Supervisor Heather Knebel (R-Traer).

August is now behind us, school is back in session, and I’ve completed my first month as Chair of the Tama County Board of Supervisors.

In August the Board approved an updated Employee Handbook. Department heads were invited to meet with our HR department over the last few months for input on this updated version. This will be a living document that can be updated anytime.

The Zoning Commission continues to actively work on the Comprehensive Land Use Plan as well as several ordinances needing to be developed, and they are doing a great job. There will be a couple of meetings held in Traer and Vining to discuss the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and gain public input as well as monthly meetings that are held in Toledo. If this is something that interests you, please reach out to the Zoning Administrator for further details. The Board considered hiring Region 6 to help with the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, but later decided against doing so. The Zoning Commission is currently working on developing this document, so it was decided there was no need to spend money to hire a third party at this time.

The Board of Supervisors have had Exempt sessions per Iowa Code Ch. 20.17 (3) in regard to the Secondary Roads Union. We have retained an attorney on this matter, but cannot share any additional information at this time, as this statute is exempt from Iowa’s Open Meetings Law. As soon as the Board can share some information, we will do so.

On August 10, The Board received a petition to decrease the number of Tama County Supervisors from five members to three members. Iowa Code 331.204 discusses the process for increasing or decreasing members of the Board, and Iowa Code 331.306 discusses the rules for petitions. The petition that was received had 930 signatures, with a requirement of no less than 862 signatures. Iowa Code 331.306 states that the petition shall include the signatures of the petitioners, a statement of their place of residence, and the date on which they signed the petition. A recent legislative update on nomination papers required that the city the signer lives in must be listed. The Code for petitions only says “statement of residence”. The Iowa Secretary of State’s Office first told us that city was required, then another individual from the same Office said that it is not required. There were around 194 signatures without a city listed. Iowa Code 331.306 also says petitions authorized by this chapter shall be filed with the Board of Supervisors, shall be examined before it is accepted for filing and if it appears valid on its face it shall be accepted for filing. If it lacks the required number of signatures, it shall be returned to the petitioner. With the Iowa Code not having clear direction on how to handle this situation, the Board of Supervisors decided to review the petition to ensure something was filled in for the required information listed above. We accepted it for filing, saying it was valid on its face. We did not review the addresses/names as the Code doesn’t clearly say that is our role to do so. The petition was challenged by a citizen due to no city listed for 194 names and a hearing was held. The County Attorney, County Auditor, and County Treasurer made up the Hearing Panel. The majority of those three members decided the petition should stand and go on the ballot.

I feel it’s critical for the Iowa Legislature to update this Code section to make it clear for all parties on what is required to be compliant. Right now, we have stricter requirements for a candidate to get their name on the ballot then we do to petition the government on the number of members of the Board of Supervisors. Another issue is that comments were made about the Supervisors having a Conflict of Interest, even though the Code states the petition shall be filed with the Board of Supervisors. Code 331.306 is clear that the Board of Supervisors receive the filing and take action on whether to file or return to the petitioner. I feel like we took the fair approach to allow voters to decide whether they want a 3- or 5-member Board of Supervisors. My opinion on the referendum of going from 5 members to 3 members that will be on the ballot this November is to vote in favor of keeping 5 supervisors. In 2022, Tama County had the opposite ballot measure to go from 3 to 5 Board of Supervisors, and it passed overwhelmingly by 62%. We must not forget why the majority of Tama County voters decided we needed 5 members. Go back to videos in the Tama County Against Turbines YouTube and watch meetings held in 2022, 2023, and 2024, then watch The Tama County Board of Supervisor meetings on YouTube in 2025 and 2026. There is a huge difference! The prior Board had after meeting discussions, would not record or livestream meetings, had limited agendas, and would respond to questions from the public with “No comment”. They then stopped the public from commenting unless the topic was on that day’s agenda, and you had no ability to add your topic to the agenda. That 3-member Board signed off on a county budget that took the General Basic Fund to a negative ($950,000) where most employees are paid from.

A 5-member Board of Supervisors has been so refreshing. We now have far more oversight with a variety of work-related backgrounds and expertise by the 5-member Board. We have more local control as the 5 members must live in the district that elects them. We can now split into two-member task forces to work on projects without violating Iowa’s Open Meeting Law. We are transparent and open with the public by live streaming our meetings. The current 5-member Board of Supervisors was just elected in November 2024 and took office January 2025. We came into office and found out in our third week that the county faced a cash flow shortage and did not have enough liquid cash to run payroll the following week to pay employees from that specific fund. This is due to the budget the prior 3-member Board signed off on. We spent hours going through every line item of every department’s budget to find a solution. In just over 1.5 years, the County reserves have increased by $7.9 million from 2024 when the 3-member Board was in office. County reserves are the ending fund balances at Fiscal Year End for the County. This includes all departments and funds. Out of the $7.9 million increase, the 3 funds the Board of Supervisors control realized a $3.6 million increase. Adding 2 additional Board members costs the County $128,332 per year (this includes Salary, FICA, IPERS, Health Insurance and cell phones). I don’t know about you, but I am completely fine with the county spending $128K per year to get a return on investment of $7.9 million in 1.5 years. We continue to find issues that need to be resolved, and 5 heads are better than 3 to complete tasks that represent each of the 5 county districts. No matter how you feel, please vote on November 3, 2026. If you would like to review any of the financial reports for the County so you have concrete facts to make your decision, please reach out to myself or the County Auditor’s Office. Pooled Cash Report for June 30, 2024 and June 30, 2026 are the reports used in this situation.

As for the Highway 63 construction project, paving has started on the south side of the project. I know it’s been a long year with construction, but the end is in sight. I can’t wait to drive on the new road once it’s completed!

As usual, please reach out with any questions or concerns.

Supervisor Heather Knebel (R-Traer), the first elected female supervisor in Tama County history, represents District 3, including the townships of Spring Creek, Crystal, Perry, and parts of far northern Carlton (excluding Garwin) and Howard. She can be reached at 641-481-2532 or hknebel@tamacounty.org.