Iowa switches to biennial road map

DES MOINES - The next Iowa transportation map is expected to hit vehicle glove compartments in 2017.

Paul Trombino, director of the state Department of Transportation, told Gov. Terry Branstad during a budget hearing Tuesday his agency is transitioning to a biennial road map that will save money and result in a reduction of 1 million maps that are printed every two years.

'We think that hits the need,” said Trombino, who said 1.8 million transportation maps in the standard foldout paper form will be printed every other year.

An electronic version of the map is available online at iowadot.gov.

The budget proposal the DOT director submitted showed zero state money for this fiscal year and a $242,000 request for fiscal 2017 to produce the next batch of transportation maps.

'A lot of young people don't use maps at all, I'm finding out,” Branstad said, noting the use of global positioning systems.

IPERS' reports on investment return

DES MOINES - Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System returned 3.96 percent for its 346,000 members during the state fiscal year ending June 30, according to a budget hearing Tuesday.

Donna Mueller, IPERS chief executive officer, told Gov. Terry Branstad the 3.96 percent was below IPERS' actuarial assumption of a 7.5 percent return on investment in a somewhat down market year.

But, she said, the agency lowered its unfunded actuarial liability by $89 million and was able to pay $1.7 billion in benefits in fiscal 2015.

'I think it shows really positive growth and stability,” said Mueller, noting the system's ratio of actuarial assets to liabilities was 83.7 percent for a trust fund totaling $28 billion.

Gazette Des Moines Bureau