Consultant Ann Selzer told the Institute for Tomorrow’s Workforce (ITW) that Iowans recognize a need to invest more in public education. Ms. Selzer was asked by ITW to conduct a phone survey of Iowans to assess public perception on teacher pay-for-performance and Iowa’s education system in general. She presented the results of the survey to the ITW on November 15^th.

Ms. Selzer made the following general observations from her survey:

• Iowa voters recognize the need to invest more in public education.
• Iowa is perceived to be good at public education, but not excellent.
• Iowans want its education system to advance student’s technological know-how.
• Iowans want its education system to provide every student equal access to quality education.
• Iowans care about preparing students for jobs.
• There is no consensus on teacher pay-for-performance.

Investing More :  The survey found that 51% of Iowa voters want to add new money to the education budget, while 36% prefer to divert the funding from other areas of the state budget. Approximately 60% of voters are receptive of a one-cent increase in the sales tax, with support dropping to 43% for a two-cent sales tax increase.

A strong majority of voters (64%) support paying teachers more. Forty-one percent support paying teachers a lot more, while 23% support paying them a little more. When it comes to linking a portion of teacher pay to how well their students perform 48% disagree and 44% agree.

Quality Education:  A solid majority (71%) of Iowans perceive education to vary in quality from place to place. Fifty-two percent perceive the ability of Iowa public schools to prepare students for jobs and college as just adequate.

Voters supported the following statements as ways to assure equal access to a quality education:

• Every student has the same access to advanced courses and academic support (75%).
• Improve early childhood education (64%).
• Set an expectation that all high school graduates will get additional training or schooling after high school (57%).
• Require regional collaboration between school districts (51%).
• Create regional high schools (49%).

Voters identified with the following statements as ways to better prepare students for jobs or college:

• Requiring students to learn communication and information technology skills (81%).
• Altering the ways teachers teach to focus on critical thinking and problem solving (71%).
• Requiring students to learn advanced academic skills (67%).
• Teaching business and entrepreneurial skills (60%).
• Requiring students to become involved in the community (60%).
• Teaching an understanding of various cultures (54%).

Conclusion:  The ITW will take this polling data and the work of the advisory groups in crafting its final recommendations to the legislature. The ITW has advisory groups on teacher pay-for-performance and education system reforms, which will be meeting December 1^st to review this polling data and the preliminary recommendations from Learning Point Associates.

Data collected by the University of Iowa College of Medicine shows that there are 63 unfilled psychiatric positions in Iowa, suggesting that psychiatrists are by far the most in-demand category of full-time primary care medical specialists in Iowa. The data show that the number of available but unfilled full-time slots (63) equals 29 percent of the total current supply of psychiatrists (217), a "critical demand ratio" that far exceeds other full-time primary care specialties. For example, obstetrics and family practice physicians, two primary care specialties that have often been ballyhooed as being in short supply, are not nearly as scarce as psychiatrists, using this measurement system.

Other data suggest that psychiatrists – similar to many other professions – tend to cluster in urban areas, leaving 69 primarily rural counties with no practicing psychiatrist. Lack of ready access to care in the early stages of an illness typically means higher costs in the long run, as care is deferred until the illness becomes more extreme. Another byproduct of the provider shortage is delay in follow-up care following a hospital stay, which can lead to higher relapse rates.

The psychiatrist shortage came up as an issue during discussions of the Medicaid budget last session, and in response the Legislature allotted $5 million to provide an extra Medicaid reimbursement increase specifically targeted to psychiatrists, inpatient psychiatric services, and community mental health centers that serve Medicaid patients.

Over the past several months, some legislators were contacted by one or several medical professional associations, asking for further action on this issue. One suggestion is to provide additional state funding to add psychiatric residency slots at the University of Iowa, at a cost of around $60,000 per slot, and then require those residents to subsequently practice in Iowa for a specified period of years. Another suggestion is to provide state funding to expand telemedicine programs and to assure that Medicaid provides adequate reimbursement for services provided through telemedicine.

