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Council accepts Workiva’s proposal to count Iowa jobs for high-quality-jobs abatement calculation
Summary
The Ames City Council accepted the company’s request that job counts for its incentive agreement be calculated as jobs located in Iowa rather than only those physically present in Ames, affecting the calculation of a prorated property tax abatement penalty.
The council accepted Workiva’s proposal to count Workiva employees located anywhere in Iowa as qualifying jobs for the city’s 10-year high-quality-jobs agreement review, rather than counting only positions physically present in Ames.
City staff explained the original 2013 agreement tied the city’s commitment of property tax abatement to a high-quality-jobs performance standard, with measurements at five and ten years. Workiva notified the city it did not meet the five-year benchmark; the ten-year measurement recently elapsed and a dispute arose about which jobs count toward the agreement. Workiva proposed counting all Iowa-based jobs; city staff presented alternatives including counting only employees physically present at Ames offices or counting jobs within a specified distance of Ames.
Council accepted Workiva’s Iowa-wide counting proposal. Staff said they had been working with Workiva on the numbers and that the parties cooperated on data. Council members noted the changing nature of work since 2013, including the shift to remote work, and asked that future incentive agreements be drafted with clearer language about qualifying job definitions.
The acceptance affects the penalty calculation in the city’s contract and the portion of the previously granted abatement the company may need to return; staff will finalize the penalty calculation with company cooperation.
