State Auditor Sand Delivers ‘Sweet’ Awards to PIE Winners in Northeast Iowa
Clayton County
State Auditor Rob Sand launched his PIE awards tour on Thursday, hand-delivering pies and certificates to four winners in northeast Iowa.
PIE stands for Public Innovations and Efficiencies. Sand launched the nationally recognized program in 2019 – it’s designed to help Iowa communities slash waste and save tax dollars by sharing ideas to improve efficiency. Around 500 counties, cities, and school districts across the state submit annual entries referred to as “PIE Recipes.”
Sand says small changes can lead to significant savings for local governments – and when they share their ideas statewide, the savings grow, potentially into millions of dollars. He says that’s why he’s proposed legislation to create a state-backed PIE program that would include compiling these money-saving strategies in an annual report.
Last week, Sand visited our corner of the state to deliver PIE awards to Clayton County, the cities of Guttenberg and Spragueville, and the Allamakee Community School District. Their “PIE Recipes” included reducing travel costs by encouraging teleconferencing, creating a food rescue program, purchasing energy-efficient appliances, and repairing broken faucets and toilets to reduce water consumption.
Auditor Sand purchases the pies from local bakeries when possible – and the winners get to request their favorite pie, with last week’s requests including raspberry, blueberry, pumpkin and triple berry.
Guttenberg
Spragueville
Allamakee Community School District
photos courtesy of State Auditor’s Office
