2016 Legislative Dinner_Dubuque County PrioritiesDUBUQUE COUNTY LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
2017 SESSION
Approved by Dubuque County Board of Supervisors,
Wayne Demmer, Daryl Klein, Jay Wickham
The Dubuque County Board of Supervisors begins this presentation by thanking all our
state legislators for your assistance in the past years. We are confident that we can continue
to work together during the upcoming session for the well-being of Dubuque County, the
City of Dubuque and the State of Iowa.
Commercial Property Tax Backfill - 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 encourage the State to make sure it continues to follow through on its promise
to backfill the property tax loss.
Mental Health Funding -We would like the State to fulfill its commitments to assist counties in providing
mental health services, or failing that, allow regions the necessary authority to equalize the per capita
amounts. The Legislature can do this by retaining the per capita rate cap on the mental health levy but
eliminating the frozen dollar cap and allow individual counties and regions to equalize the funding they
provide for mental health services. This change would eliminate the disparity in the per capita levies that
currently exist between counties and provide the necessary flexibility to provide services. In addition,
because this inequity has persisted over the past twenty years, and to correct it immediately would put and
undue burden on local property tax payers, we request that the state set aside a pool of funds sufficient to
ease the transition for those counties who no longer have reserve funds and must raise their levy.
In addition, we also 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.
Restore Funding for De -categorization Program - De -categorization is an initiative designed to
redirect child welfare and juvenile justice funding to services that are preventive, family -centered and
community-based in order to reduce institutional and out -of -home placements. Every county in Iowa is
served by one of the 40 established DCAT Boards. In 2015 the DCAT Boards did not receive the roughly
$5 million annual allocation distributed by the DHS Service Area Managers. This has resulted in a nearly
80% decrease in funding for many DCAT programs. The Urban County Coalition urges the Legislature to
restore the legislative allocation to DCAT Boards so that these critical services are not discontinued.
We would also encourage the legislature to allow local DCAT boards to make transfers within the
categories to better serve local needs.
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.
Additional Issues
Minimum Wage - We believe that the state should address the issue of raising the minimum wage but
any legislation that does so should not further intrude on Iowa's home rule principle by including a
preemption on local governments ability to address the issue should the legislature fail to act.
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 and Trail Funding - We encourage the Legislature and the Governor to fully fund the program at
the 20 million dollar level. 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 the provisions of SF 416, which allowed counties 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.
County Zoning Equity - We would request that the legislature grant counties the same authority to enforce
zoning regulations that cities currently have. Currently counties have no mechanism to force compliance or
collect the cost of cleaning up violations and these costs are born by all county taxpayers.
Southwest Arterial -- With the transfer of jurisdiction proposal between the City of Dubuque and the
Iowa Department of Transportation moving forward, Dubuque County looks to the near future for the
completion of the Southwest Arterial project to connect US Highway 20 with US Highways 52/61/151.
We are hopeful that the IDOT Commission will move forward with funding to complete a four lane
project, as this project has been the number one surface transportation issue for the City of Dubuque,
Dubuque County, ECIA, DMATS and several local and regional business groups.
Medication Suspension While in Jail -- Post jail delays in reestablishing terminated Medicaid benefits
contribute to the costly revolving door that jail has become for many individuals. If Medicaid benefits
were suspended, rather than terminated, it could eliminate delayed access to community treatment
services and psychotropic medication. Delays in these services may undo any stabilization the individual
gained while in jail.
Additional Law Enforcement Training in the areas of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at the
ILEA We understand that expanded mandatory training hours of all law enforcement officers at the Iowa
Law Enforcement Academy in the area of mental health issues has been increased. We have also
advocated for additional training for substance abuse issues. This additional training will benefit our
citizens and assist with jail diversion programs and services available.
Dubuque/Delaware County Drug Court --Dubuque County supports the mission of the Drug Court,
which is a collaborative effort between the judiciary, county attorneys, corrections, law enforcement, and
Substance Abuse Services Center to more effectively supervise and treat non-violent substance abuse
addicted offenders who might be incarcerated. The Drug Court has served residents of Dubuque and
Delaware counties. It is estimated the Drug Court saved over $200,000 by providing an alternative to
incarceration and reduces drug related crime and positively changes lives of substance abusers, their
families and our community. We feel that it is imperative to continue this successful program and we ask
for continued funding by the Department of Correctional Services for this program.
We thank you for your leadership for our community and support in the past. Let's work together
to find collaborative solutions for the legislative issues prioritized by Dubuque County.