The Cass County Board of Supervisors, today (Wednesday) adopted the Fiscal Year 2015 Budget, following a public hearing, during which there were no written or spoken comments. The Budget amounts to slight more than $20-million, 188-thousand dollars, which is a decrease from the re-estimated FY 2013-2014 budget of $20.9-million. Auditor Dale Sunderman said the budget was lower because the amount the County takes in from taxes is less than last year.

The proposed tax rate is $5.68 per $1,000 valuation for urban areas and $10.16 per $1,000 valuation for rural areas. Last year the tax rate was $5.63 per $1,000 valuation for urban areas and $10.17 per $1,000 valuation for rural areas. The levy rate Sunderman says is the same, but the taxes will still go up because of an increase in valuations.

He said the total valuation for the County on property tax alone was increased. Sunderman said there was also a rollback on residential properties, which amounted to 54.4-percent of the assessed value. He says that’s due to an increase in valuation. Last year the rollback was 52.8166-percent. For agricultural property, the rollback was to 43.3997-percent. Last year the rollback was 59.9334-percent. That, he says means the Ag valuations went down, which resulted in shift in some of the tax burden to residential property owners.

The Iowa Department of Revenue determines the rollback amount. Sunderman said there this was also the first year in a long time there has been a rollback in Commercial/Industrial and Railroad property. The rollback was 95-percent, whereas it is normally 100-percent. The amount of taxes in the General Basic fund derived from property taxes is expected to be a little more than $2.678-million.

In other business, the Supervisors voted to approve a schedule of salaries for elected officials, which was less than what the County Compensation Board had recommended. The Board had recommended a 3.5-percent increase for the Recorder, Treasurer, Auditor and Supervisors, and a 7-percent increase for the County Attorney and Sheriff.

Supervisor Gaylord Schelling made a motion to lower the percentages. Schelling proposed reducing the percentages from 3.5 to 3-percent for Recorder, Treasurer, Auditor and Supervisors, and from 7 to 6-percent for the Sheriff and County Attorney. That’s a reduction of one-seventh. The annual salary as approved amounts to $95,498 for the County Attorney, $68,438 for the Sheriff, $53,256 each for the Auditor, Treasurer and Recorder, $27,798 for the Supervisors and $28,798 for the Supervisor Chair.

w/ Ric Hanson

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A man from Pottawattamie County is facing a second OWI charge following his arrest Tuesday night in Montgomery County. Sheriff’s officials say 33-year old Jacob Cochran of Council Bluffs, was pulled over during a routine traffic stop and subsequently arrested for Operating a motor vehicle While under the Influence of drugs.

The Montgomery County K-9 unit was put into use during the investigation.  Cochran was being held in the Montgomery County jail on $2,000 cash only bond.

TREYNOR, Iowa (AP) – A 17-year-old Iowa teenager is recovering in a Nebraska hospital after being stranded for hours after a crash.  Taylor Peatrowsky lost control of her car Sunday when she took a drink of water while driving to work. The accident occurred about three miles north of Treynor.  Her car went into a ditch, hit an embankment and rolled, landing partly in a creek. She says she couldn’t find her cellphone to call anyone and couldn’t move far because one of her legs hurt so badly.

After about three hours a neighbor found her. She told Omaha television station WOWT that the neighbor “drove right to the spot and found me, so I definitely think someone was watching over me.”  Peatrowsky was taken to Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

w/ Ric Hanson

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DES MOINES, Iowa – Across Iowa and the nation today, people are being asked to take time to stop and think about how their words may affect others. This is “Spread the Word to End the Word” day, asking people to remove the “R-word” from their vocabulary, said Rik Shannon, public policy manager for the Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council.

“The word ‘retarded’ is used so often that people often don’t realize just how cruel and offensive the term is,” said Shannon. “When we choose words like that word, whether we intend to or not, we really disparage other people.”

Shannon said nearly 50,000 Iowans who have developmental disabilities are family, friends, neighbors and coworkers. While today is focused on getting everyday people to stop using the word, Shannon said on a higher level, it’s already been replaced with the phrase “intellectual disability” in the text of laws, both locally and nationally.

“We’ve made a great deal of progress in recent years in removing the ‘R-word’ from state and federal code references,” he said. “Choosing language that’s more respectful, more inclusive is a big part of building strong communities where everyone feels like they’re welcomed and accepted.”

More information and resources can be found online at r-word.org and at IDaction.org.

(Iowa News Service)

Two men were arrested early this (Wednesday) morning, following separate traffic stops in Fremont County. The Sheriff’s Dept. says 64-year old Francis Bruce Ingerson, of Savage, MN, was arrested for Operating a Non-Registered Vehicle, No Insurance and Failure to have a valid Driver’s License. Ingerson was pulled over at around 1-a.m. on Interstate 29 near mile marker 24, because there were no license plates on his 1987 Lincoln. He was brought to the Fremont County Jail and held on $1,215 bond.

At about the same time as Ingerson was being arrested, deputies in Fremont County conducted a traffic stop near the intersection of Main and A Streets in Hamburg. A 1995 Mercury Cougar with no license plates was pulled over, and its driver, 43-year old Jeffrey Wade Massey, of Hamburg, was charged with Driving Under Suspension, No Insurance, Operating a Non-Registered vehicle, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine.

Massey was being held in the Fremont County Jail on $2,608 bond.

A vehicle breakdown Tuesday morning on Interstate 80 in Omaha resulted in the death of a Pottawattamie County man. The Omaha World-Herald reports 44-year old Michael D. Holcomb, of Council Bluffs, was struck and killed by a semitrailer truck on eastbound Interstate 80 near 52nd Street. Holcomb was reportedly hit in the far left lane about 10:35 a.m.

According to Omaha police, a 2002 Jeep Cherokee with apparent mechanical problems was stopped on the shoulder. Holcomb was outside the vehicle when he stepped into traffic. An SUV with its hood up could be seen parked on the left shoulder near where emergency crews were working.

The semi driver, 54-year old James J. Bolter Jr., of Omaha, was not hurt. Officials caution that if your vehicle breaks down and is on the shoulder of the road, you should constantly be aware of your surroundings with regard to the flow of traffic, and never assume other drivers see you or your vehicle in that type of situation.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press…

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Voters in Ames have rejected a proposal to borrow up to $19 million to pay the city’s share of a convention center at Iowa State University. Results showed the measure failed yesterday 62 percent to 37 percent. The center would have been jointly owned by the city and university.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Voters in Des Moines have overwhelmingly approved an increase in a fee charged on their utility bills to repay $40 million the city borrowed to pay a court-ordered refund of previously over-collected franchise fees. More than 85 percent of the nearly 10,000 votes cast Tuesday were in favor of the fee increase. City residents had little choice. Either they had to approve the increased fee, or the city would be forced to increase property taxes to repay the money.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Des Moines police say at least six people have been arrested in connection to an investigation into the sale of synthetic marijuana. Authorities say the people were taken into custody yesterday morning following the completion of several simultaneous search warrants at stores and homes.

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Nina Davis scored 26 points to help Number 9 Baylor clinch a share of the Big 12 title by beating Iowa State 70-54 last night. Nikki Moody had 17 points and Hallie Christofferson scored 14 for Iowa State, which was outrebounded 48-32 in Ames.