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Perry council debates strategies to grow tax base, targets retail and entertainment at ICSC
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Summary
City staff and councilors discussed a strategic tax‑base plan ahead of ICSC trade outreach, targeting quick‑service restaurants, urgent care, entertainment venues and signage/marketing; staff emphasized measuring revenue outcomes and using QR codes and a landing page for outreach.
City staff and councilors spent an extended portion of the April 20 meeting discussing the strategic plan’s tax‑base goals and outreach for business recruitment ahead of the ICSC industry conference.
The city manager said staff will target retailers, quick‑service restaurants and entertainment venues at the conference and will use the city's landing page and property signage to pitch Perry. Council members suggested specific amenities they would like to recruit — such as bowling, indoor mini‑golf or simulator venues — and discussed outreach tactics including landmark/placemaker signage, hotel QR codes that link to a city page, Chamber partnerships and targeted advertising.
Members pressed staff to quantify outcomes: "We need some metrics that we can actually brag about," one councilor said, urging the inclusion of post‑project revenue or visitation estimates so officials can show measurable returns on development efforts. Staff agreed that those metrics exist in many cases but need to be assembled into a companion document attached to the strategic plan.
The council also discussed specific local wins to highlight in economic messaging, including airport hangar leases and Amazon's ongoing construction, and options to use the Chamber or paid advertising to avoid excluding businesses from promotional materials.
No formal vote was taken; staff said they will finalize a polished draft of the strategic plan and circulate it for council feedback before returning to the council for adoption.
