Iowa City staff review midterm progress on strategic plan; council agrees to prioritize unfinished items

Iowa City staff presented a midterm status report on the city’s strategic plan at a Jan. 6 work session, and council members agreed to review prioritization materials and bring suggested changes back during the budget process.

“Kirk Layman, assistant city manager, said the strategic plan was adopted in December 2022, updated in 2024 and serves as a living guide through fiscal year 2028,” Layman said. “It feeds into budgeting, policy and operational decisions and helps staff focus resources.”

Why it matters: Councilors said a focused prioritization exercise would help staff allocate limited resources, avoid duplicating efforts and make visible what still needs action. Multiple councilors proposed revisiting items flagged as not started or partially complete (the “yellow” and “red” items) and plotting them by impact and effort before making resource tradeoffs.

What happened: Councilors asked staff to place the ECICOG (effort/impact) prioritization report from the original planning process into an upcoming information packet so members can do homework ahead of budget deliberations. Several councilors said they supported working from the existing strategic‑plan action items rather than reopening the entire plan. One councilor suggested a short, focused work session after members review materials.

Staff context: Layman told the council the strategic plan has three core elements (values, impact areas and resources) and noted staff will continue to reference it in upcoming budget and CIP reviews. He said the plan helps guide long‑term projects such as the comprehensive plan (expected adoption in 2026), a future zoning code update and major facility planning.

Next steps: Staff agreed to locate and include the ECICOG prioritization/effort‑impact materials in an information packet for council review; councilors said they will revisit priorities during the FY27 budget season.