<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3EWHrX_1GxpOsXi00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3EWHrX_1GxpOsXi00" width="1080" height="554" ><figcaption>Sunset on Lake Panorama’s main basin on a quiet September evening.</figcaption></figure>Take a boat ride around Lake Panorama, and it’s easy to forget the lake is simply a wider version of the Middle Raccoon River. Construction of the lake’s dam began in spring 1969. On June 8, 1970, the dam gate closed and Lake Panorama was born.While the Middle Raccoon River is Lake Panorama’s lifeblood, it does not come without a cost. Lake Panorama also receives a tremendous amount of silt from its 433-square-mile watershed, which is primarily agricultural cropland.As the river flows into the lake, the current slows and silt is deposited. While this process happens every hour of every day, the largest amounts are deposited during flood events. Significant floods in the lake’s 56-year history occurred in 1986, 1993, 1998, 2008 and again in 2013.An ongoing dredging program is the main line of defense that keeps Lake Panorama a functioning lake, surrounded by a 1,200-home residential development worth nearly $900 million in assessed value in 2025.Dredging and other water quality improvement efforts, and the funding mechanism that makes them possible, are complex — and there have been many challenges along the way. The beginning<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3TMO97_1GxpOsXi00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3TMO97_1GxpOsXi00" width="400" height="271" ><figcaption>RIZ purchased this dredge in 1999. The dredge was equipped with a giant “cutter” head on the end of what looked like a ladder. The dredge operator moved the ladder up and down, left and right. As it swept along the floor of the lake, the head would spin, picking up mud from the bottom of the lake.</figcaption></figure>Since 1998, the Lake Panorama Rural Improvement Zone, or RIZ, has allowed Lake Panorama home and lot owners to use a portion of their property tax dollars to fund erosion control efforts.Early efforts to remove silt from Lake Panorama began in 1984, but there was never enough money to keep up with the siltation problem, let alone get ahead of it.The lake was not only silting in, but there was genuine concern about the collapse of property values at Lake Panorama. Such a collapse would hurt not just the lake, but also Guthrie County, the Panorama School District and other taxing authorities in the area.In 1997, two members of the Iowa Legislature representing Guthrie County were approached with the idea of forming something similar to a tax increment financing, or TIF, district that could exist in an unincorporated area.Dwight Dinkla, chair of the House Appropriations Committee, and JoAnn Johnson, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, helped move a bill through both houses that was signed into law May 19, 1997.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2aGLKb_1GxpOsXi00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2aGLKb_1GxpOsXi00" width="400" height="300" ><figcaption>This photo, taken in 2008, shows dredge spoils collected from the bottom of Lake Panorama being deposited into a silt basin.</figcaption></figure>Dinkla and Johnson are siblings. Neither of them lived at Lake Panorama at the time they were serving in the legislature, but both do now.Iowa Code 357H allowed the creation of the Lake Panorama RIZ. This governmental unit consists of the Lake Panorama subdivision and is governed by a board of trustees. The RIZ board can incur indebtedness to pay for dredging and erosion control preventative practices and structures, securing the debt with future tax dollars. RIZ also can levy a standby tax for bond repayment.The Guthrie County Treasurer invoices Lake Panorama property owners for property taxes each year. Because the RIZ is technically a TIF, it receives a portion of the taxes generated by increases in property values.The RIZ received its first money in 1998. At the time it was created, the total assessed value of the RIZ district was about $117 million. This amount was the original frozen base of the Lake Panorama RIZ TIF.Dredging underway<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3aAtfZ_1GxpOsXi00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3aAtfZ_1GxpOsXi00" width="400" height="273" ><figcaption>The RIZ dredge is shown moving toward the Boulder Cove condo community. In 2018, it removed silt from the small coves there.</figcaption></figure>In 1999, the RIZ purchased a new dredge. The 70 tons of equipment arrived on five semis and cost $1.05 million. The dredge was assembled near the mouth of Burchfield Cove and soon put to work in the nearby main channel. At the same time, a smaller dredge already owned by the Lake Panorama Association started in Helen’s Cove before moving to Burchfield Cove.With two dredges operating, association officials said they were “looking forward to 1999 being the year when we are finally able, after several discouraging years, to get more silt out than comes in.” A total of 510,496 cubic yards of silt was pumped that year.In 2000, the dredge removed 975,808 cubic yards of silt. Most of the work was done from the Narrows area near Lodge Cove into the upper basin, areas that had not been open to boating for several years.