504 West Main Street, Waukon, IA 52172
Iowa Length of Service Award Program
Clear, practical help for Iowa departments and municipalities establishing a LOSAP, preparing an annual funding application, and supporting the volunteers the program is intended to serve.
Iowa LOSAP Enrollment Center
One packet walks a new sponsor through initial setup. The other gives an existing sponsor a repeatable annual process for FY27 reenrollment and funding.
For an Iowa fire department, EMS service, municipality, township, or eligible nonprofit establishing LOSAP for the first time.
For a sponsor with an established LOSAP that needs to update its annual roster, confirm changes, apply for matching funds, and complete the year correctly.
You do not need to know which packet applies or have every answer ready. Start with a short conversation about where your department is today.
Already participating in a Heartland-supported LOSAP? Create or access your secure financial-planning account.
Plain-English Overview
Iowa's Length of Service Award Program recognizes volunteer service by allowing an eligible municipality or nonprofit emergency-service organization to establish a tax-deferred benefit program for qualifying volunteers. The State of Iowa may match local contributions up to $500 per eligible participant.
The program can support volunteer firefighters, emergency medical service providers, and reserve peace officers. Participation is optional. A sponsor that chooses to establish LOSAP must adopt eligibility guidelines, create the required tax-deferred fund, provide the local match, and complete the state application process.
LOSAP is not simply a grant application. The state funding process and the actual plan setup have to work together: governing action, plan documents, provider implementation, a secure participant roster, funding, participant accounts, and annual administration.
FY27 at a Glance
These are the items a department, city, township, or nonprofit should understand before the application window gets busy.
The FY27 Iowa LOSAP application window opens August 1, 2026.
Applications must be submitted by September 30, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. Central.
The state match is capped at $500 per eligible volunteer, including volunteers serving multiple organizations.
The state provides $3 for each $1 provided locally, up to the $500 state maximum per volunteer.
The state provides $1 for each $1 provided locally, up to the $500 state maximum per volunteer.
For 2026, the federal limit on aggregate LOSAP awards accruing for one year of service is $8,000 for a bona fide volunteer. A sponsor may adopt a lower amount.
Iowa may match local LOSAP funding up to $500 per eligible volunteer. That is the maximum state grant contribution—not necessarily the maximum total annual award under the local plan. For 2026, the federal Section 457(e)(11) limit on aggregate length-of-service awards accruing for one year of service is $8,000. The adopted plan may provide less, and the current plan documents, Iowa requirements, and professional guidance control.
Federal limit source: IRS Notice 2025-67.
A Coordinated Plan Structure
Heartland currently coordinates Iowa LOSAP implementation through the HeroPlus program, a national LOSAP structure designed specifically for emergency-services volunteers.
How the Working Parts Fit Together
HeroPlus combines investment choices and third-party administration within one coordinated plan structure. Lincoln Financial provides the investment platform, recordkeeping administration, web support, and ongoing program support. The third-party administrator supports the local service agreement, plan design, compliance work, and sponsor administration. Heartland serves as the local point of contact connecting the sponsor, provider, administrator, and participants.
Adopt the program, establish eligibility and vesting rules, authorize decisions, certify service, and provide local funding.
Support plan design, the local service agreement, compliance processes, and ongoing sponsor administration.
Provide the investment platform, recordkeeping administration, participant website, and ongoing program support.
Coordinate implementation locally, assist sponsors, educate volunteers, and help participants work through account and investment decisions.
The practical value is not pretending responsibility disappears. It is assigning the work clearly, documenting the handoffs, and reducing the chance that an important task falls between the municipality, department, administrator, provider, and participant.
Program features and responsibilities are governed by the current plan, provider, third-party-administrator, and service agreements. Lincoln Financial Group is not affiliated with Heartland Wealth Partners or Osaic Wealth, Inc.
A Repeatable Workflow
The work becomes manageable when the sponsor, department, state application, provider setup, and participant follow-through move in the right order.
Identify the applying legal organization, governing authority, authorized signer, portal users, department contacts, and fiscal contact.
Confirm the operating-budget category, local match, annual eligibility standards, contribution design, and who certifies service.
Complete governing-board action, eligibility guidelines, plan documents, provider agreements, and the sponsor implementation file.
Certify eligible volunteers and reconcile the required state roster fields with the provider census and participant-account records.
Complete the Opportunity Iowa profile and application, then track the award, contract, state funds, local match, and plan deposit.
Finish account setup, beneficiaries, investment conversations, online access, annual maintenance, closeout, and next year's workflow.
Local Support Matters
Heartland Wealth Partners is an independent local office in Waukon—not a national call center. We believe this work goes better when the chief, clerk, trustee, and volunteers know who will answer the phone, understand the department, and follow through on the next step.
Some parts of LOSAP happen through state portals, provider systems, formal documents, and national organizations. The relationship should still feel like a handshake.
