The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors talked at great length about Rural Improvement Zones (RIZ) at Thursday’s meeting. Leading the conversation was former State Senator and current Legislative Affairs Consultant for the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC), Bill Heckroth.  The sometimes heated discussion focused on the controversy of using millions of property tax dollars to maintain private lakefronts, like Lake Panorama. Opponents to RIZ, like Supervisor Mike Dickson, believe it has a function when establishing a new private lakefront, but once the area is on its feet, those property tax dollars are better spent on things like roads and schools. Supporters of the legislation, like Heckroth, believe that RIZ is a worthwhile economic investment in maintaining areas as pristine as Lake Panorama. Since 1997, Guthrie County taxpayers have provided the Lake Panorama area with nearly $2 million a year in property tax funds, to help beautify and raise property values. At the end of the meeting, the Supervisors took an unofficial vote as to whether they supported RIZ. Clifford Carney, Tom Rutledge and Everett Grasty voted ‘ay’, Mike Dickson and Jerry Caraher voted ‘nay’.