Budget Hearings
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David's Council Preview |
The Ames City Council holds budget hearings on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 5:15 p.m. at City Hall, February 2-4, 2020. On our meeting last Friday, we went over the essential numbers that make up the City's budget requests (property valuations, tax levies, funds). The upcoming budget hearings dive into each of the City's departments to discuss the main services they provide, any changes underway, and to answer any questions about the department's budget requests. The draft budget is available here (all 330 pages). Again, the highlights of the budget as a whole are available in the City Manager's Budget Letter. I included a link to this letter in the last preview, but the letter is also right at the beginning of the draft budget.
You might not realize that the budget is the go-to document for describing and quantifying the City services generally, not just a big list of the dollars involved. For example, the Animal Sheltering and Control section (pp. 50-51) shows that during 2018-2019, the department received almost 2,400 calls for field activity, handled 115 rescue calls for animals left in vehicles, maintained a 97% live release rate for dogs and cats, and benefited from 921 volunteer hours. To provide all of its services, the department spent $539,000. This section explains that the department is adding nearly a 1/2 time equivalent position and describes its new web-based database for coordinating the volunteer program, and much more.
Here are the main topics we'll talk about each day:
- Tuesday: Water departments (drinking, wastewater, storm sewer), Resource Recovery, Public Works (streets, traffic, parking, airport), Planning, Housing
- Wednesday: Parks and Recreation, Electric Services, Police, Fire, and Animal Control
- Thursday: Cy-Ride, Internal Services (City Manager, Clerk, Council, Legal, Human Resources, Communications), Economic Development, Finance, Utility Customer Service
The chart below shows how much of the City's property tax goes to the listed departments in relative terms. (In absolute terms, the numbers show how the $558.60 City tax from a property valued at $100,000 would be split to the various departments: $153 to Streets/Traffic, etc.)
- Budget Overview 2020-2021
- Budget Presentation Schedule
- Draft Budget 2020-2021
- Special Reports to Council
- ASSET (human services) recommendations
- COTA (Commission on the Arts) recommendations
- Outside funding requests
Non-Agenda Packet: The following items are requests and communications to the council that are not on the agenda. This includes staff reports and communications/requests from constituents/developers. Typically the council will ask city staff for more information (a memo), put the item on a future agenda for deliberation and possible action, or just accept the communication (taking no further action). Council generally processes these requests and communications during the agenda portion called "Disposition of Communications to Council."
- Memo on Eminent Domain for Trails. This memo informs Council that it appears to be permissible for a municipality to use eminent domain authority to obtain land for recreational trails, except when the trails are on agricultural property.
- Memo on CCOAMS Open House Meeting. This memo describes the presentation and feedback received from an Open House and meeting with the College Creek / Old Ames Middle School neighborhood to describe the state of some projects underway or contemplated that would affect the neighborhood.
Thanks for reading,
David Martin
Third Ward Council Member