Des Moines County Conservation Board tables FEMA buyout property leases
The Des Moines County Conservation Board on Wednesday voted 4-1 to table a program that would have allowed the leasing of about 40 county-owned properties along the Tama Road corridor.
"This is essentially a closed case," conservation director Chris Lee said after the vote. "We will not be moving forward with leasing out any of these properties at this time."
The lone "no" vote was cast by vice chair Bob Hansen.
"What bothers me is the Board of Supervisors has taken on the authority to say what the conservation board is doing," Hansen said, explaining he believes the land leases should be up to the conservation board, not the county supervisors.
More:Des Moines County Supervisors, conservation staff butt heads after FEMA lease program fallout
The properties were purchased by the Federal Emergency Management Agency after the floods of 1993 and 2002 and were deeded to the county, which subsequently passed on the management of those properties to the conservation board.
"No money followed them, so we fence them, march them, patrol them, watch them. No money, plus we end up paying the drainage fees on them, which is the government taxing the government," conservation board chair Jim Garnjobst said of the federal tax that must be paid from conservation's budget. "We pay those taxes with no reimbursement."
Property owner John Archer, who was among about 10 members of the public who attended Wednesday's conservation board meeting that was moved to Starr's Cave Nature Center in anticipation of larger than usual attendance, said he understands the idea behind the program and that he is willing to be a part of an advisory committee aimed at finding ways to raise money for the conservation department.
"This budget thing is going to continue to come up again and again. So every meeting that you can go, we can use that support, because we seem to be facing quite an uphill battle here," conservation board member Matthew Haas said.
The vote to table the program and the public show of support for additional conservation funding came on the heels of a Board of Supervisors meeting, during which property owners and Supervisor Tom Broeker expressed strong opposition to the leases.
The idea for the program was put forward as a potential means of generating revenue for the conservation department, which, according to Lee, is operating at an about $23,000 deficit amid a $100,000 budget cut this fiscal year.
Lee explained to the conservation board that the deficit amount is larger than the one he had provided to the Supervisors on Tuesday due to a bonus cycle that was not included in the previous budget projection and salary line items that did not get transferred properly with the transition from the general basic fund.
More:County property owners rally against proposed lease program on FEMA buyout land
"This is the first year we've been up against a deficit," Lee said.
The deficit comes amid a number of cost-cutting efforts, including eliminating three of four seasonal positions; replacing a full-time naturalist with a part-time naturalist; deferring all non-essential vehicle, equipment and park maintenance; cutting back on travel; eliminating mowing at Chautauqua Park and converting it to pollinator habitat; eliminating mowing at Waters Park by transferring its ownership to Danville; closing the Maple Loop campground at Welter Recreation Area; shuttering the house at Starr's Cave Nature Center and Preserve; halving the rock budget; reducing uniform allowance by one-third; halving the safety supply budget; eliminating publication renewals; cutting the marketing budget by two-thirds and not printing annual reports.
Lee informed the conservation board there are several options to make up for the deficit, including asking the county to make up the balance with an additional allocation, covering the deficit with reserve funds, finding more revenue sources or making additional cuts.
Possible cuts include closing Starr's Cave Nature Center, which would save about $3,000 for the remainder of the fiscal year. This option does not appear likely due to the high demand for and array of nature center services.
Other possibilities include closing Welter Recreation Area altogether, which would result in about $4,500 in direct cost savings annually but likely would result in little savings for the remainder of this fiscal year; closing Hunt Woods, which Lee said could result in $1,000 in savings for the rest of the year; and staff reductions.
Those options will be discussed with the county Supervisors during a work session Tuesday.
Lee and conservation board members also discussed the amount of funding the conservation department will need going forward.
Lee said he could manage with an additional $40,000, which would allow for the hiring of a full-time naturalist in time for summer camps.
The department's budget woes are a symptom of differences in ideology between the conservation board, which believes it is the duty of conservation to provide services to county residents, and the Board of Supervisors, with Broeker reportedly having said on more than one occasion that the department should be operated like a business.
Under Iowa code, the county must provide conservation with office space but has no funding obligations beyond that, though for the county to receive Resource Enhancement and Protection funds from the state, conservation must get at least 22 cents per $1,000 valuation of the county levy.
Des Moines County Conservation receives 22.5 cents per $1,000 valuation for residential properties, and 37 cents per $1,000 valuation for agricultural, commercial and industrial property.
Conservation is the only county department that is permitted to keep its revenues. Money brought in by other departments feeds into the county's general basic fund.
This article originally appeared on The Hawk Eye: What to know about the deficit facing Des Moines County Conservation
