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Explaining the property tax mailers

This is the second-year letters were mailed out to all property owners as required by HF718 (Iowa Code Section 24.2A) in order to give property owners an opportunity to attend public hearings regarding proposed property tax rates for the taxing entities in their Taxing District. These proposed tax rates would be for the taxes that will be due in September 2025 and March 2026. The front page of the mailing begins in the top right corner stating what this mailing is for, as well as defining the “Effective Tax Rate” as the rate produced by holding current taxation constant using next ...

Celebrating National Ag Week

In celebration of National Ag Week I am reminded of the Thomas Jefferson quote. “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals and happiness.” Most of our ancestors were some sort of farmers. Today though, farmers make up less than 2% of the US population. Despite that, farms of today are producing significantly more grain, meat, eggs and milk than our ancestors would have ever thought possible! The technology we have today allows us to be highly accurate with all of our crop inputs. Seed and fertilizer can be placed ...

Clearing the air on the Library Association bill

House File 880 (Formerly HF 284) is a bill that seeks to prevent Iowa Libraries from being members of the Iowa Library Association and the American Library Association (ALA) by restricting funds to them if they are dues paying members of these organizations. Those dues are paid for by taxpayer dollars. I’ve received many emails opposing this legislation from people who clearly don’t understand the issues, so it’s worthwhile to devote a bit of time to the subject to clear up the lack of understanding. While the presumption is that these state and national library organizations are ...

Junk mail

Dear MetroNet and I’mOn, I’d just like to explain — again — that I’m not interested in your service at this time, as I’ve graciously explained to your sales reps who have visited my home. So PLEASE stop sending me an offer EVERY OTHER DAY in the mail. Thank you. P.S. Would it be ok if you’d repair my terrace and pick up the 20 flags stuck in the ground there too? I’d appreciate it, thank you again.

The winds of change

2025 will be a year filled with change. Just as we see our weather swing wildly back and forth as we move through the seasons, this year marks another important season of change. The citizens of Marshalltown get to determine their future in the November elections for City Leaders! The mayor and four of seven city council members are up for election. All throughout the world, winds of change are flowing like shipping containers from far off lands. It appears many 3 rd world countries are tired of always being the 3 rd world countries and never making it to 1 st world country status. ...

The Good Samaritan

Two Sundays ago our Pastor used the scriptural story about the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). There was a severely injured man on the roadside. Two priest/temple workers came by but hurried to other meetings they had to attend. A third man, a Samaritan, walked up and bound up the injured man’s wounds and took him to a place of continued care, even paying for his upkeep. Jesus asked the hearers; who did the right thing? Their answer was, the one who showed mercy! Why was the Samaritan such a disliked fellow? This man was once a Jew. When Babylon destroyed Jerusalem in 586 B.C. the ...