Ames City Council holds public hearing on proposed 2025-26 property tax levy; no decision made

The Ames City Council opened a public hearing April 8 on the city's proposed property tax levy for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2026, heard one public comment and took no final action.

City staff member Corey told the mayor and council that state-issued property tax budget statements mailed to owners include a uniform 10% valuation increase and other statewide calculations that can mislead recipients about local impacts. "All of the statements include a 10% increase in valuation," Corey said, adding that the city assessor had told staff that fewer than 10 properties in Ames actually saw valuation increases from a reassessment. "From our standpoint, there's very few people that were impacted by changes in valuation," Corey said.

That statewide mailer also showed a 14.9% increase for residential properties in some sample statements, a figure Corey said is likely not applicable to Ames. He summarized staff's more realistic estimate for the coming budget year: the city's proposed rate would remain roughly the same while the typical residential owner in Ames could see about a 4.5% increase in the city portion of their tax bill and just under 3% for commercial/industrial property, according to the presentation.

Corey told the council the state Department of Management told staff the city could not include additional explanatory material inside the state mailer, and that the department believed statute or its implementing guidance limited mailings to the required budget statement only. "They indicated that that was the guidance that they had given all the cities," Corey said. As an alternative, staff created a web page at cityofames.org/propertytax with explanatory material and a calculator to help owners estimate their own impact. Corey said a few callers used the site after the mailings went out.

Councilmembers expressed frustration that the city could not attach a clarifying letter to the state mailer. "That's very disappointing," said a councilmember (unnamed), arguing residents would likely rely on the paper mailer rather than visit a website.

During public comment, Jason Marquardt, who said he recently bought a home in the Ames area, said the increases would be difficult to absorb and highlighted a separate, larger tax increase announced by the Gilbert School District that could raise a homeowner's bill by far more than the city portion. "Any increase on top of that is going to be incredibly difficult for me personally to absorb," Marquardt said, citing concerns about fixed-income residents and recent local job cuts mentioned during the meeting.

Council members confirmed there would be no final decision at the special meeting. Staff said the regular council meeting later the same evening would set a date for the final public hearing and budget adoption; Corey said staff intends to have the budget filed with the state Department of Management after council adoption. The council was told it must file the budget by April (exact filing deadline not specified in the record).

The hearing was opened and later closed without a vote on the levy. The meeting concluded with a procedural motion to adjourn that was moved, seconded and carried by voice vote.

Next steps: the council will hold a final public hearing and consider adoption of the budget at a meeting scheduled for April 22, after which staff will submit the adopted budget to the state Department of Management for review.