, the definitions of essential county purpose have not been updated to address
new challenges faced by counties. We ask that the following categories be added to essential county
purposes: disaster recovery, disaster mitigation, water quality initiatives, and courthouse improvements
and upgrades.
EMS Services - We encourage the state to work with counties and municipalities to help find ways to
expand emergency medical services and to expand it to essential service designation.