You may not be aware of the serious problem facing Tama County. The Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa (Meskwaki) now own 6338 acres of Tama County land. This has been placed in trust which makes all 6338 acres qualify for property tax exemption. Fiscal year 2017 shows a loss of $558,708 in property tax. This excludes all the new houses and the Casino. The tax on these properties is estimated to be $2,952,469 and would need to be added on to the $558,708.

If you are a Tama County property owner you are feeling the result of this loss. For several years as the Meskwaki purchased more land, your taxes have increased. Property owners have received their latest Statement from the County Treasurer. Our statement showed an increase of 13.2% How long can this go on?

If more property is purchased by the Tribe it will result with more property tax to be paid by those still owning land. With the decrease in property ownership and the increase in property tax, it has become a huge problem to landowners.

It also poses a problem for county supervisors. Most expenses of the county are mandated. Therefore supervisors have no choice but to increase property tax.

Theoretically one farm could could be the last farm not to be owned by the Meskwaki. Who would pay then?

With these facts in mind I have deep concerns on the coming election candidate, Christina Blackcloud for House District 72. I feel she is too close to this problem to be able to fairly represent those owning land other than the settlement. How will she handle this problem?

Losing this amount of property tax money is an extreme hardship on low and middle income residents, and senior citizens. This will also have an ill effect on farmers and businesses. It proposes an extreme hardship on young people attempting to start a business or set themselves up in farming.

Democrats claim they are working to help these people who will be seriously affected, but are backing a candidate who will most likely not be able to fairly represent the district other than the settlement.

The Meskwaki settlement has declared themselves as a separate nation. If Blackcloud is a member of the Meskwaki Tribe I assume they will also they will also be her first choice for representation.

Think long and hard before you cast your vote. Hopefully you will NOT vote for Blackcloud.