Voter-Approved Property Tax Levy Option

At a glance

Based on human-uploaded captions, which may still contain errors; names and numbers may be misheard.

What: a resident's argument that the city should publicly evaluate asking voters to approve a levy above the state limit, as an alternative to the fiscal year 2028 budget cuts.
Where it stands: raised in public comment only; no council response at the meeting.
Next: none scheduled. Related budget timing is tracked on Fiscal Year 2029 Budget Timing.

Garry Rowlan (name spelling approximate) said new state law (SF2472, as heard in captions) still lets cities seek voter consent to exceed the levy limit, and cited an Iowa Code provision (section 384.12) allowing a simple-majority vote for one budget year.
He said the city manager first told him the option had been eliminated, then acknowledged it exists but that the council did not wish to pursue it, and that he does not recall public discussion of a general fund levy.
He said the council described FY28 cuts to public-facing services, including the library, as unavoidable, and argued a voter-approved levy deserves public evaluation.

About 4 minutes across 1 meeting (from transcript timestamps; approximate).

Meeting	Minutes
2026-10-19 - City Council	4

2026-10-19 - City Council — Resident argued in public comment that a voter-approved levy should be publicly evaluated as an alternative to FY28 cuts; no council response (about 4 minutes).