The Iowa Finance Authority Board of Directors today (Wednesday) approved a total of more than $7.5 million in grants to 26 Local Housing Trust Funds to support local affordable housing initiatives, which will assist more than 2,000 Iowa families. The funding is provided from the State Housing Trust Fund’s Local Housing Trust Fund program. The grant funds will be used for initiatives such as preserving aging housing stock, subsidizing local down payment assistance programs, providing low-interest loans or grants to assist Iowans in home rehabilitation, financing construction of new single-family housing for low-income Iowans and supporting transitional housing and homeless assistance programs.

Here are some of the grant recipients, grant amount and what the funds will be used for, in the KJAN listening area:

• Council Bluffs Housing Trust Fund, Inc. – $198,903. The Council Bluffs Housing Trust Fund will use the grant to promote the development and preservation of affordable single-family and multifamily housing units through the financing of rehabilitation, new construction or direct assistance activities. The trust fund will also promote home buyer and tenant education.

• Council of Governments Housing, Inc. – $305,674. The grant will assist 34 low-income households through a combination of grants and low-interest loans. Eligible activities will include lead hazard remediation, owner-occupied rehabilitation, down payment assistance for home buyers and emergency relocation and foreclosure prevention assistance.* Area served: Audubon, Carroll, Crawford, Greene, Guthrie and Sac Counties.

• Southern Iowa COG Housing Trust Fund – $295,951.The grant will focus efforts on seven affordable housing activities to assist an estimated 35 households: owner-occupied rehabilitation in support of homeownership, first-time home buyer assistance,transitional/special needs housing (including assisted living), infrastructure for new development/infill housing, lead-based paint remediation, demolition and lot clearance for new construction and rental projects.* Area served: Adair, Adams, Clarke, Decatur, Madison, Ringgold, Taylor and Union Counties.

• Southwest Iowa Housing Trust Fund, Inc. – $387,014.The grant will assist an estimated 60 households by providing down payment assistance and owner-occupied and rental rehabilitation assistance to low-income households. Lead-based paint stabilization assistance will also be available to eligible households.* Area served: Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie (excluding the city of Council Bluffs) and Shelby Counties.

A Grand Ole Christmas can be experienced this (Wednesday) evening in Pottawattamie County. The 20^th annual Carson Christmas Celebration will commence with activities for the whole family. Wilma Laughlin, chairperson of the Carson Christmas, says the event begins with a soup supper from 4-to 7-pm. They will also have kid’s activities assisted by Riverside students, beginning at 5-p.m.

The Carson Community Center will host the soup supper, kid’s activities along with a bake sale and a craft and vendor show. The businesses will hold an open house from 5- to 7:30-pm, and  Santa will arrive at around 7:05pm downtown. Laughlin says you can get your picture taken with him at All 4 You Photography.

The main staple at the Carson Christmas for the past few years has been the shows inside the Dreamland Theatre. Laughlin says “We are going to have two shows this year. The theme is of course the Grand Ole Opry. The first show doors open at 5:45 with the show starting at 6pm. The second show the doors will open at 6:45 and the show start at 7:30.”

Laughlin is the play’s writer, but she  said this will be her final year doing the Christmas play. Tickets for the show can be purchased at the door for $4.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa (AP) – Authorities in western Iowa say a vehicle collision with a semitrailer has killed one man and injured three others.  Maj. Greg Stallman with the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office says the three adults and a boy were in a northbound vehicle Wednesday on Interstate 29 near Sergeant Bluff. The vehicle crossed the center line and hit a southbound semitrailer.

The Sioux City Journal reports the crash temporarily closed some traffic in the area, but all lanes on the highway have been reopened. The Iowa State Patrol is investigating the crash. The identities of the victims have not been released.

Numerous accidents are being reported in the KJAN listening area late this morning. Freezing drizzle is occurring, and motorists are advised to slow down! DOT and Cass County road crews are out placing salt and sand on the roads, but the sudden, changing conditions are catching motorists and pedestrians off-guard. Be careful out there!

