Best part of job is meeting people

The best part of this job is meeting people in our district. People who provide great service to others, work their socks off or are just doing really interesting things.

I brag to other legislators about our district. It’s probably the only time that my speech and mannerisms resemble the President’s: Let me tell you, my district, it’s the absolute best in all of Iowa, OK? Nobody even comes close. We’ve got the best people, absolutely the best. Some people say the best in the world. Smartest. Best-looking. Hardest-working people. And let me tell you — the hugest too. Huge. They tell me I’m not supposed to say “huge.” So, “tall.” Believe me, it’s incredible. Just incredible. Everybody’s talking about our district!

Anyway, here’s an example of people doing great things in our district.

Prairie Hill is a Blue Ribbon school

Many of our families live in the college community school district, and some of their children attend Prairie Hill Elementary School.

Gov. Reynolds and the Iowa Department of Education just announced that Prairie Hill is one of only four Iowa schools selected as the inaugural Iowa Blue Ribbon Schools for 2025. I was pleased to be at the ceremony in the Iowa State Capitol rotunda.

Iowa’s four designees were honored as “Exemplary High-Performing Schools” that performed in the top 15% of all Iowa public schools based on overall performance on school accountability indicators, including student proficiency and growth.

As Principal Scott Schipper delivered his comments, it was the growth he described at Prairie Hill that most impressed me. As absenteeism at Prairie Hill plummeted last year, academic achievement increased. That is no coincidence.

So congratulations to Superintendent Doug Wheeler, Principal Schipper, and the whole team.

I suspect that our district has some other future winners of this award.

Property Taxes: Who’s really in charge?

Some final notes on property taxes. We regularly hear that out-of-control property taxes are the number one issue that Iowans want the state to address. It is certainly one of my top issues heading into the next legislative session. If we can help at the state level, I want to do that.

But there is one very important thing to remember. The state doesn’t set your property taxes — your local government does.

In Iowa, your local assessor establishes the valuation and classification of the property, and your county auditor determines levy rates based on budgets provided from local levying authorities (supervisors, school board, city council, township trustees, etc.) and the tax base applicable to each authority. Your county auditor then bills the taxes and they are collected by your county treasurer who then allocates the collected tax dollars to each authority.

I mention this issue because the current local elections (school board, city council) determine who makes the key decisions regarding your property taxes. If property tax really is one of your biggest concerns, consider this one more reminder that you need to vote in this election.