Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand, far right, speaks to members of the public during his annual Tama County town hall which was held on the grounds of the Tama County Courthouse in Toledo last Thursday, Oct. 3. Sand is currently Iowa’s only statewide elected Democrat. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

TOLEDO – Under the shade of a giant oak tree and just a stone’s throw away from the local county Republicans’ campaign office, State Auditor Rob Sand – Iowa’s only statewide elected Democrat – spoke to about a dozen people last Thursday afternoon on the lawn of the Tama County Courthouse as part of his annual 99-county town hall tour.

After arriving about 15 minutes past the scheduled start time of 3:30 p.m., Sand’s first order of business was to help the group of mostly retired Iowans – who had been waiting for him in the bright, hot sun near the courthouse front doors – move uphill to a shaded portion of Toledo’s town square. As the group, which included folks from multiple Tama County communities, took their seats in lawn chairs and on a war monument’s stoop, Sand stood in front of them dressed in dark jeans and a somewhat rumpled light blue pinstripe shirt rolled up at the sleeves.

“If anybody has to leave early,” Sand said above the din of some nearby utility work, “just let me know and shout at me if you have questions for me. The last thing I want is someone to come out and then not get a chance to ask questions.”

He then began the town hall much like he usually does by bringing up his signature, completely voluntary PIE Checklist program he started back in 2020 during his first term as state auditor to help public entities save money by implementing simple, common sense things.

“PIE is our government efficiency program. [We’re] just trying to find ways for local government to save tax dollars. It stands for Public Innovations and Efficiencies. We named it that because that spells ‘PIE’ which means the award that you get if you win is pie which means I get to give out a lot of pie which means I should eat a lot of pie because that would be rude if I give you pie and I didn’t have a bite,” Sand explained – his audience lightly chuckling by the end of the run-on sentence.

Rob Sand assists a member of the public on Thursday, Oct. 3, as he moved the location of his Tama County town hall from out front of the courthouse entrance to a shady spot on the grounds. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Of the roughly 500 PIE-participating entities this year, Tama County boasts eight including the cities of Chelsea, Clutier, Gladbrook, and Tama; the school districts of North Tama, South Tama, and Green Mountain-Garwin; and the Tama County Auditor’s Office.

“So if you know folks tied into the local government in those spots, tell them thanks for participating in the program. … I like [the program] because it’s a chance to recognize good when good is being done.”

Reporting to the people

Sand then pivoted to highlighting a couple of his office’s recent reports – out of the hundreds issued every year – including one on property taxes, something that has certainly been top of mind for many Iowans following the 2023 assessment which bumped taxes up significantly.

“Property taxes are a local issue … So you end up with about 400 different property tax combinations across the state – unique districts,” Sand explained before addressing the commonly held belief that people living in more prosperous areas – “folks who have the nicer house … folks who have lots of property” – pay more in property taxes.

State Auditor Rob Sand listens as an audience member at his Oct. 3 Tama County town hall brings up the privatization of Iowa Medicaid which was initiated nearly a decade ago by former Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

“What we found in doing this report is that actually, when you look across the entire state, the opposite is true. It’s the areas that are more working class, more rural that are struggling a little bit more that actually on average pay a higher levy rate than the most prosperous parts of the state of Iowa.”

Sand said he was surprised by the report’s outcome and although his office has no specific recommendations for the Iowa legislature – which is wholly controlled by Republicans – “knowing the truth is a good thing” and that the report was “one more thing [legislators] can be aware of” in the next session.

He also brought up a report concerning the long-controversial Iowa Fertilizer Company plant located in southeast Iowa’s Lee County. According to recent reporting by the Des Moines Register, the plant – which was built using $240 million in state tax incentives – was purchased at the end of August for $3.6 billion by Koch Ag & Energy Solutions. A purchase that Sand had opposed and urged federal agencies not to allow. The plant began operations some seven years ago.

“You talk to farmers these days – they’re getting squeezed left and right. One of the things that’s been squeezing them for a long time is the price of fertilizer, the price of inputs.”

One of the reasons for the squeeze, Sand said, is consolidation in the fertilizer industry,

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

“There are just a handful of big boys that really control the supply of fertilizer so they’re able to dictate prices to some degree.”

