Executive orders trickling down to Greene County

Rick Morain

It usually takes a while for specific changes by the federal government to work their way down to the local level. But after about 100 days of President Trump’s second term, executive orders have begun to directly tighten the screws in Greene County.

Three examples:

GREENE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Humanities Iowa, using grant money deployed by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH, an independent federal agency), has for years granted funds to Iowa speakers who visit local forums such as historical societies throughout the state. The Greene County Historical Society for at least 10 years has enjoyed an annual Iowa Humanities speaker’s presentation funded by that grant.

This year’s talk, scheduled for August 17, is to be “Speaking with the Enemy,” a presentation about World War Two prisoners of war who, upon their capture, spent the duration of the war at POW camps in Iowa. The traditional process in Greene County for funding the talks is for the local historical society to pay $25 of the speaker’s fee, then fund the balance with the Humanities Iowa grant. The POW speaker’s fee is $400.

In early April, Humanities Iowa received notice that Trump and Elon Musk’s federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has cut at least 600 NEH grants, including the one that helps fund the Iowa speakers’ statewide presentations.

The Greene County Historical Society still plans to host the POW speaker. It negotiated a fee reduction with the speaker, who is dropping his charge to a minimal $100, and the organization will also pass the hat to collect additional funds. But Margaret Hamilton, longtime program director for the local historical society, says this year will be the last for the statewide speakers’ presentations here.

TREES FOREVER

Former President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 included $2 billion for reforestation projects across the nation, and Iowa receives some of that. Trees Forever in Greene County was granted $30,000 over a two-year period to replace public trees lost to the ash borer infestation, and to add to the community’s tree canopy.

Trees Forever planned to plant about 100 trees this spring and another 100 this fall using the grant. But thanks to DOGE, the funds are up in the air. As a result, Trees Forever here will probably reduce its spring planting project to 65 trees, with no idea whether the fall planting project will proceed.

Planting the 65 trees is scheduled to begin this week, using Trees Forever’s standard $5,000 grant from Alliant Energy, some of Trees Forever’s reserves, and the annual $2,000 appropriation from the city of Jefferson. City crews provide lots of sweat equity and muscle to help with the project.

COUNTY ROAD PROJECT FUNDING

The Greene County Board of Supervisors last week approved issuing $11.5 million in bonds to help fund county road projects. The funds to pay the bonds will come from tax increment financing (TIF) revenues from the wind turbines in the northeast part of the county.

The supervisors and their bond financing firm in December and early January anticipated a net interest rate just short of 4.00 percent for the county. But the bonding firm’s representative, in his presentation to the board, said that the net interest rate for last week’s sale is 4.45 percent.

The reason? The bond representative said Trump’s tariffs and their accompanying uncertainty in financial markets drove up the bond sale interest rate.

The interest boost of one-half of one percent, the representative told The Herald, will cost the county an average of about $7,500 per year over the 20-year life of the bonds. That works out to an extra $150,000.

We are likely to feel other effects of Trump’s initiatives locally in the near future. They may already be incubating.

Rick Morain is a reporter and columnist with the Jefferson Herald.