Attorneys Maria Brownell and Conner Wasson have been elected shareholders at Ahlers & Cooney, P.C. Maria Brownell is a member of the firm’s Litigation and Public Finance Practice Groups, and works with public entities including cities, city utilities, counties, special districts and other local governments. She represents clients in both...
Elizabeth Heffernan has joined Ahlers & Cooney, P.C. as a member of the Public Law Practice Area, focused in the areas of Education Law, Litigation, and Employment Law. She will be working with K-12 school districts and Higher Education institutions, where she will assist clients on a variety of issues,...
Olivia Brooks has joined the Ahlers & Cooney law firm as an Associate Attorney. She will be working with a broad base of clients, including privately-held corporations of all sizes, insurance companies, and individuals, as well as educational institutions and government agencies. In the area of Workers’ Compensation, she will...
By Attorneys Olivia Brooks, Rebecca Reif, and Lindsay Vaught On Tuesday, September 24, 2019, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) announced a final rule updating the thresholds for "exempt" status from overtime. Due to an increase in the salary threshold applicable to most "white collar" exempt employees, 1.3 million...
By Attorney Ann Smisek Here are the steps and important dates for the recertification election process for collective bargaining agreements that expire June 30, 2020. 1. NO LATER THAN AUGUST 26, 2019, the employer must electronically submit to the Iowa Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) a collective bargaining agreement with...
By Attorneys Beth Grob, Ron Peeler and Jim Wainwright Distribution of Sales Tax Revenue The one cent state sales, services, and use tax has been extended from December 31, 2029 to January 1, 2051. The new law provides for an increase in the amount of sales tax revenue dedicated to...
By Attorney Jenna Bishop During the 2019 session the Iowa legislature spent considerable time discussing changes to property taxes and limits on local governments' budgets. The Iowa House of Representatives approved a bill addressing these points, Senate File 634, in the early morning of April 25, 2019, after the Iowa...
~ Ranked #1 in Iowa (Competitive Issues) in 12 of Last 13 Years ~ As reported in the February 27, 2019 issue of the Bond Buyer’s Midwest Yearend Review, Ahlers & Cooney, P.C. ranked No. 1 in Iowa for Bond Counsel: Competitive Issues for 2018, with $1,339.5 Million in total...
By Attorney Maria Brownell Two bills affecting local elections take effect on July 1, 2019. House File 566, which was signed into law on May 11, 2017 ("2017 law"), and House File 692, which was signed into law on May 16, 2019 ("2019 law"), include changes to election dates and...
By Attorney Jenna Bishop Senate File 283, "Relating to Conflicts of Interest in Certain Government Public Contracts," was signed into law by Governor Reynolds on May 3, 2019 and will go into effect on July 1, 2019. Senate File 283 increases the amount of "benefit" that school board directors, county...