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4AsvWf_1GxpOsXi00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4AsvWf_1GxpOsXi00" width="400" height="293" ><figcaption>It’s not easy for lake property owners to see how the RIZ dredge operates because it spends most of its time in Lake Panorama’s upper basin. Sometimes it makes its way closer. Such was the case in 2018 when the dredge worked to clear silt from the stream that runs into Burchfield Cove.</figcaption></figure>In 2001, the previous year’s record was surpassed again, as the dredging department pumped more than 1 million cubic yards.In 2002, the RIZ was in a position to tackle 20-acre islands that had formed in the north end of the lake. A Louisiana company was hired, which shipped an amphibious excavator and two barges by truck to Lake Panorama.The excavator pulled vegetation from the islands and loaded it onto the two barges, which were pushed by LPA workboats to shore. With the vegetation gone, the dredge removed the underlying silt that had caused the islands to form.This aggressive dredging program resulted in Lake Panorama property values skyrocketing. By 2002, the total assessed value of Lake Panorama had increased from $117 million to $191 million. The $191 million translated into a total taxable value of $102 million.This rapid increase in property values exposed a flaw in TIF law that was carried over to the law establishing the Lake Panorama RIZ.A perfect storm<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1HxyPt_1GxpOsXi00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1HxyPt_1GxpOsXi00" width="400" height="268" ><figcaption>RIZ purchased this new dredge in 2014 to replace the first one. The equipment arrived at Boulder Beach, brought in on nine semi-trailer trucks. Assembly of the various pieces of equipment took several days to complete. The purchase included a booster pump that made it possible to pump from the Fansler bridge in the far upper end of the development to the far corner of the County Basin silt facility.</figcaption></figure>TIF law states the TIF receives incremental property taxes generated on the assessed valuation that exceeds the frozen base amount. Based on 2002 numbers, the RIZ was entitled to taxes generated on $74 million, which would be $1.7 million.The total taxable value within the Lake Panorama RIZ district in 2002 was $102 million, which resulted in total property taxes of $2.35 million.If $1.7 million of the available $2.35 million went to the RIZ, then only $650,000 remained for the other taxing authorities in Guthrie County. This is significantly less than the $1.48 million the others were receiving before the RIZ was established. This defeated the “win-win” concept behind the creation of both TIFs and the Lake Panorama RIZ.The dramatic increase in Lake Panorama property values and the heavy percentage of residential properties within the RIZ district created a perfect storm. The frozen base was eroded by the TIF, which was never the intention of the legislation.Recognizing this concern, the Lake Panorama RIZ, the Panorama School District and the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors negotiated an agreement.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3TFpCU_1GxpOsXi00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3TFpCU_1GxpOsXi00" width="400" height="300" ><figcaption>A large pipe snakes from Lake Panorama’s upper basin up the hill to a silt basin that has been in use since 2006. The pipe carries silt collected from the lake bottom by the RIZ dredge.</figcaption></figure>The first step was to establish a new frozen base. The parties agreed RIZ would receive $700,000 in taxes for the 2003-04 fiscal year. This left other taxing authorities with $71 million in taxable value.Next, the parties agreed to split future incremental taxable value 50-50. Changing from assessed to taxable cut the amount of future money available in half, and the RIZ agreed to take only half of that amount. This was a significant concession by the RIZ, since Iowa Code provided 100% of assessed value to it.The 2002 agreement left the RIZ with about 40% of what it would have received under Iowa Code and entitled it to only 25% of the future growth the code permitted.Because of the 2002 compromise agreement, the “win-win” intent of TIF was restored among the taxing authorities within Guthrie County.The RIZ benefited from $700,000 in funding for erosion control. The other levy authorities benefited from an additional $1 million annually in property taxes that didn’t exist before the RIZ improved the quality of the lake through dredging.Another hurdle<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4ASd5K_1GxpOsXi00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4ASd5K_1GxpOsXi00" width="400" height="290" ><figcaption>The new dredge was launched from Boulder Beach May 12, 2014, and towed upstream while systems were tested and programmed. This dredge is completing its 13th year of service this fall, and will be replaced with a new dredge in spring 2027. This dredge and added equipment cost $2.2 million, yet after 13 years of operation, it recently appraised at nearly $3 million. It will be sold and the funds put toward the $5.5 million cost of its replacement.