Our role is to connect the sponsor, department, administrator, provider, and participants so questions do not disappear between organizations. When something changes or someone needs help, there is a local point of contact who already understands the work that has been completed.
Heartland's Role
The state application creates funding, but the volunteer still needs to understand the account, make investment and beneficiary decisions, and connect the benefit to the rest of their financial life.
Heartland can provide education and planning conversations before, during, and after enrollment. That means a volunteer can ask how the LOSAP account fits with debt, family goals, retirement savings, insurance, beneficiaries, taxes, and the other decisions that do not stop at the edge of the plan.
Organize contacts, decisions, census needs, provider implementation, local approval, and a realistic project timeline.
Work through the document checklist, match calculation, portal preparation, roster reconciliation, funding, closeout, and next year's repeatable file.
Help volunteers complete account steps, register online, update contact information, and know where to turn when something changes.
Explain the available choices in plain English and help participants consider time horizon, risk tolerance, and the role LOSAP plays beside other savings.
Help volunteers think through cash flow, debt, emergency savings, workplace benefits, and the financial priorities competing for each dollar.
Connect LOSAP with retirement planning, IRAs and employer plans, insurance needs, beneficiary decisions, estate-planning coordination, and tax-aware conversations.
Heartland can coordinate the process, provider relationships, participant education, and financial guidance, but the sponsor and governing board retain responsibility for legal adoption, eligibility decisions, authorized signatures, local funding, and compliance with the controlling state instructions and plan documents. Legal, tax, accounting, and grant professionals should be involved when their advice is needed.
Common Iowa LOSAP Questions
Open any question for a straightforward answer. The official state program page and current application always control if requirements change.
A municipality or nonprofit organization authorized by law to provide emergency services may apply. The applying organization's legal name and taxpayer information should match the W-9 used for the Opportunity Iowa organization profile and application.
The program can recognize qualifying volunteer firefighters, emergency medical service providers, and reserve peace officers. The sponsor must adopt eligibility guidelines and consistently certify which volunteers satisfy those requirements for the service year.
The state match is up to $500 per eligible volunteer. For departments with annual operating budgets below $100,000, the formula is $3 state for each $1 local. For budgets of $100,000 or more, it is $1 state for each $1 local. A person serving multiple organizations may receive no more than $500 total in state matching funds.
No. The $500 amount is the maximum Iowa state matching contribution per eligible volunteer. For 2026, the federal Section 457(e)(11) limit on aggregate LOSAP awards accruing for one year of service is $8,000. A sponsor may adopt a lower annual award, and the controlling plan documents and current requirements determine the actual amount.
HeroPlus is designed specifically for emergency-services volunteers and combines investment choices and third-party administration within one coordinated plan structure. Lincoln Financial provides the investment platform, recordkeeping administration, web support, and program support; a third-party administrator supports plan design and compliance; Heartland coordinates locally and assists sponsors and participants.
No. A coordinated provider structure creates clearer roles and handoffs, but the sponsor and governing board remain responsible for adopting the program, establishing and applying eligibility rules, authorizing decisions, providing local funding, and following the controlling state requirements and plan documents.
All applicants should be prepared to provide the governing-board resolution adopting the program guidelines, a completed and signed W-9, and an eligible-volunteer roster containing each person's name, date of birth, last four digits of Social Security number, request amount, and years of service. Nonprofit applicants have additional documentation requirements.
No. An existing sponsor generally updates its annual eligibility roster, confirms current organization and plan information, applies for the new funding round, completes the award and deposit steps, and performs participant maintenance. Material changes to the sponsor, eligibility rules, provider, or plan may require updated documents.
No. This public page and its contact links should not be used to transmit dates of birth, Social Security information, account numbers, or completed participant rosters. Sensitive data should move through the approved state portal, secure provider process, or another authorized secure method.
The state says contracts are issued within 30 days of award notice, must be executed within 45 days of issuance, and grant funds are disbursed after contract execution. Proof of payment and closeout documentation are due within 90 days of disbursement. Awards may be reduced proportionally if eligible requests exceed the annual allocation.
Begin by identifying whether the department is establishing LOSAP for the first time or returning for another funding cycle. Request the Iowa LOSAP packets, gather the prior-year file if one exists, and identify the applying organization, local decision-makers, timeline, and next action.
Official Resources
The packets and this page help organize the work. The official State of Iowa program page, Opportunity Iowa Portal, and current application control the actual submission.
Current application dates, eligibility rules, required documents, matching formulas, award details, and state resources.
Visit the official Iowa LOSAP pageCreate or access the individual and organization profiles used to apply for funding and manage an award.
Open the Opportunity Iowa PortalState guidance for account creation, ID.me authentication, supported browsers, organization profiles, and portal support.
Read the official portal guidanceIowa LOSAP Team: losap@IowaEDA.com
Clear. Calm. Practical.
Whether your department is starting from scratch, catching up on last year's implementation, or preparing the FY27 application, we can identify the next step and build a process that is easier to repeat.