2014 Unemployment Figures Lower than the Year Before
Overall, 2014 was a better year in terms of the number of people without a job in the Raccoon River Valley.
According to Iowa Workforce Development, Dallas County’s year-to-date unemployment last year ended up at 3.5 percent or 0.2 percent lower than the year before.
Greene County’s unemployment rate was down 0.4 percent overall compared to 2013 and Guthrie County saw a 0.5 percent decrease.
In December, Dallas County’s rate went up slightly to three percent versus 2.8 percent in November. Greene County saw a 0.4 percent increase to four percent and the percentage of Guthrie County residents without a job went up just slightly to 3.9 percent in December.
Dallas County Supervisors Receive Compensation Recommendation and Discuss Compensation Study
The Dallas County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Tuesday morning.
During open forum, Larry Lyons spoke on behalf of the compensation board, recommending a wage increase of 9.5 percent for the County Attorney and Sheriff, 8.5 percent for the Auditor, Recorder and Treasurer and 5 percent increase for the Board of Supervisors. Lyons says they feel implementation of these increases is necessary in order to keep the quality officials they currently have in place, as they are under-compensated in comparison to their peers.
The Board then tabled the acceptance of an F31 traffic safety improvement grant until the next meeting on February 3rd. Payroll changes notices were then approved for the Sheriff’s office, EMS department and death investigator.
Three vehicle purchase requests were then approved for the Sheriff’s office. Two 2012 Dodge Chargers will be replaced with 2014 Chargers and a 2009 Jeep Grand Cherokee will be replaced with an unmarked 2015 Dodge Durango to be used for investigations. All three replacements are part of the normal vehicle purchase schedule.
The annual maintenance and checkup agreement with Cummins Central Power was then approved for the emergency generator at the jail.
A 28E agreement with the City of Adel was then approved. This is for the “selection, acquisition and prep of a site and education of the public on the needs and desirability of building a county administrative building for Dallas County near the downtown district of the City of Adel”. The agreement is valid through December 1st of 2018. The plan is to have Supervisor Kim Chapman continue to serve as the County representative and Chair of the Adel – Dallas County Public Corporation, as opposed to current Board of Supervisors Chairman Brad Golightly taking over that position. Chapman says the Corporation plans to start meeting again soon.
The Board then discussed the Human Resources compensation study. Director Erin Freeman said they had an outside firm come in and evaluate job descriptions and responsibilities of positions in each department and give each position a grade which will then be reflected in the compensation recommendation. Supervisor Mark Hanson said if they implement these adjustments, it will be when they’re able, and it’s possible they won’t be able to do an across the board adjustment all at one time depending on the budget. The Cost of Living Adjustment is recommended at a 1.7 percent increase, for those currently making the exact minimum or maximum of money on their position’s scale. County Engineer Jim George thanked the Board for their willingness to do a study and consider the recommendations as he feels it was long overdue. Recorder Chad Airhart expressed concern in continuity across departments so that clerks in the different offices are not alarmed when they notice during annual publication that they are making less money than someone with the same type of job in another office, despite possibly having more experience. Assessor Steve Helm said he feels the compensation study does a lot of good things as he’s seen employees who were trained in Dallas County, leave for higher paying jobs in other counties or cities. Overall he said some people will be happy with the changes that this compensation study brings, while others may feel like they have not been brought up to where they feel they should be. The overall price tag for the full, recommended adjustment is around $313,000. No formal action was taken on the issue.
Senator Chapman Optimistic About the Legalization of Fireworks
We’re still more than five months away from what’s unofficially known as the biggest fireworks day of the year on July 4th but efforts to allow more Iowans to legally participate in such an activity have already ignited.
District 10 State Senator Jake Chapman of Adel has made the legalization of fireworks in Iowa a priority of his since he first started as a lawmaker in 2012. So far, there hasn’t been a vote on the issue in either Chamber of state government but Chapman believes this year could be it.
“I’m very optimistic it will (pass). We continue to work in a bipartisan manner to craft legislation that’s responsible, that promotes education and that can be enforced by law enforcement” says Chapman.
He feels that if the legislation is well thought out and focused on safety, Iowa can see a decrease in injuries like other states have.
“To me it’s an issue of having a freedom that 40 plus other states are enjoying that we currently don’t have here in Iowa. I’ve heard from many, many constituents that are very supportive and sure would like that opportunity to shoot them off safely and legally.”
So far, legislation legalizing the use of fireworks has not yet been introduced this session.
Little Precipitation Recorded This Week in the Raccoon River Valley
It was another dry week in the Raccoon River Valley, as we finish up January with below normal precipitation levels across the area.
According to the National Weather Service, Perry saw 0.08 inch of rain this past week, Jefferson saw 0.04 inch and Guthrie Center had 0.01 inch.
That brings monthly precipitation totals to between 0.23 and 0.44 inch in January, far below the normal average of just under one inch.
Perry ended the month with more than normal snow thanks to the early January storm, recording a total of 5 inches, or 0.4 inch more than average.
Both Jefferson and Guthrie Center came up short for snow this month with 4.3 and 3.5 inches respectfully, when they usually see 6.6 to 5.6 inches.
There is a final chance to add to those totals this weekend with a shot at snow Saturday evening.
Bluejays and Tigers Collecting Pledges for Pins this Weekend
The Perry and Adel DeSoto Minburn High School wrestling teams are participating in an inaugural event this weekend to raise money for a good cause.
The Iowa Pin Challenge takes place during the Raccoon River Conference wrestling meet this Saturday in Carroll.
Wrestling fans can fill out an online pledge form that says they’ll give a certain amount of money for every pin their team makes during the tournament. Flat donations are also accepted on behalf of the school. After the meet, those who pledge will be contacted with their totals along with a link to a secure website to pay online.
All proceeds from the event will go toward fighting blood cancers through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
A link to the pledge form can be found HERE.