Atlantic Fire and Rescue and Medivac Ambulance were called to the scene of a semi tractor-trailer rollover accident north of Atlantic, this morning. According to scanner traffic, the semi rolled into the east ditch near the Nishnabotna Bridge, off of Olive Street. The accident was reported at around 11:07-a.m.  The driver was at first reported to be unconscious, but later reports indicated he was conscious and talking with rescue personnel. No other details are currently available.

Other rollover accidents or vehicles having slid-off into the medians and ditches occurred on Interstate 80 between the Walnut and Marne exits.

Drivers and pedestrians  should take note, roads and sidewalks are becoming slick with drizzle turning to ice on the surfaces. Law enforcement reports the roads are now about 100-percent ice covered.

Repeated calls to a residence in Harlan Tuesday resulted in False Report complaints being filed by Harlan Police. Officials say officers were called to a residence in the 3000 block of 12th Street for a domestic disturbance. The officers determined the couple, Adam and April Gale, were simply arguing, and there was no abuse or assault. However, officers were called to the same home a total of three times during the same evening, and as a result, complaints charging the couple with false reports were filed with the Shelby County Clerk of Court.

Police in Harlan report also, 29-year old Jennifer Baughman, of Harlan, was arrested Sunday, after officers were called to a disturbance at her home in the 1700 block of 10th Street. Baughman was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance and Prohibited Acts penalties, and brought to the Shelby County Jail.

An Illinois man was arrested Saturday, in Harlan, following a traffic stop. The H-PD says 25-year old Charlie Hadfield, of Alton, IL., was taken to the Shelby County Jail and charged with OWI, Failure to Obey a Stop sign, and having no proof of insurance. A passenger in the vehicle, 24-year old Megan Behrendt, of Harlan, was charged with Open Container as a passenger. She was cited and released.

And on Nov. 26th, 22-year old Oscar Gutierrez-Andrade, of Denison, was arrested for Driving While Suspended, Speeding and having no insurance. He was taken into custody following a traffic stop.

The City of Harlan will be conducting a housing study in conjunction with SWIPCO (the Southwest Iowa Planning Council. In a regular City Council meeting Tuesday, SWIPCO representative Courtney Harder gave a presentation on the options for the housing study. In her presentation, Harder said “The proposal is pretty much specific to outlining how your community would be able to support the new development of rental units and at what rate. We would also do some census based information for you and look at the assessor side as to what kind of housing needs you have in your community. We would also potentially outline any other needs that we may see as well. Are you meeting the needs for your low to moderate income? Do you have something in between for families? Do you have a lot of high end homes? What kind of ranges you have available.”

Along with the targeted study, SWIPCO gave the council another more in depth option for the housing study. Harder said “We are going to instead of looking at just the assessor side and census develop your housing needs; we are also going to go into the community and do a drive by and survey every home in town. We have a couple people who drive through town and give an excellent, good, fair or poor rating on every house in town that way you have an idea where your areas of towns that need the most assistance are. We’re also going to have four community input meetings so that you have a little bit more input not just from your housing board but community members. We will have a conditions map and all that stuff to keep in your plan.”

The final option would include everything in the targeted study and broad assessment along with a comprehensive housing plan. Harder says “Option B is the comprehensive study, the same study we did for Atlantic. This is going to be all in compassing everything above. It’s going to have a formal public hearing process and adoption process through the planning and zoning committees. It will cover all the wide range of housing issues including code enforcement, permitting, housing density, design standards and anything else we can come up with.”

After much discussion, the Harlan City Council approved a motion to accept the proposal for the SWIPCO housing study in phases. The first phase is to do the base targeted study at the cost of $4,500 and afterwards SWIPCO will do both in depth studies, the broad assessment and the comprehensive housing plan. Each option will cost the city an additional $1,500. Harder explained to the council as a member of SWIPCO, the city of Harlan will have opportunities for grant funding.