Over a decade ago, former Republican Iowa Gov. Terry Brandstad recognized that such consolidation was a problem and subsequently promoted building the Iowa Fertilizer Company, Sand said, as “an independent fertilizer plant right here in Iowa.”

That ‘independent plant’ – meant to help Iowa’s family farmers – will more than likely soon be owned by, as Sand put it, “one of the big boys.”

“Now, there’s not a lot a state auditor can do about that,” he continued. “But we did what we thought was the right thing to do and pointed out to the federal regulators … that taxpayers have an interest in this that was unique. … taxpayers helped construct this.”

Whether or not the sale to Koch is finalized, Sand said he felt preparing the report was not for naught.

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

“The bottom line to me is, I think this was the right thing to do. We put an investment there for a good reason – to try to keep prices lower. And – even if we do lose this – I don’t expect to win every battle. But it seemed like the right thing to do and I’d do it over again now [if] the same facts were in front of us.”

After discussing a report about clearing “pathways to public service for people that don’t have a four year college degree” including those with military experience, he addressed a piece of legislation signed into law by Gov. Reynolds in the spring of 2023 that effectively kneecaps his ability as State Auditor to access certain pieces of information while conducting a public audit.

“You do not need to trust me that [this law is] a bad idea because the entire auditing and accounting profession from across the country wrote to Iowa legislators to tell them it was bad,” Sand said. “The bottom line is, the purpose is making it harder to find waste, fraud, and abuse, right?”

Vouchers

One of Sand’s final topics was Gov. Reynolds’ signature legislation, the Students First Act which was signed into law in January of 2023 and provides public funds in the form of educational savings accounts – known as ESAs or private school vouchers – to families whose children attend private schools. As part of his discussion, Sand addressed the contract held by the company that manages the voucher program. A contract his office spent six months trying to access, he said, while being “stonewalled.”

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

“The contract was signed and then just two months later the cost of it to taxpayers doubled. Nothing else in the contract changed. They weren’t providing additional services – they’re just getting paid more. … [Iowa] is getting the same amount of services for twice the money.”

Discussion surrounding ESAs eventually led to a brief discussion about the privatization of Iowa Medicaid and, finally, the recently enacted Area Education Agency (AEA) overhaul bill.

“The whole idea behind [the AEA] was we want kids growing up in small towns in the rural areas to have those opportunities to reach their full potential, too,” Sand said. He then explained that his mother, Leslie Sand, spent her career working for the AEA as a school physical therapist, traveling around to different school districts in northeast Iowa providing services to students.

“To me, I just, I think that program was a great idea. And now [districts] are not going to get the same level of services [and] at a much higher cost. It’s sort of like, now they’re playing 52-card pickup – [districts] don’t know where to look to try to get services lined up.”

“I think that program was a good idea,” a 96-year-old woman in Sand’s small audience firmly offered up as he spoke about the bill.

The audience

Sand’s reception in Tama County this year during his 45-minute town hall was more than favorable. And it became clear relatively quickly that his audience – which spanned the political spectrum and included staunch Democrats, declared Republicans, and even a 19-year-old independent – felt a kinship with the plainspoken, everyman state auditor.

“Even a blind hog finds an acorn now and then,” Sand said at one point during the discussion, drawing a hearty laugh. Being relatable is certainly part of his persona, as is talking about things that Iowans do seem to care about – their tax dollars and how those dollars are being spent. Whether Iowans vote for their interests or not is a story for another day.

While the question continues to churn throughout the state (and beyond) of whether the lone Democrat in statewide office aspires to run for the governor’s office someday or not, his town halls do seem to be winning him fans.

As he was preparing to leave Toledo on Thursday, a Republican candidate for Tama County Supervisor approached Sand with a few questions. While they spoke, the man’s campaign sign was blatantly visible in the window of the county GOP office located behind Sand and across the street.

Before shaking his hand and bidding him farewell, the man told Sand he had his vote. And while he did not indicate which vote that might be – Sand is not running for reelection this year and was visiting Tama County in only his official capacity – it was hard to miss the humble smile that spread across Sand’s face in response.