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City Council Budget Guidelines

The Ames City Council begins at 7:00 PM November 25th. The agenda includes:

Item 28 -- Hearing on rezoning properties for ISU Research Park Phase III Project from Agricultural (A) to Planned Industrial (PI). The research park expansion will increase available land for businesses who could benefit from the park amenities.
Item 29 -- Hearing on Zoning Ordinance Text Amendments to Reduce On-Site Parking Required for Fraternities and Sorority Housing and make text clarifications. The council communicated previously they were comfortable with the 3 bedroom per parking space limit. The current parking regulations will remain in place protecting the adjacent neighborhood from becoming parking lots.
Item 38 -- City Council budget guidelines. One issue of note is the transition to residents paying higher property taxes while commercial and industrial users will be paying less, due to the bipartisan property tax reform this year. Another concern is the $3.3 million Airport Hangar and Terminal. While the hangar serves as a gateway to investors, such a large cost for an asset that many citizens will never use is concerning. More concerning is that the initial split of the project was to be 1/3 Iowa State University, 1/3 Private Sector Businesses and 1/3 City of Ames funding. However the budget letter reads, "It appears it may be difficult for the private sector and the University to contribute $866,000 each to the City in cash." City staff continues to work on funding strategies, but for an asset used by so few, perhaps a more conservative tack would be a more reasonable approach.