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Taxpayer offended by Assessors disrespect

Letters to Editor

To the editor As a taxpayer in Hamilton County, I am grateful to our elected County Board of Supervisors, Rick Young, April Ely and Mary Clausen for their diligence in the responsibilities of this office. One such responsibility is the budget for the General fund levy. Budget preparation for the next fiscal year begins in late fall working with each department head preparing the proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. The supervisors work with our elected county officials to make the most efficient use of the revenues allocated by the state of Iowa and property taxes collected from ...

Petitioners Takeaways From the Van Diest Medical Center Tax Levy Appeal Decision

Letters to Editor

Viewpoint: On behalf of the more than 400 Hamilton County residents who signed the petition challenging the Van Diest Medical Center property tax levy, we are disappointed by the State Appeal Board's decision not to reduce the requested levy. While we respect the Board's decision, we believe the hearing raised important issues that deserve continued public discussion. Our petition was based on two fundamental concerns. First, we believe the property tax levy is not necessary for Van Diest Medical Center to continue operating successfully. Based on the hospital's financial ...

Overbearing management

Letters to Editor

Letter to the editor, I think it is time that we rein in our city fathers and have a moratorium on condemning and buying property until they can take care of the property that they own. They can’t even tell you how many properties they own in Webster City. They set standards that you have to follow, but they need a reminder that they have property they forgot they have or they change the standard so they don’t have to care for them. For instance, if you buy a lot from them and build an expensive home, the city lots around you don’t have to be mowed and kept pretty. But your ...

Petitioners takeaways from the Van Diest Medical Center Tax Levy appeal decision

Letters to Editor

Viewpoint HEADING On behalf of the more than 400 Hamilton County residents who signed the petition challenging the Van Diest Medical Center (VDMC) property tax levy, we are disappointed by the State Appeal Board's decision not to reduce the requested levy. While we respect the Board's decision, we believe the hearing raised important issues that deserve continued public discussion. Our petition was based on two fundamental concerns. First, we believe the property tax levy is not necessary for Van Diest Medical Center to continue operating successfully. Based on the hospital's ...

Wisdom from around the world

Local Columns

Some Americans wrongly think we’re better, smarter or even more sophisticated than citizens of other nations. We have more toys, more technology, more money. Sadly, we also have more problems. It is worthwhile to consider the value of other cultures’ wisdom. Without advanced degrees and 21st century technology, even the less advanced cultures around the world have wisdom similar, even superior to our own. I enjoy studying the “folk wisdom” of other cultures. My mother was a first generation American, the daughter of immigrants from the Netherlands and Germany. Neither of my ...

Vote to stop the crazy

Letters to Editor

If we are supposedly the most powerful nation on earth, then this mid-term election in November is the most important thing you will do in your life. Because it is not “We the People,” it is “I the Dictator" will do what I want. “I the Dictator don’t care about inflation or the people and just feed my ego. I will start a war with a nation that has a choke point on oil and try to convince you it was about something else. That “drill baby drill” really worked, didn’t it? Republicans have been setting this up for years, starting with Citizens United to get unlimited what I ...