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HomeMy WebLinkAboutA001 - January 31, 2025, Special Meeting of the Ames City Council Minutes, Full1 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE AMES CITY COUNCIL AMES, IOWA JANUARY 31, 2025 The Special Meeting of the Ames City Council was called to order by Mayor John Haila at 2:00 p.m. on the 31st day of January, 2025, in the City Council Chambers in City Hall, 515 Clark Avenue, pursuant to law. Present were Council Members Bronwyn Beatty-Hansen, Gloria Betcher, Amber Corrieri, Tim Gartin, Rachel Junck, and Anita Rollins. Ex officio Emily Boland was also present. SPONSORSHIP OF 2025 NAACP FREEDOM FUND BANQUET: Mayor Haila noted that several City departments sponsor the event in addition to the City Council. Moved by Betcher, seconded by Corrieri, to adopt RESOLUTION NO. 25-037 authorizing the expenditure of $1,000 from Council Contingency Account to sponsor 2025 NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet. Roll Call Vote: 4-0-2, Gartin and Rollins abstaining due to conflict of interest. Motion declared carried unanimously. THIRD READING AND ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE NO. 4546 ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT TO ALLOW SOCIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS IN THE SINGLE- FAMILY CONSERVATION OVERLAY (O-SFC) ZONING DISTRICT WITH THE APPROVAL OF SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR CERTAIN PROPERTIES ABUTTING COMMERCIAL ZONING: Moved by Gartin, seconded by Beatty-Hansen, to adopt ORDINANCE NO. 4546 on Zoning Text Amendment to allow Social Service Providers in the Single- Family Conservation Overlay (O-SFC) Zoning District with the approval of Special Use Permit for certain Properties abutting Commercial Zoning. Roll Call Vote: 4-2. Voting Aye: Beatty-Hansen, Corrieri, Gartin, and Junck. Voting Nay: Betcher and Rollins. Motion declared carried. BUDGET OVERVIEW FOR RECOMMENDED 2025/26 FISCAL YEAR: Director Goodenow began the presentation by noting that the City was not the only recipient of property taxes. The Ames Community School District receives the largest percentage of property taxes at 46%, followed by the City at 33%, Story County at 19%, and Des Moines Area Community College at 2%. City Manager Steve Schainker noted that Ames residents living in different school districts could have different tax rates for similar properties. The total tax rate reflects a number of different levies. Compared to peer cities in Iowa, the tax rate per capita in Ames was low. Next, Director Goodenow explained that property valuation was the starting point for calculating levy rates. Every other year, the City Assessor’s Office assessed property values, and this past year was a non-reassessment year where the increase in taxable valuation was 2.6%. Director Goodenow reviewed the three-tiered restrictions on taxation imposed by the state legislature, observing that Ames’ 2.6% growth rate fell just below the threshold for the first tier of restrictions. Consequently, no additional limits to the levy rate applied. However, rollbacks and tax exemptions determined by the state continued to reduce the amount of valuation that is taxable. Council Member Gartin inquired about strategies for planning growth to minimize the impacts of the tiered 2 reductions. Director Goodenow noted that having Tax Increment Financing (TIF) valuation come online in a reassessment year when the tiered reductions would already be likely to apply could be a strategic move. He noted that some cities may overtax in years when the reductions do not apply to make up the shortfall in years when the reductions do apply. However, Director Goodenow rejected that strategy, emphasizing that the City’s budgeting ethic was to set the tax rate to raise only what was needed in a given year. Mayor Haila inquired about the Employee Benefits Levy, which the City had not employed since FY 2022/23. Director Goodenow explained that the levy was only used when it was needed, as having options available that were not being utilized helps the City obtain a favorable Moody’s Investors Service rating. Once the amount of revenue needed to provide the expected level of service to residents had been determined, Director Goodenow explained, the City sets the tax rate to collect only the amount of revenue required. The City used 60% of its Local Option Sales Tax revenue to offset the amount of funding that was needed from the General Levy, thereby keeping property taxes lower. The total levy for FY 2025/26 was presented at $10.26 per $1,000, up from $10.09 in FY 2024/25 or a 1.59% increase. For FY 2025/26, Director Goodenow presented the total existing and upcoming Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) debt. Various abatement tools and use of the Debt Service Fund brought down the total that must be funded by the Debt Service Levy, resulting in a proposed rate of $3.32 per $1,000 of taxable valuation. Staff employed the Debt Service Fund to minimize spikes in the levy rate. Next, an overview was provided by Director Goodenow of the total tax increase and sample tax bills for residents. The City experienced a 75% increase in lost revenue due to tax exemptions. The total tax increase across all property classifications for FY 2025/26 was 4.28%. Applying the average assessment increase for