The Marion County Board of Supervisors approved a contract for county lobbying services at their meeting Tuesday.

The board approved a contract with Skinner & Paschke, PLLC for these services at the Iowa State Capitol. The agreement states that the firm shall monitor legislative activity in the Iowa General Assembly and the activity of the executive offices and agencies of the state for bills and amendments which affect or relate to tax policies and their impact to Marion County, local option sales tax, tax increment financing, and economic development opportunities, as well as work proactively to advance legislation to address regulatory oversight for non-coal mines and reclamation of sinkholes. 

Kelly Meyers with Skinner & Pashke spoke at the meeting and said it is important to continue addressing issues at the capitol such as the Knoxville sinkhole that reopened last year.  She said there is a lack of expertise with the government in terms of oversight on how an issue like the sinkhole should be addressed, along with concerns over authority and jurisdiction of what agencies need to come in and fix it correctly. Meyers said it’s important when something like this happens, the county should have someone they are able to call that is able to come and fix it correctly. Meyers added that this is difficult, as the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship only has jurisdiction over above-ground reclamation, unless it’s a coal mine. 

The agreement approved is for one year.