ISU Extension says it will close offices due to budget cuts

State budget cuts are also affecting the Iowa State University Extension Service.The I-S-U Extension works with government agencies, schools and 4-H groups to provide educational programs. The extension budget has been slashed 12-percent by state and federal cuts this year, forcing the closure of the Mason City and Cedar Rapids regional offices at the end of this month, and possibly some county offices in the near future. Extension officials say they are also going to have to start charging fees for many of the services that used to be free, but they still plan to set aside 1-point-2-million dollars over the next three years to help build a new headquarters on the Ames campus. I-S-U Extension currently employs 24-hundred people, 950 of those full-time, with 100 county and seven regional offices.