The Road Use Tax Fund (RUTF) is made up of monies from taxes on fuel, motor vehicle registration and titling fees, driver’s licenses fees, and the use tax (sales tax) on motor vehicles. The legislature does not appropriate all of the monies collected, only enough to fund the operation of the Department of Transportation. The money that is remaining in the RUTF is dispersed for city, county and state road projects.

Seven commission members decide which specific road projects will be done with the state’s share of the RUTF. This allows the projects to be prioritized in an unbiased manner. Lately, newspapers have been running stories about the decrease in the RUTF. Between the fiscal years of 2006 (which ended June 30, 2006) and 2007 (starting July 1, 2006) there will be a slight decrease of $700,000 or 0.01%.

For fiscal year 2007, there is a predicted decrease in driver’s license fees totaling $4.2 million. This decrease can be attributed to legislation passed in 2002, changing the length of time that licenses are issued from a four year cycle to a five year cycle. As a result, fiscal year 2007 will not see as many license renewals.

However, in fiscal year 2008, revenue from license fees will increase by almost $7 million, and this category of revenue has always, and will continue to fluctuate each year. It is unfortunate that other areas of revenues such as gas tax and registration fees are not predicted to increase enough to offset this one-time decrease.

A $100,000 grant was given to the Grant Wood Studio in Cedar Rapids for the restoration of a roof, skylights, cupola, weather vane, windows, and deteriorating wood framing. Exterior woodwork and trim will be repaired. Portions that are not original but must remain, such as exposed gutters, will be repaired to protect the structure from further deterioration.

Linn County was also granted $10,000 to do a comprehensive study of Linn County to identify archaeological sites and architectural properties eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in six subsections.

A total of $100,000 was granted to the Charles City’s historic suspension bridge that recently celebrated its centennial. The footbridge is in need of structural restoration. The project calls for installing concrete pier jackets, lighting upgrades, hardware replacement, and safety modifications.

A $76,000 project will restore 52 original stained glass windows in the First Baptist Church in Davenport. The two sets of non-historic entry doors will be restored to their historic appearance.

The national landmark, Steamboat William M. Black, will receive $100,000. This grant will match federal "Save America’s Treasures" funds to restore the smokestacks, preserve the main deck and wooden superstructure, and restore the Black’s tender boat and pipeline barge.

Dubuque will also receive $55,000 for the refurbishment and relocation of the White Water Creek Bridge. Existing lead paint will be removed and the bridge will be repainted. Decking and hand railing will be replaced so the bridge is ready for use as part of the park’s trail system.

The Four Mounds Foundation will undertake an intensive survey and evaluation so that significant archaeological resources can be located and accommodated when planning future site enhancements. They were granted $8,000 for the project.

The Motor Mill Historic Site contains five limestone structures along with the 90-foot tall Motor Mill located along the Turkey River southeast of Elkader, Iowa. The $55,000 project will replace the deteriorating roof structures on the Mill and Inn, thus preserving each structure until future restoration efforts can be accomplished.

****Beginning Farmer Tax Credit Program

The rules establishing the beginning farmer tax credit program went into effect on November 1^st. These rules establish the application process and provide qualifications and rules for the program.

The Legislature established these income tax credits during the 2006 session. The program is to encourage landowners to rent farmland to beginning farmers. The income tax credit applies for tax years starting January 1, 2007.

The program provides a tax credit to agricultural landowners that rent their assets to qualified beginning farmers who are residents of Iowa. The tax credit is 5% of the rental income received on cash rental agreements and 15% of the rental income received on share agreements.

To qualify as a beginning farmer, a person must be eligible to receive financial assistance under Iowa’s current beginning farmer loan program. This means the beginning farmer applicant must have a net worth not in excess of $300,000. In addition, the applicant must be a resident of of Iowa; have sufficient education, training or experience in farming; and have access to adequate working capital, equipment and other items necessary to operate the farm. The beginning farmers must materially and substantially participate in the operation of the farm.