residential properties yielded a 4.05% increase. Director Goodenow pointed out that Residential properties made up 79% of taxable valuation in Ames now that multifamily properties were classified as Residential rather than Commercial. He concluded with the presentation of several sample tax calculations. City Manager Schainker noted that reductions in commercial taxable value could be explained by successful appeals of reassessed values. The meeting recessed at 3:04 p.m. and reconvened at 3:17 p.m. Director Goodenow presented the sample tax calculations that would be included in the Truth-in- Taxation statements that the state required the county auditor to send to taxpayers. The state determined that an average 10% increase in valuation would be used statewide for the sample tax calculations, which would show a 14.4% tax increase for residential properties. Since Ames experienced only a 2.6% increase in taxable valuation, the sample tax calculation would be significantly higher than the actual tax rate. The City Council Members discussed the best way to communicate with taxpayers about the misleading representation of the local tax rate. Moved by Gartin, seconded by Beatty-Hansen, to direct staff to explore developing a letter that could be proposed to the Story County Auditor to be included with its required notice that would explain this disparity to Ames residents and give direction to a calculator on the City website to 3 help residents more accurately understand their taxes. Vote on Motion: 4-2. Voting Aye: Beatty-Hansen, Corrieri, Gartin, and Junck. Voting Nay: Betcher and Rollins. Motion declared carried. Budget Manager Nancy Masteller presented the summary of changes in expenses and revenues impacting the tax asking for FY 2025/26. The contribution of Local Option Sales Tax to increased revenue was highlighted as well. The most significant contributor to increased expenditures was Personal Services, with merit raises for current employees, rising healthcare costs, and the addition of a new firefighter, aquatics personnel, and animal control personnel. City Manager Schainker and Assistant City Manager Brian Phillips clarified for Council Member Gartin that the additional firefighter is being added to build up staffing for the future Fire Station No. 4, highlighting that existing fire stations are not understaffed. Budget Manager Masteller commended departments for keeping contractual services, commodities, and capital expenditures low, with a total increase in expenses of 3.4%. The next topic addressed by Budget Manager Masteller was the source of the FY 2024/25 General Fund Balance. She explained that the balance arises from a combination of higher-than-projected revenues and lower-than-projected actual costs. Projects are not always completed by the end of the year, and there may be vacancies that lead to Personal Services savings. Increased revenue from Local Option Sales Tax collections also contributed to the balance. In order to balance the budget to zero, the General Fund Balance was usually allocated to one-time expenses in the Adjusted FY 2024/25 Budget. City Manager Schainker presented his recommended allocations for the FY 2024/25 General Fund Balance, emphasizing that these funds were best used for one-time expenses, especially items that would otherwise need to be budgeted for in the future. In addition to expenditures for short-term projects, the recommendation was to put much of the General Fund Balance in the Council Capital Priorities Fund. Council Member Gartin inquired about the purpose of the Council Capital Priorities Fund and shared his belief that a establishing a policy to discipline use of the fund would be advantageous. Moved by Gartin, seconded by Rollins, to place on a future agenda consideration of a policy for the use of the Council Priorities Capital Fund. Vote on Motion: 2-4. Voting Aye: Beatty-Hansen and Gartin. Voting Nay: Betcher, Corrieri, Junck, and Rollins. Motion declared failed. Council Member Junck discussed the timing on projects proposed for use of the FY 2024/25 General Fund Balance, inquiring about the priority and likelihood of completing projects by the end of the fiscal year. Moved by Junck, seconded by Corrieri, to direct staff to evaluate the list of possible uses for the 2024/2025 General Fund Balance to determine which projects could realistically be completed in the next six months and which projects are highest priority. Vote on Motion: 4-2. Voting Aye: Betcher, Corrieri, Junck, and Rollins. Voting Nay: Beatty- Hansen and Gartin. Motion declared carried. 