From the KCRG-TV9 Newsroom:
Iowa lawmakers finalized a bill to cut revenue from property taxes by an estimated $100 million. The bill now goes to the Governor. It limits how much money cities and counties can take in each year and requires them to use excess funds to lower property taxes. It also provides new exemptions for veterans and seniors. The Governor has voiced support for the bill in the past.
Two Iowa Democrat State Senators are urging Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird to reinstate funding to support medical care for sexual assault survivors. Senators Janet Peterson of Des Moines and Todd Taylor of Cedar Rapids after Bird halted state payments for emergency contraception and other medical services for sexual assault survivors. Bird’s office says the evaluation is needed to determine if this is an appropriate use of public funds.
In her State of the City Address, Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell promoted the city’s use of $180 million in federal funding that has gone toward the east side flood protection system, including flood walls and pump stations. But she also says the city needs to focus more heavily on efforts to maintain and retain employees to work at downtown businesses, and to provide enough affordable housing for people to live there. Mayor O’Donnell says the downtown population is likely to double between 2020 and 2025.
As the Mississippi River continues to fall in eastern Iowa, it’s allowing for some routes to reopen. In Allamakee County, state Highway 76 is back open. That’s in the area north of Marquette near Effigy Mounds. In Lansing, some city streets are now open. But the Iowa DOT still shows the Black Hawk Bridge in Lansing as closed. That’s the main way over the Mississippi, meaning people still have to drive to La Crosse or Marquette to get to the other side.
The Cedar Rapids Marriott hotel on Collins Road will likely have a buyer by week’s end. An online auction for the property started yesterday, with bidding starting at $3.2 million. So far, the website running the auction shows no one has bid on the property. The seven story hotel has 220 rooms. The online auction ends tomorrow.
