County could levy for emergency services

BY CHUCK VANDENBERG
PCC EDITOR

MONTROSE - Debate on how to fund a $1.3 million proposed budget for the county's Emergency Management services will get further discussion before the budget is approved.

Currently the county emergency services are funded with per capita contributions from incorporated towns in the county, as well as from the county, at a rate of .80 per person.

But new state code now allows the commissions to be funded in a variety of ways. According to Iowa Code 29C.17 (2), "the local emergency management agency's approved budget shall be funded by one or any combination of the options as determined by the commission: (a) countywide special levy; (b) per capita allocations funded from city and county general funds or a combination of city and county special levies; (c) an allocation computed as each jurisdiction's relative share of the total assessed valuation of the county; (d) a voluntary share allocation; or (e), other funding sources allowed by law.

According to the proposed budget compiled by Lee County Emergency Management Coordinator Steve Cirinna, the commission gets $28,689.60 from the county's eight incorporated towns and the Lee County Board of Supervisors.

Cirinna is projecting the coordinator's part of the budget at about $109,700. But that includes an assistant coordinator who would shadow Cirinna for a year, before he retires in 2020.

The commission balked at a year training session, and recommended a six-month training period which would cut about $26,000 out of the proposed budget. Commission member Rick Larkin made a motion to cut the training budget to a six-month budget and after a brief discussion, the motion passed. West Point Mayor Paul Walker voted against the move.

"The reason why is I don't know the figures. I can't go back to my council and say we have to put in a figure and we'd just have to write something in," Walker said.

Cirinna projected the commission would need to collect about $50,000 from the city and county in the next budget which will be about $21,000 more than the current budget.

Fort Madison pays the largest share at $8,841 per year based on the 2010 census figures showing a population of 11,051. Keokuk and Lee County are right behind at approximately $8,600 each.

Lee County Supervisors Rick Larkin and Gary Folluo cautioned the commission on putting the levy in place because it would fall under the county's levy authority. Larkin is the only supervisor who is a voting member of the commission.

"If you do that you're coming under the county umbrella and the county only has one vote in this. But if you're going to do a levy then it all becomes county," Folluo said.

Larkin also had concerns about moving the funding under the county levy authority.

"So we would have people actually determining what the county is taxing, but have no skin in it," Larkin said.

Lee County Sheriff Stacy Weber, who chairs the Lee County Emergency Management Commission, tabled the discussion after talks stalled out on what was the best way to proceed.

The group agreed to meet again on Monday when county budget Director Cindy Renstrum could be in attendance with updated figures on what a levy would look like.