For more information, contact Jeff Ward, Executive Director of the Iowa Agricultural Development Authority, at 515-281-6444 or jeff.ward@iowa.gov.

The Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) has announced they will be issuing November 2006 dividend payments on November 30, 2006. Retirees, who began receiving retirement benefits prior to July 1990, will have a dividend payment added to their normal November 30 benefit payment.

Retirees will receive the same amount they have received since November 30, 2001. IPERS advises they cannot increase the amount paid to retirees until the IPERS actuary can certify that the increase in the dividend payment can be absorbed within the existing contribution rates paid into the system by the active members.

The actuary has not certified a dividend increase since 2001 because an increase cannot be covered by the current contribution rates. IPERS advises retirees that this payment will never be reduced or stopped. Retirees will continue to receive this payment for life.

The legislature took action to address IPERS long-term funding concerns during the 2006 legislative session. Contribution rates for both members and employers will begin increasing on July 1, 2007.

The two percentage point increase will be phased in over a four-year period. Employees currently contribute 3.7% of their salary and employers contribute 5.75%, for a combined contribution rate of 9.45%. When the phase-in is complete, employees will contribute 4.5% and employers will contribute 6.95%, for a combined total contribution rate of 11.45%.

**************All-Star Community Winners

Hartley – Community Clean-up Program:  The city of Hartley celebrated their 125^th anniversary in 2004 and decided to concentrate on making the city look its best. The end result of the city’s efforts are what the city officials hoped for: nice looking neighborhoods, new construction, all was brought forth by the community effort. Getting to those results was not without its controversy.

Enforcing the city’s nuisance codes meant some property owners had to be served with notices requesting that repairs or improvements be made by certain dates. If the property owner didn’t do what was requested, it was done by the city and the cost was assessed against the owner’s annual property taxes. The majority of the work done by property owners involved re-siding or repainting the house, and moving debris or overgrown trees. After one homeowner would make an improvement, there would be a tendency for others to follow.

Property that was beyond renovation was condemned by the city and used by the fire department as practice burns. The city obtained funding to help ten property owners, and the Hartley Economic Development Corporation offered no-interest loans to local businesses to improve their storefronts. There was even a volunteer group that painted homes.

Mount Pleasant – Library & Civic Center:  In 1999, the Mount Pleasant Community High School moved into a new building, but the question remained, what to do with the old high school. A plan was created in 2002 to renovate the old high school to house the library and other regional civic services.

After an $8 million renovation, the new Mount Pleasant Library and Civic Center also houses offices for the Area Education Agency 16 and other local school district offices, meeting rooms available for rent, and a gymnasium. A variety of funding tools were used for this effort including tax increment financing (TIF) revenue, bonding, a grant from Vision Iowa Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT), the city of Mount Pleasant, as well as private donations and fundraising events.

Fort Dodge – Citizens Central Senior Complex:  Because of the revitalization of Fort Dodge’s downtown, there is now the Citizens Central Senior Complex, which is known as C-2 around the community. Fort Dodge’s senior center offers seniors a larger dining place for congregate meals. In addition, the new space holds meeting rooms, a coffee shop, a medical area where seniors can get health advice, an exercise room, a billiards room, and space for two local senior programs.

The building where C-2 is housed is a former furniture store, and through partnerships and different funding mechanisms, the transformation was successful. Partnerships were with various levels of government, the building and trades program at Iowa Central Community College, Webster County and downtown property owners. Funding mechanisms included tax increment financing (TIF) and Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District (SSMID) funds, grants and many other business and private donations.

Tipton – Family Aquatic Center:  The city of Tipton was named a 2006 All-Star Community for recognition in the area of service sharing. The Tipton Community School District and the city of Tipton planned a new indoor and outdoor aquatic center to replace the swimming pools used by both the city and the school. The two entities also collaborated on raising funds for the construction.