</figcaption></figure>The final component of the 2002 agreement was a decision to end the Lake Panorama RIZ program in 2018. Events leading up to the 2002 negotiations created hard feelings and suspicion about the benefits of RIZ. For these reasons, some members of the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors wanted to end RIZ.They recognized this could not be accomplished in 2002, as there was a significant amount of outstanding debt. The Board of Supervisors and the Lake Panorama RIZ Board of Trustees agreed to a sunset date of June 30, 2018.The impending sunset raised questions about the future of Lake Panorama.Without the RIZ, association dues would need to at least double to fund erosion control efforts. If members did not approve a dues increase, funding for erosion control would be scaled back dramatically. This would defer necessary dredging, resulting in a shallower lake and islands forming again in the upper basin.As the lake deteriorated, confidence in the future of Lake Panorama as a viable lake would collapse. Property values and the taxes generated by those properties would plummet, as they did in the 1980s.In 2013, the RIZ was generating $1.8 million annually to dredge and provide other water quality benefits to Lake Panorama. The RIZ and LPA boards planned to discuss the scheduled expiration with the Board of Supervisors that year, hoping for an extension.The RIZ law falls under Iowa Code Chapter 357H. When it was passed, the law mainly applied to Guthrie County. By 2013, there were five RIZ districts in Iowa, and the law had come under scrutiny elsewhere. It was reviewed for possible amendment in both the 2013 and 2014 sessions of the Iowa Legislature, but no legislation advanced.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=33JmrS_1GxpOsXi00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=33JmrS_1GxpOsXi00" width="400" height="260" ></figure>The Senate asked the RIZ districts and county boards of supervisors to convene and find common ground before the 2015 session. Lake Panorama officials led an effort to develop a jointly supported bill, which passed 97-0 in the House, 49-0 in the Senate and was signed into law May 7, 2015, by Gov. Terry Branstad. The bill did not receive a single dissenting vote throughout all subcommittees, committees and floor action.The bill included three key items of interest to the LPA membership.First, revenues would remain at current levels, with the RIZ continuing to receive taxes from 40% of the taxable property in the district. In practice, this results in roughly 35% of the taxes paid returning to the RIZ. This difference is due to Iowa Code’s protection of certain debt service levies, particularly those related to schools.Second, the law was expanded to include water quality, which allowed Lake Panorama RIZ to fund preventative practices like wetlands, streambank stabilization and cover crop incentives.Third, the law outlined a process by which RIZ districts could apply for renewal. Boards of supervisors would be required to grant a 20-year renewal if RIZ districts demonstrated a continued need.A formal request for renewal of the Lake Panorama RIZ was presented to the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors in October 2015. In January 2016, the board asked for an engineering report, an option available to it under Iowa law.That report was submitted to the board 13 months later. At a March 2017 public hearing, engineers from Shive-Hattery who helped create the report reviewed key points required by the new law.Data collected from the lake bottom in 2016 was compared with three previous studies in an effort to estimate how much sediment accumulates annually. The data and comparisons led to the conclusion sediment has been deposited in Lake Panorama at an average rate of 476,000 cubic yards each year since the lake was built. That accumulation was expected to continue at the same annual rate.The report revealed 9.3 million cubic yards of sediment had accumulated in Lake Panorama since it was formed, despite dredging that began in 1986. The engineers said a good goal for the RIZ would be to remove all the 9.5 million cubic yards expected to flow into Lake Panorama over the next 20 years, plus another 25% of the 9.3 million cubic yards accumulated over the past 20 years. If that happened, another 3.5 million cubic yards of sediment storage capacity would be needed.The report concluded the cost to effectively address Lake Panorama water quality and sedimentation issues over the next 20 years would be $50 million.At its regular meeting April 11, 2017, the Board of Supervisors approved a formal resolution to extend the Lake Panorama RIZ for 20 years. This ensured at least $50 million would be available for erosion control and water quality efforts at Lake Panorama through at least June 30, 2039.Editor’s Note: This is Part 1 of a two-part series about the Lake Panorama Rural Improvement Zone. It details what led to the creation of the RIZ In 1997 and the challenges and changes since. Part 2 will cover how RIZ funds are used to improve and protect Lake Panorama’s water quality. Look for it in the December Lake Panorama Times.</div></body>

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Take a boat ride around Lake Panorama, and it’s easy to forget the lake is simply a wider version of the Middle Raccoon River. Construction of the lake’s dam began in spring 1969. On June 8, 1970, the dam gate closed and Lake Panorama was born. While the...

LAKE PANORAMA RIZ CRITICAL TO LONG-TERM PROSPERITY

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Take a boat ride around Lake Panorama, and it’s easy to forget the lake is simply a wider version of the Middle Raccoon River. Construction of the lake’s d

LAKE PANORAMA RIZ CRITICAL TO LONG-TERM PROSPERITY

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