4 Next, Budget Manager Masteller presented charts illustrating the breakdown of a bill for an individual taxpayer for specific City services, noting that public safety combined was the largest component of the tax bill for each taxpayer, followed by streets, library services, parks, and transit. Council Member Gartin encouraged staff to develop an infographic representing this information. Council Member Betcher noted that increased expenditures for Animal Control matched the priority given to that area in the annual Resident Satisfaction Survey. Budget Manager Masteller also discussed miscellaneous historic budget information and the changes to authorized employment levels, noting that the FY 2024-25 Adjusted Budget added a position in Human Resources, eliminated an unfilled Information Technology (IT) position, and increased the Ice Arena Coordinator position to 1 FTE. For FY 2025-26, an additional firefighter was recommended in anticipation of the staffing needs of a fourth fire station. An additional Animal Control Attendant was added in addition to increasing two existing part time Animal Control positions to match the actual hours worked. The opening of the Fitch Family Indoor Aquatic Center necessitated new staff as well, with an Aquatics Coordinator and a Principal Clerk being added. Director Goodenow presented utility rate increases to support CIP projects over the next five years, highlighting the 1.5% annual increase for electric rates to fund the utility’s future investment in renewable energy. He noted that the past practice of alternating water and sewer rate increases was being replaced with smaller increases for each utility every year. Changes to Resource Recovery Plant (RRP) rates would be evaluated after the further long-term planning for how municipal solid waste would be processed in the future. Budget Manager Masteller presented an overview of the Fund Summaries in the Draft Budget , briefly discussing highlights from the General Fund and Special Revenue Funds. It was noted that the two Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds were closed out in the current year and the Fire/Police Pension Fund would be closed out in the coming year. Budget Manager Masteller also highlighted the Parks and Recreation Scholarships Fund that was created in the previous year. City Manager Schainker explained that scholarships are currently offered as fee waivers without reimbursement for the expenses incurred by the City. The goal was for the interest from the fund to pay for scholarships. Next, Budget Manager Masteller discussed the Capital Projects funds, which included Special Assessments, Street Construction, Park Development, Winakor Donation, Indoor Aquatic Center, Council Priorities Capital Fund, and Bond Proceeds. She noted that money from the Winakor Donation Fund which had been programmed for the Fitch Family Indoor Aquatic Center was returned since the project was under budget. The City is legally limited to spending only fund earnings for the two Permanent Funds, the Cemetery and the Donald and Ruth Furman Aquatic Center Trust. Financed and operated like private business enterprises, the City’s Enterprise Funds include Airport Operations, Airport Improvements, Airport Sigler Reserve, Water Utility, Water Construction, Water Sinking, Sewer Utility, Sewer Improvements, Sewer Sinking, Electric Utility, Electric Sinking, SunSmart Community Solar, Electric Sustainability Reserve, Parking Operations, Parking Capital Reserve, Transit Operations, Transit Student Government Trust, Transit Capital Reserve, Stormwater Utility, Stormwater Improvements, Ames/ISU Ice Arena, Ice Arena Capital Reserve, Homewood Golf Course, and Resource Recovery. City Manager Schainker 5 explained that utility funds are not budgeted to balance at zero each year because the periodic rate increases are expected to generate enough revenue up front to cover several years of operations without rate increases. Mayor Haila asked about the new methods being used to collect on unpaid parking tickets. Director Goodenow noted that the partnership with the county, which was implemented in July, had been successful. Additionally, the similar partnership with the state was recently finalized. Staff would monitor the success of both partnerships and evaluate next steps accordingly. City Manager Schainker highlighted that the Resource Recovery fund balance would be drawn down significantly over the coming years, and further planning on the future of the facility and organized waste collection was in progress. Budget Manager Masteller stated that the Debt Service Fund proceeds are used to pay principal and interest for General Obligation Bond debt. Lastly, Internal Service Funds included Fleet Services, Fleet Replacement Reserve, Fleet Services Reserve, Information Technology, Technology Replacement Reserve, Shared Communication System, Technology Reserve, Risk Management, and Health Insurance. Budget Manager Masteller noted that Printing Services and Messenger Services, which had previously fallen into this category, had been absorbed into the General Fund. City Manager Schainker concluded the presentation by giving credit to staff involved in the budget process and thanking the City Council and the public for their support. DISPOSITION OF COMMUNICATIONS TO COUNCIL: None. COUNCIL COMMENTS: Council Member Rollins noted that Iowa State University would be hosting a George Washington Carver Day of Recognition on Monday, February 3, at 5:30 p.m. Council Member Beatty-Hansen thanked staff for the presentation. Council Member Betcher shared that she had attended a presentation on the economic outlook in Iowa sponsored by the Ames Regional Economic Alliance. Mayor Haila reported that the first property tax reform bill was expected to appear in the state legislature mid-February. ADJOURNMENT: Moved by Gartin, seconded by Corrieri, to adjourn the meeting at 5:16 p.m. Vote on Motion: 6-0. Motion declared carried unanimously. __________________________________ ____________________________________ Jeramy Neefus, Principal Clerk John A. Haila, Mayor __________________________________ Renee Hall, City Clerk