The Lisbon-Mount Vernon Ambulance Service ambulance sits outside the facility’s base at 730 First St. E. in Mount Vernon.
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Residents in the proposed Lisbon-Mount Vernon Emergency Medical Services district will head to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to raise property taxes to pay for rural emergency response.
Polls will open within the proposed district, which includes the cities of Mount Vernon and Lisbon; the swath of unincorporated Linn County covering Bertram, Franklin, Linn and Putnam townships; and Cedar Township in rural Johnson County.
Because of jurisdictional boundaries, technically there will be four elections held that day, one each for Mount Vernon and Lisbon, one for unincorporated Linn County and another for Johnson County.
The matter will require at least 60% voter approval to pass.
The proposed levy would raise property taxes by 66.7 cents per $1,000 of assed value on all taxable property within the district, not including agricultural land. For a resident with a $200,000 home, that means about $64 would be added to the annual property tax bill.
Funds generated from the levy would support the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Ambulance Service to help cover operational costs and offset stagnating insurance reimbursement rates as demand for the service grows.
Polls will be open from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the following Linn County locations:
Camp Tanager, 1614 W. Mount Vernon Road.
Lisbon City Hall, 115 N. Washington St.
Mount Vernon City Hall, 213 First St. NW.
Johnson County voters from Cedar Township can vote on the levy from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Johnson County Conservation Sutliff Shop, 5438 Sutliff Road NE.
Cedar Lake rec work OK’d
Work will begin soon on recreational upgrades at Cedar Lake after bids came in lower than expected for a portion of the work.
Cedar Rapids City Council members last week approved a $1.16 million bid from Eastern Iowa Excavating & Concrete for the Cedar Lake package 3A, the first step in the final phase of lake improvements. Work is expected to begin this fall at the lake west of Shaver Road NE.
The package includes portions of a previous proposal put on hold after it failed to attract sufficient contractor interest.
The smaller package — initially estimated at $1.34 million — covers the construction of an accessible dock and kayak launch, additional park shelters with picnic tables, a new restroom and some additional site work.
Dale Todd, Cedar Rapids City Council
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“The good news is the bids came in lower than we were expecting, so it reinforced what we did at the beginning (with delaying the work),” Cedar Rapids City Council member Dale Todd said.
A separate package — package 3B — is scheduled to go out for bids later this year and will include wildlife habitat restoration, new fishing piers and trail reconstruction to complement earlier and in-progress Cedar Lake improvements.
Previously presented as a single package, those upgrades have been heralded by city leaders as a milestone in the ongoing public-private effort to revitalize Cedar Lake. The project in June was put on hold after the city received just one bid during its initial request for proposals.
Name a Linn snowplow
The Linn County secondary roads department is seeking resident recommendations for what it should name eight of its snowplows.
Residents can submit their ideas online through Friday, Sept. 4, using the snowplow naming contest form on the Linn County website. Entries are limited to one name per person. The names must contain fewer than 15 characters, including spaces.
A Linn County Secondary Roads Department snowplow awaits the snow. The county is asking the public to suggest names for eight snowplows ahead of the 2026-27 winter season.
“Giving these snowplows names is a fun way to engage the public and highlight the important work our Secondary Road Department does each winter,” county operations superintendent Jerad Kelley. “Behind every plow is a dedicated operator and crew working to make our roads safer during challenging weather conditions.”
Once submissions close, Linn County staff will narrow the list to no more than 50 options to present to residents for a public vote.
The eight names that receive the most votes will be declared the winners and assigned to snowplows for incorporation into the county’s online Track-a-Plow system.
I.C. schools committee to talk finances
The Financial Oversight Advisory Committee for the Iowa City school board is holding its second meeting at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 1, at the district’s Educational Services Center, 2255 N. Dubuque Road, Iowa City. The meeting is open to the public.
Four discussion items are on the agenda: key financial timelines, fiscal year 2024 audit findings, fiscal year 2027 certified budget and a question-and-answer period.
A document attached to the agenda summarizes the material weaknesses outlined in the fiscal year 2024 audit, the status of those items, employees responsible for correcting the weakness, and a timeline.
The fiscal year 2024 audit — presented to the Iowa City school board in June — identified five material weaknesses in the areas of payroll, paying bills, collecting cash, bank reconciliations and year-end accounting where deficiencies in internal controls resulted in a high likelihood that mistakes could not be prevented or identified.
Many of these weaknesses began to be uncovered in January, and district officials are working to address the problems. The audit was completed 15 months past the state’ deadline.
The fiscal year 2027 certified budget that the committee will discuss lays out the district’s spending plan between July 1, 2026, and June 30, 2027.
The committee is scheduled to meet again at 4 p.m. Sept. 8.
The Iowa City school board in July appointed seven community members with expertise in finance to the committee. School board President Ruthina Malone, board member Mitch Lingo and Pat Moore, the district’s chief financial officer, also serve on the committee.
The Financial Oversight Committee held its first meeting in August where its members discussed its charter and reviewed school finance rules with a representative from the Iowa Association of School Boards.
The committee, which expects to meet about six times a year, can advise the district on improving its internal controls, which includes financial policies, procedures and checks to safeguard public funds, ensure accurate reporting and prevent fraud.
Johnson juvenile board seeks members
The Johnson County Board of Supervisors is seeking applications from individuals willing to serve on the Johnson County Juvenile Justice and Youth Development Policy Board.
Application forms are available at johnsoncountyiowa.gov/vacancies and in the office of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors. Completed applications must be returned to the board office by 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17.
Three vacancies on the board are for individuals categorized as “business, parents, residents or youth.” One vacancy to fill a three-year term beginning Oct. 1, 2026, and expiring Sept. 30, 2029; one vacancy is to fill a partial term beginning upon appointment and expiring Sept. 30, 2027; and one vacancy is to fill a partial term beginning upon appointment and expiring Sept. 30, 2028.
Two vacancies are for representatives of a social service agency. One vacancy is for a juvenile court representative.
Duties of the policy board include the following: spearheading the development and coordination of countywide prevention, intervention and sanctions; overseeing development of assessment and monitoring systems; reviewing strategic planning and monitoring progress of projects; talking to the community about the initiative; promoting activities to raise “assets” in youth; and providing and developing funding for asset-building programs.
The policy board meets quarterly from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on the first Monday of February, May, August and November.