She said “As a member of SWIPCO you have access to our grant writing at no charge. So if you come to us two years down the road and we have completed and you say we would really like to apply for that community development housing grant, we will assist with that. Or if you have anything else that comes up that’s part of being a member of SWIPCO that we provide to you.”

The targeted housing study will take two to three months to complete and the whole housing study will take approximately six to seven months to complete.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)

Iowans could be paying less than three dollars a gallon for gasoline before the end of the year, according to a report from Triple-A-Iowa. Spokeswoman Gail Weinholzer says crude oil prices are falling, stockpiles are rising and refineries have already made the change from summer to winter fuel blends.  “Everything is boding well as far as the switchover having been completed,” Weinholzer says, “demand being reasonably met by supply, the hurricane season is over in the Gulf (of Mexico).”

Iowa’s current statewide average is three-11 a gallon. Prices may fall between ten and 15-cents a gallon before December is out, she says, and prices may remain at the lower level for much of the winter. Weinholzer says, “Certainly, there’s no reason to expect prices to do any sort of significant increases between now and the early part of spring.” This isn’t anything out of the ordinary, she says, as gas prices typically reach a low for the year in mid-December.

“I would expect prices to remain relatively low, depending of course on the wild cards that we always talk about: the political situation in the Middle East and the overall world economy as far as the recovery from the recession.” While Iowa is averaging three-11 a gallon, that’s 14-cents cheaper than the national average. Prices in Davenport are the lowest in the state, averaging $2.94, while Waterloo has the highest prices at $3.15.

(Radio Iowa)

Governor Terry Branstad says he and his staff are still evaluating the numbers, but he may propose that legislators make a major change in the state’s income tax in 2014.  “We have toyed with the idea of looking at some changes in the income tax,” Branstad says. Branstad wants to wait until a panel of financial experts sets its estimate of overall state tax collections later this month and then start drawing up state budget plans that outline alternatives.

“We need to make sure that we have the resources to meet the obligations that we’ve made,” Branstad says. “The property tax relief and the education reform — those are phased in over the next several years and it’s going to require state resources in order to replace property tax and state resources for the teacher leadership legislation that we passed last year.” Branstad envisions a two-track state income tax system that would set up a new “flat or flatter” state income tax or let Iowans file their income taxes under the current system.

“But we have not got a specific proposal developed yet and hopefully by the time we unveil the budget in January we’ll be in a position to make a recommendation,” Branstad says. Iowa’s current income tax system has nine rates, with a top rate of nearly nine percent. “For people that are not familiar with the Iowa tax structure, that just look at some chart and then they see, well, gosh, Iowa is way up there. You know, California, Hawaii and they see Iowa like third or fourth,” Branstad says. “They’re not really looking at the effective rate.”

Iowa’s income tax rates higher when compared to most other states because Iowa offers a deduction that’s offered in only five other states. That deduction allows Iowans to subtract their federal income tax liability from their income before calculating their state income taxes.  “We don’t want to erode federal deductability,” Branstad says, “and that’s why we’re saying: ‘Give ’em the option.'” By giving taxpayers the option to file their income taxes under the current system with that major deduction or under a new system with lower and flatter rates, Branstad might avoid the firestorm he faced from his fellow Republicans in the late 1980s when he proposed doing away with that deduction.

Iowans for Tax Relief, founded and financed by a former Republican legislator, has long opposed getting rid of that deduction.  “Our overall goal is to reduce the tax burden and make Iowa more competitive and we want to look at the best way to do that,” Branstad says. “And we want to do that respecting how strongly Iowans feel about having a tax on a tax.” Branstad briefly talked about a “flat or flatter” state income tax during an appearance at the Westside Conservative Breakfast Club in Urbandale, then expanded on the subject during an interview with Radio Iowa and The Des Moines Register.

(Radio Iowa)

w/ Ric Hanson

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