Economic Development or Corporate Welfare? Tough call.
The Ames City Council begins at 7:00 PM on Monday November 10th. The agenda includes:
-
Item 20 -- 601 State Avenue Change to Low-Density Residential (Breckenridge). Resolution approving Land Use Policy Plan (LUPP) Future Land Use Map Amendment for 601 State Avenue to Low-Density Residential. Hearing on rezoning from Special Government/Airport (S-GA) to Residential Low-Density (RL). The LUPP Government Lands Overlay has, for many years, had this property intended for single family housing. This change will more likely achieve that goal.
-
Item 21 -- Iowa State University Research Park Urban Renewal Area Hearing. First passage of ordinance creating Iowa State University Research Park Tax Increment Financing District (second and third passages and adoption requested). While this one of the largest government handouts to industry in recent memory, the leveraging of millions of dollars in state funding for the project makes its rate of return larger than most. Whether or not the investment will be worth the return will be seen in the years ahead, but the opportunity is one that is very exciting.
-
Item 25 -- Staff report on request from Main Street Cultural District regarding annual funding process. The Main Street Cultural District is asking to be outside of the current process to receive funding. This would be an appreciable change, and contrary to the purpose for which this process was initially designed: to create a consistent, fair and equitable process for evaluating organizations requesting funds from The City of Ames.
-
Item 26 -- Staff report on current City Economic Development Policy. The core of the City of Ames' Economic Development Policy was developed in 1988. Since then there has been much learned about the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of many forms of economic development. To be responsible stewards of community taxpayer dollars, it would serve the council well to become appraised of the current research on Economic Development and to increase the sophistication with which we evaluate such opportunities. Economic development can be an important part of a community's infrastructure to encourage business investment. However, economic development can also be an age-old method of leveraging unwitting and unsophisticated government power, for the undue enrichment of those who need it the least. To support the continued use of incentives in The City of Ames, it is time to develop a modern understanding of financial incentives, their impacts, and the current best practices being employed in economic development.
-
Item 27 -- Staff report on proposed changes to Littering Ordinance. There is an opportunity to clarify language in the city code to broaden litter to more materials including lawn debris.
Thanks for reading,
Matthew Goodman
City Council At-Large
| Others can subscribe at |  |
| Follow Council News on |  |
| View council on line live at |  |
Any corrections or additions to this email will be posted at the Council Preview Blog.