Wright County property owners will see no change in the tax levy rate in the coming fiscal year. The $7.24 per $1,000 of assessed valuation was approved by the county supervisors after a second hearing held April 22.
There will be an increase of 9.24 percent in taxable growth in the general basic fund, and 11.84 percent growth in the rural basic fund. However, the Iowa legislature capped the growth at 3 percent in both funds.
The supervisors were told Monday of a leak in an ExxonMobil pipeline that released over 2.500 barrels of carbon dioxide in the air April 3 in Louisiana. It took more than two hours to seal the leak. According to The Guardian, a British daily newspaper that publishes an online U.S. edition, there was no operator on site at the pump station where the leak occurred, and a camera monitoring system at the facility did not work. Exxon staff learned of the leak after it was reported to emergency services. Exxon is required to submit an incident report to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration within 30 days.
Supervisor Dean Kluss said the pipeline leak was discussed at last week’s Planning and Zoning meeting.
A new booster shot for the latest Covid vaccine is available, according to Sandy McGrath, director of the public health office. McGrath said the shot is available for senior citizens and anyone without insurance coverage for the vaccines.
McGrath added that the flu shot is also available. She said flu shot rates were down across the nation and in Iowa, leading to an increase in hospitalizations of people suffering from the flu.
In other business, the supervisors:
—agreed to ask Summit Carbon Solutions to reimburse the county for $920 in pipeline research;
—and heard that public hearings will need to be held concerning proposed changes to the floodplain ordinance. FEMA and the Iowa DNR are requiring updated definitions to the county ordinance that was passed in 2013. The hearing dates will be announced soon.
Supervisor Karl Helgevold was absent.
