There’s something fishy going on with federal Homeland Security dollars, both across America and in Iowa.

Small rural states (and smaller rural towns), which aren’t terrorist targets, are receiving exorbitant amounts of money from the federal government. Example: According to The New York Times, Alaska recently gave $233,000 to the Northwest Arctic Borough, a town of 7,300 located near the Arctic Circle, to buy decontamination tents, head lamps, night-vision goggles, bullhorns and rubber boots. Alaska received roughly $92 per resident in security funds during the last two years, compared to $22 in California.

This is a problem within Iowa as well. Our state is a microcosm of the country, where small towns get proportionally more money than our big cities. Des Moines, Iowa’s biggest city, will receive $250,000; while Sioux City, population 31,600, gets $300,000.

It doesn’t stop there. Some small towns have a problem that big cities can only dream about: finding ways to spend all their federal money. Pocahontas (a bustling metropolis of 1,906 people), got $20,000 to purchase helmets, shields and body armor, according to The Des Moines Register. Meanwhile, the Des Moines Police Department is scraping by in an effort to afford 35 similar helmets.

Why do small states like Alaska get such a big slice of the pie? Because current funding formulas guarantee each state 0.75 percent of the funds available. As a result, 40 percent of funds are given to states like Wyoming, leaving only 60 percent for discretionary allocations.

Why do smaller cities get so much money? Because the three criteria for spending are population density, presence of critical infrastructure and credible threats. This is why Des Moines and Sioux City get the same amount of money.

Let’s be honest with ourselves — as much as we want to be on the national stage, Iowa’s small towns are not important to terrorists. There’s a reason why The Onion ran a story called “Security Beefed Up at Cedar Rapids Public Library,” a hilarious satire about Iowa librarians taking security measures against al-Qaida.

Unfortunately, with the way we’re pumping millions into security for small-town Iowa, truth is becoming stranger than fiction. We need to reform the system and replace Washington’s formula with strategy-directed spending, so that more money goes to real targets.

We’re trying to cover everyone in America. In the process, we’re spread out so thin that we’re covering everyone moderately and nobody well.