By Matt Kelley (Radio Iowa)

An Iowa State University study shows inflation is hitting rural residents harder that those in urban areas. Professor David Peters, a rural sociologist for ISU Extension and Outreach, says inflation took a bigger bite of rural household budgets throughout much of last year, but its effects were similar in rural and urban areas by year’s end.

“Over the past 10 years, inflation costs that we’re all familiar with, gas and food and everything else, has cut rural discretionary incomes by over a third,” Peters says. “What’s the discretionary income? Well, the discretionary income is essentially the money you have leftover at the end of the year after you pay your taxes and pay all your expenses.” That discretionary income is critical, he says, for handling unexpected or emergency expenses. In the past two years, Peters says inflation has cost the average rural household a total of more than eight thousand dollars.

“And that just means rural households have less money for unexpected health care costs,” Peters says. “A lot of rural people have their own health insurance, less money for unexpected home repairs, the furnace goes out, you need a new roof, unexpected car repairs, or even just for rural people to save for their own retirement or their kids’ future education.” Peters says he doesn’t foresee inflation letting up anytime soon.

“I would say likely not in the next two to three years,” Peters says. “I would say that the price increases we’ve seen are going to stay. They might not be increasing as much as they have been in the last two years, but all indications would be those inflation rates are here to stay.” The Federal Reserve recently raised interest rates in an effort to stave off further inflation, which Peters says raises the risk of the economy falling into a recession.

“People grumble about inflation and people grumble about paying more for the groceries and their gas,” Peters says, “but that’s a far less major problem than a recession where people would lose their jobs and lose their businesses.” Peters says rural households paid an extra $300 per month because of inflation in 2021, but the urban-rural gap in additional expenses was modest, around $15 a month. When transportation costs shot up in early 2022, largely due to higher gas prices, he says rural households felt it more. For the first two-thirds of the year, inflation cost rural households at least an extra $450 per month, which is $60-90 more than urban households.

See the full report online: https://smalltowns.soc.iastate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/163/2023/02/SOC-3106.pdf

By O. Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa)

Four bills introduced in the Iowa legislature this year have been designed to set a new statewide policy for determining how much elected officials in Iowa’s 99 counties are paid, but lawmakers are still working out the details.

Senator Mike Klimesh, a Republican from Spillville, said an alternative that may be debated in the Senate this week is still being drafted. “We’re going to not allow counties to not have a compensation board. The supervisors must have a compensation board in the county,” Klimesh said during a Senate Local Government Committee meeting. “We’re going to make the county compensation board show their work.”

Klimesh indicated it would involve showing base salaries for all county officials who are elected to their positions and how those salaries compare to pay for officials in counties of similar size.

The Iowa House has already approved a bill that would let county supervisors dissolve compensation boards and make the salary decisions themselves. The bill also forbids counties from reducing one elected official’s salary, while all the rest are increased. “They could not be targeted for a reduction in pay for any retaliatory or political reasons,” Representative Amy Nielsen, a Democrat from North Liberty, said during House debate.

Compensation boards currently meet annually to make salary recommendations for each elected official in their county — the supervisors as well as the county attorney, county auditor, county treasurer and county sheriff. The supervisors may reduce the board’s recommendations, but current state law says they have to make the same percentage reduction for all officials.

By Matt Kelley (Radio Iowa)

Today marks the start of Severe Weather Awareness Week in Iowa, as residents are reminded about some of the hazards that may be coming in the weeks and months ahead. Meteorologist Chad Hahn at the National Weather Service, says tornadoes are one of the worst risks to lives and property, and last year, we had plenty.

“In Iowa, we had 43 tornadoes observed across the state,” Hahn says. “That’s slightly lower than our normal or average historically, which is right around 50 that we typically observe. Of course, we’ve had some years that we’ve had over 100, so there’s wide variability when it comes to the number of tornadoes.” Each day this week, there will be a different weather focus. Today, Hahn says, they’re zeroed in on severe thunderstorms.

Hahn says, “We’re talking about what requires a thunderstorm to be considered severe, which is one-inch or larger hail and/or thunderstorm wind gusts in excess of 58 miles per hour.” Other days this week will center on things like flooding, the difference between a watch and a warning, and how best to stay informed through old-school weather radios or smartphone apps. A statewide tornado drill is scheduled for Wednesday at 10 A-M. Hahn says the weather service is opening a series of storm spotter classes today in Marion County.

“We picked about 20 spots this year, many of them that we haven’t been since before COVID, actually, physically in the location, so we’re excited to get out into the communities that we serve,” Hahn says. “I’m happy to say we’re going to be getting into a lot of the far reaches of our areas of responsibility, including Emmet County, way up in the northwest, all the way down to Taylor County in our southwest.” Learn more at www.weather.gov/dmx.